Open Carry guy 15 miutes of fame in the Valley

[o b juan]

It was in the monitor friday Sat and sunday..
Strange he would go to San Benito then Harlingen ( I think Wed) and go to the police depts there and ask permission to go get his gun and strap it over his shoulder,, and get photos of it, those 2 cities said no problem..
So he comes over here to McAllen gets out with gun over shoulder in PD parking lot and gets told to leave (trespassing?)

Then he comes back and does the same and is arrested..

But someone from from up country is there pretty quick to bail him out.. This is basically what the paper said, dont really know if that is the complete story.

The open carry caucus showed up sat at the police station for a demonstration,, paper said 70 showed up, supposed to do it sunday but I was busy shooting clays so dony know if they did.

My thoughts why would he ask in 2 cities for permission?? and then come to McAllen and do this??

[Keith B]

Do you have a link to an article?

[C-dub]

This looks like what the OP is talking about.

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/ar ... f6878.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RoyGBiv]

Play silly games, win silly prizes.

[Keith B]

I think they are going to have to drop any charges since he never entered the premises (building or poriton of a building) where the court is located.

[EEllis]

I think they are going to have to drop any charges since he never entered the premises (building or poriton of a building) where the court is located.

Do they need to? Reportedly he called and said that he was going to return to the station and enter. If that is the case at what point are they allowed to stop him? Just inside, on the way to the door, pushing the door open? Now I don't know, and I do think it may of been a step to far for the cops, but I wasn't party to the conversation either.

[JJVP]

I think they are going to have to drop any charges since he never entered the premises (building or poriton of a building) where the court is located.

Do they need to? Reportedly he called and said that he was going to return to the station and enter. If that is the case at what point are they allowed to stop him? Just inside, on the way to the door, pushing the door open? Now I don't know, and I do think it may of been a step to far for the cops, but I wasn't party to the conversation either.

McALLEN — Organizers expect more than 100 gun owners to gather Saturday at the McAllen police station to protest the arrest of a gun rights activist who sought to photograph himself outside the Police Department with a rifle slung across his back.

According to his Facebook page, Horton stood outside the Brownsville police station and took a few photographs. The police station also houses one of the city’s municipal courts.
The Brownsville police chief said that although his officers granted permission for Horton to take his photographs, they didn’t allow him inside the building, which has warnings posted on the doors prohibiting weapons.
“We didn’t have any issue with him here,” Orlando Rodriguez said. “We’ve received no indication that he was disrespectful to any of our officers.
“He asked for permission and we accommodated him.”

It doesn't look like he entered or tried to enter the building. In Brownsville he did the same thing without any issues. IMHO IANAL he should have the charges dismissed and has a good case for false arrest

[Keith B]

I think they are going to have to drop any charges since he never entered the premises (building or poriton of a building) where the court is located.

Do they need to? Reportedly he called and said that he was going to return to the station and enter. If that is the case at what point are they allowed to stop him? Just inside, on the way to the door, pushing the door open? Now I don't know, and I do think it may of been a step to far for the cops, but I wasn't party to the conversation either.

Unless he actually entered, then they have no legal grounds. They cannot arrest on supposed intent in a case like this.

[EEllis]

It doesn't look like he entered or tried to enter the building. In Brownsville he did the same thing without any issues. IMHO IANAL he should have the charges dismissed and has a good case for false arrest

If they told him he had to leave and he called saying that he would return and enter the building, which would of been illegal with a rifle, at what point can they stop him. I assume in their minds he was stating his intent to break the law and him showing up says he was indeed planning on going threw with it, so when can they stop him? It seems silly to say they must wait until he is inside to stop him. So in my mind at least there is more than a bit of grey area. Now I also think the cops went to far but just because he didn't get arrested where he wasn't going inside, ie a totally different situation, means nothing legally speaking. Also while he might get the charges dropped, heck even get them to admit they should of just let him take a pic, I doubt he has any real case for false arrest.

[srothstein]

There are different stories going on about what happened. The activists version is that he never carried the rifle and that it was in the truck the whole time. I have seen that version reported as well as some people claiming he was going in with the rifle.

But as for what the police can do and when, let's assume that the rumors are true and here is what happened. The man did the two photo sessions without a problem and stopped at McAllen to ask permission. He was told no and asked to leave. He came back anyway and had a knife in his belt and a a rifle on his shoulder (assume the worst). When is the law broken? Only when he actually enters the building.

The police are not, generally, allowed to stop someone and arrest them for planning to break the law. But they also are not legally obligated to allow the law to be broken either. The apparent dilemma is resolved by Title 4 of the Penal Code on Inchoate crimes. Chapter 15 (actually, section 15.01) tells us that it is illegal to attempt to commit a crime. An attempt is when a person, with the intent to commit a crime, commits any act that amounts to more than mere preparation that tends towards the crime but fails to complete it. In this case, walking towards the prohibited location with a weapon is more than mere preparation and tends towards the crime. It failed because the police came out and stopped it, which they can do because an attempt is still a crime.

So, the crime of attempted possession of a weapon in a prohibited location would have been committed when the activist got out of his car witht eh rifle on his shoulder and started walking towards the building if he intended to enter it.

I don't say that this is what happened and I don't know if the police over-reacted or the activist did. I have some problems with the police story since the activist had already done this same thing twice at other locations without a problem. But I was not there and this is one of the issues I see people on both sides taking extreme positions on and not much middle ground to know what truly happened.