“Criminal Trespassing”… At a Police Station?

08 Aug 2013

“Criminal Trespassing”… At a Police Station?

UPDATE AVAILABLE IN FOLLOW UP POST. ONLY CHARGE FILED WAS “Possession of a Weapon in a Prohibited Place”. CLICK HERE for more.

Open Carry Texas (OCT) is reporting that one of their founding members was arrested yesterday, August 7th, for “Criminal Trespassing” at the McAllen Police Department in the Rio Grande Valley.

OCT has the report like this:

He went to the police station to inform them that he was going to take a picture with his rifle in front of the police department as we have done in several other cities around the state. They immediately and illegally searched him and confiscated his legally possessed K-bar (only 5 1/4 inches long) and told him to leave, which he did. He then decided to return to file a formal complaint and called the police department to let them know he was coming back to do so. When he arrived at the police station, officers immediately drew on him, forced him to the ground, and arrested him. HE NEVER ONCE OPENLY CARRIED HIS FIREARM; IT WAS IN HIS TRUCK THE ENTIRE TIME.

McCallen Police Department Chief of Police Victor Rodriguez

More details after the break.

Now there are quite a few layers to this story for the uninformed. First, openly carrying a long arm (rifle or shotgun) in public is legal in Texas. Members of OCT have been taking their pictures exercising this right in front of police stations as a way to raise awareness to the legality of open carry so that this awareness can be used to push for more firearms friendly, constitutionally respectful open carry laws in Texas. It is currently illegal to open carry a handgun in Texas, and it is this law they wish to change.

Open Carrying at the San Benito Police Department

Also of note is the knife, which Mr. Zack Horton had in a holster on his hip. Long story short, most knives under 5-1/2″ are legal to carry in Texas, including the one confiscated by the McAllen police when he politely notified them of his plans to snap a few photos of himself open carrying on their door step. Again, all legal.

So it is no surprise that Zack was a bit taken back when officers illegally searched him upon his visit to the McAllen PD and confiscated his legally owned and carried knife. After leaving, I can only assume the outrage over the incident grew, and he decided to return to file a formal complaint about this illegal and unconstitutional search and seizure. Upon doing so, he was immediately arrested at gunpoint.

As of last night, he was being held on only one charge, Criminal Trespassing. This offense is often used when a private property owner asks someone to leave and not come back and they either refuse to do so or return. But the use of this law on public property? At a police station no less? I can’t believe that even a reasonable sheep would agree that it is reasonable to arrest someone for returning to a police station to file a complaint.

We’ll see how it plays out.

For now, OCT members are organizing an event for this weekend for members and others to open carry at the McAllen PD, as Zack was planning to do, at noon this Saturday and Sunday August 10th and 11th. The even is being called “Come and Take it McAllen” on the event’s Facebook page, and members are organizing car pools from as far away as Waco. OCT has organized similar “open carry walks” in the past.

OCT Members Attending the Belton Independence Day Parade

For more information, stayed tuned to OCT’s Facebook page or the OCT Blog.

UPDATE: It appears McAllen PD also searched Mr. Horton’s vehicle and siezed his rifle from inside. If the vehicle was legally parked, this would also be a violation of his rights to privacy, assuming to warrant was obtained.

CJ Grisham is the President of Open Carry Texas.

UPDATE: Zack Horton is also known by the name Murdoch Pizgatti.

UPDATE: Follow up posts here and here.

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While you are here, check out some of my liberty-centered posts such as Halfway Crooks and Halfway Patriots which was previously featured on thetruthaboutguns.com