Temple, TX police officers disarmed active duty Army MSGT C. J. Grisham today because he was walking with his own rifle out in the country. Central Texas is known for rattlesnakes, coyotes, even the occasional cougar. Grisham was out hiking with his son, who is one badge away from Eagle Scout.
One of the officers claims in the video that he felt “threatened.” That’s why they disarmed Grisham, who has a Texas concealed carry permit.
MSGT Grisham has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to Grisham, the officer grabbed his rifle, which was on a strap around his neck.
“‘Where you going with that rifle?’ he asked me. I said, ‘does it matter? Am I breaking any laws?’” Then, he says, the officer “grabbed the rifle without telling me – but it was attached to me. My immediate reaction as a combat veteran was to grab it back and then take a step back. I asked him what he was doing. So he pulled his gun on me. Then I thought about my son, so I put my hands off my gun and he told me to move over to the car. Luckily my son had the video camera to document the hike for his merit badge. I told him to turn it on.”
Grabbing the rifle on the officer’s part was extremely dangerous and could have gotten him killed, had Grisham not kept a cool head. The officers took both of Grisham’s weapons (he also had a sidearm), took his wallet from him, and handcuffed him. Then they hauled him off in the squad car like a common criminal.
The man has spent several of the past years of his life defending our country overseas. From the back seat of the squad car, he can be heard trying to comfort his crying son.
Grisham says the police took both his guns and his concealed carry permit and have not returned them. He is not accused of any crime. He says that other soldiers have encountered similar situations and they usually result in the police dropping charges in exchange for confiscating the gun.
That’s theft under the guise of law enforcement. The Temple police department needs to be sued into the ground in civil court. Sue it from orbit just to be sure. Get every one of the badges of the officers involved and hang them on a wall. Local police need to be put on notice that they are not above the law, as one of the officers claims they are in the video.
More: Some commenters at YouTube make a good point — the officers never read Grisham his Miranda rights. At least, if they did it’s not on the video.
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