MI:Homeowner is Arrested for Open Carrying an Empty Shotgun on His Own Property

gunsnfreedom.com ^ | 25 September, 2013 | Jonathan S.

[marktwain]

(Credit: Heather Donald, YouTube)

A military veteran in Crawford County, Michigan has been arrested and charged with a felony assault with a deadly weapon even after HE was the one who called the cops in the first place when he found a man trespassing on his property.

When the man’s wife tried to video tape what was happening the cops told her to turn off the camera and tried to take it.  (You can see the video below… only because the wife figured out how to restore the “deleted” file)

The Blaze has reported that Thomas Donald was out hunting with his son on his own land when they came across the trespasser.  Donald had an unloaded .410 shotgun while his son was using a crossbow.

When they came across the trespasser on a dirt bike, they escorted him back to the house and called the Department of Natural Resources.  But when the police showed up everything went downhill fast.  According to Heather Donald when the cops showed up Thomas Donald held up his open shotgun in one hand and held a shell in his other hand to show that he was not a threat.

But the police did not get the hint and they soon had a pistol pointed at Donald as they put him in handcuffs and on the ground.  The following video shows what Heather was able to record before the police forced her to turn off the cell phone camera.

[marktwain]

Links to YouTube video at the site. Seems like very clear police abuse of this man's constitutional rights. First amendment, they forced the wife to delete video of the officers actions. The Seventh Circuit has ruled that recording police in the performance of their public duties is a first amendment right.

Second amendment, self explanatory.

I suspect that a big settlement is coming from this arrest. The officer who intimidated the wife into deleting the file should be fired.

[driftdiver]

Fired? He should be jailed.

[seeker41]

I am really starting to dislike LEOs of all stripes. When not shooting pets they seem to be harassing citizens who are within their rights! I remember watching them pull people out of their homes when searching for those Boston Bombers.

[cripplecreek]

A Crawford county cop should know better. I'm guessing the real issue in the arrest was "escorting" the trespasser back to the house.



Michigan legislative action thread

[RckyRaCoCo]

When the cop said “doing this for our own protection”...she should have said the same...with regards to the camera.

[AlexW]

Welcome to the new USSA. Before I left, I noticed that police, everywhere, were morphing into jack-booted thugs, even in small rural areas. I now see the same thing on US TV programs that I get via Satellite.
I guess they are gearing up to control the descent.

[yarddog]

In ancient Rome it was illegal to put shackles on a citizen for any reason.

[Jeff Chandler]

The question on everyone's mind: how is the family dog?

[bkopto]

The official-looking costume that guy in the picture is wearing apparently confers all sorts of authority and privilege: to bully citizens, slap them around, order people to turn off cameras, tie-wrap their wrists, confiscate their property, and generally violate their God-given rights.

Wow - I wanna be one of those guys!

[bunkerhill7]

Heck all my neighbors got loaded guns on their properties n the local cops did the same thing before they were cops so wht the hell is wrong with those city slicker cops in MI?

[DemforBush]

“But soon the cops were saying that Thomas Donald was pointing his shotgun at the trespasser and he was charged with felonious assault, even though the couple says he never pointed his gun at the trespasser...”

I wish the wife had started the recording sooner, to have irrefutable proof of that. As it is, it will probably be the police’s word against theirs come court time (assuming the police don’t have video of their own here).

Whoever is telling the truth about how it went down, “I’m taking that for evidence” is just bull. I can’t see any where a cop had any legal right to confiscate the wife’s cell phone. Seems like unlawful seizure of property, in fact - i.e. theft. Not that I’m naive enough to think anything will come of it.

[SampleMan]

Cops are conditioning the 3% to treat them as the enemy.

[2ndDivisionVet]

[DaveyB]

Bad officer! - NO doughnut for you!

[Born to Conserve]

Cops ever do that to me, and I will become a permanent fixture in the line for Freedom of Information Act requests. Every hired, appointed, or elected official in the hierarchy above the cops would see their public careers go down the tube, and their private ones as well. And it would not end until I died.

[Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America]

With the massive uptick in membership at the NRA, NRA attorneys should be on their way to this homeowners house to provide him defense in court.

[Hot Tabasco]

wht the hell is wrong with those city slicker cops in MI?

Crawford county is rural and that ain't no "city slicker cop from MI"..............

And FWIW, he's probably no different than the "city slicker cop" in your own hood.........

[Hot Tabasco]

And as a side note, the cop is a County Sheriff, not a “city slicker cop”..........

[Jacquerie]

For a long time, Roman citizenship was a precious jewel.

If only American citizenship was similarly cherished.

[Past Your Eyes]

Seems like not a day goes by but what there’s another story like this.