Posted on 11/21/2013 5:46:38 PM PST by lowbridge
Officials in Bell County, Texas, have released the dashcam footage of a police officer in Temple, Texas, disarming and arresting decorated veteran C.J. Grisham while he was on a hike with his son in March. The officer is seen grabbing the dad’s gun and then seemingly attempting to unlatch it from the man’s sling without telling him why or asking for permission.
Video recorded by Grisham and his son went viral earlier this year, but it did not show the moment the dad was approached and disarmed by the officer. He was later charged with “interference with duties of a public servant,” though the officer is heard in the video from March telling Grisham he was stopped for “rudely displaying” his rifle.
On Nov. 19, Grisham was found guilty by a jury of three men and three women of “interference with duties of a public servant” and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. In an email to TheBlaze, the veteran said he plans to appeal the decision.
In the newly released dashcam video, officer Steven Ermis can be seen flagging down Grisham and asking him, “What are we doing?”
“We’re hiking,” Grisham replies.
Ernis, without warning, grabs Grisham’s AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and examines it.
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
Thanks for being such a good sport, all the same.
I feel sure you’re a good cop.
I went back and watched and saw one item I missed before. While the officer was ‘inspecting’ the rifle (still strapped) Grisham grabbed the rifle with his left hand. This might have gone down differently if he had not done so.
And carrying a rifle sling arms. Suuuuuure. If he was any of the what ifs you claim then he one would not be carrying the rifle in the open or if he was one of the bad guys chances are he would have opened fire on the cop. Did’nt happen and the cop was able to walk right up and take the weapon. That’s bullshit.
Not a problem
When a citizen places their hands upon their own property, this is bad?
In general, no but the cop isn't a mind reader and both want to go home safely at the end of the day.
For example, I may have my wallet under the seat of my car but if a traffic cop pulls me over, I'll stay seated with both hands on the steering wheel, make no quick moves and when the officer asks for my license and registration, I'll explain that my license is beneath the seat and ask how he's like to proceed.
What items of personal property may I grab onto on an officers person?
I wouldn't advise that.
It’s not against the law to be an idiot. We’d all be in trouble if that were true. It is not only against the law, but a gross violation of our rights as citizens for police officers to act like idiots while performing their official duties. See the difference?
Being rude is a crime in Texas? I knew ‘annoying a LEO’ in New York state was a crime. The latter doesn’t surprise me while the former does. This country’s on the skids since 2008.
So you think the guy or the cop was the idiot?
Both acted like idiots, but the cop did it under the color of law. When you are carrying both a badge and a gun you must behave on a higher level than the average citizen.
I agree 100%.
Geezus, no wonder so many cops gun down civilians and their dogs, and walk away with little more than a reprimand. People with this attitude enable them.
Just what makes the cop's life more valuable than the citizen that has committed no crime, or believed to have committed one?
If this cop is so frightened of making it home, he should maybe see if the city has an opening in refuse disposal. Maybe crime prevention is too threatening for him.
Sorry, but part of this argument missed me.
What about the rifle was the cop “inspecting”? Did it need inspecting to verify it was covered by the 2nd Amendment?
The cop certainly had the authority to ask the person what he was doing, to ask for ID and to ask if he had done anything to alarm the 911 caller, but to grab a lawful weapon without first asking for permission would be no different that the cop dragging a driver out of their car and then proceeding to “inspect” the car’s interior without a warrant.
I wouldn't advise that.
Nice to know that cops are reinforcing the popular notion that they are a threat to be shunned like rabid animals.
Twitch the wrong way in their presence and they have license to kill you and walk away: "I felt threatened".
Too bad, once upon a time, citizens would likely come to the aid of a cop in a bad situation. With attitudes like yours, forget it.
“Sorry, but part of this argument missed me.
What about the rifle was the cop “inspecting”? Did it need inspecting to verify it was covered by the 2nd Amendment?”
Not saying that. Only saying that if the officer has your weapon in his hands DON’T grab it! Reaching for your weapon WILL escalate the situation!!!!!!!!!
unbelievable...it’s not America anymore
“but to grab a lawful weapon without first asking for permission would be no different that the cop dragging a driver out of their car and then proceeding to “inspect” the car’s interior without a warrant.”
And if you go for your weapon while the cop is ‘illegally inspecting’ your car, the situation WILL escalate!
Correct. BUT the cop is still required to ASK if you are in possession of a concealed weapon and where is it located in your car. The cop is not authorized to grab it. Yes, if you suddenly brandish or go for the concealed weapon you could very well become shot.
That being said, it still does not excuse nor authorize this cop grabbing a legal open carry weapon, which is as stupid on the cop’s part as your concealed brandish example.
You keep claiming this. But if the officer was CALLED for a report of a man carrying a rifle, and the officer was afraid, why did he try to sneakily walk up and just grab the gun, a move which is the most likely to lead to a bad outcome? He had a second cop, why not wait for that cop to be ready, pull weapons, yell to the man to halt, put his hands up, and then tell the man you are going to take his gun?
Let’s turn this around. What if that cop had been like that cop in California, the one who had killed a bunch of people and was on the run? You going to let that cop just walk up to you and disarm you? Then he can kill you easily.
Does a citizen have no presumptive right to protect himself from a police officer who may well be a murderer?
Or do you assert that police can’t possibly be criminals, and therefore the man had absolutely no reason to have any fear of a cop blindly grabbing his gun without warning?
I don’t have a problem with the cop pulling his gun. I have a problem with the system charging the man with interfering with an officer.
There is no indication that the man intended to interfere with any lawful order of the officer, and was reacting to unexpected moves by the cop.
It’s like if a cop is talking to me, and I’m being polite, and the cop wants to arrest me, so he swings his arm at me suddenly. I reflexively put up my hand and grab his arm to stop him. Then he arrests me for “interfering”. He never actually hit me, after all.
BTW, the man was not some nobody. He’s a guy the cops already kind of hate (and in fact arrested again on veterans day for “trespassing” on public property during a lawful demonstration — because he was “asked” to take a gun off the property, but he didn’t even HAVE a gun, he was carrying a toy which he told them was a toy.
So again, the cops decided that they had a right to order a man committing no crime to leave a public place he had a right to be in, and then arrested him for not obeying their command.
A firearm where legally carried can not be the only cause for reasonable suspicion.
The police are not paid to act this way. It is ILLEGAL.
I feel that way now. It used to be we gave extra respect to cops because they put their lives on the line to protect innocent citizens.
But after a couple of decades of watching armed officers sit around outside a building while a random gunman kills a dozen people (because they are worried they might get hurt going in), and shooting dogs just to be safe, and shooting kids with airsoft guns, or the incident in california where cops shot up innocent peoples’ cars simply because they THOUGHT the cars looked like the car driven by a cop-killer, It is now clear that the cops are using their armed status to ensure that they are protected, not the innocent citizens.
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