Posted on 10/17/2013 1:16:18 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
The fate of a Fort Hood soldier who was arrested in March while openly carrying an AR-15 rifle down a road in Central Texas is now in the hands of a jury. The trial of Christopher Grisham has drawn the ardent interest of gun-rights advocates nationwide.
Grisham, an active-duty Army Master Sergeant, was accompanying his 15-year-old son on a 10-mile hike back in March. The hike was part of the younger Grisham’s Boy Scout activities.
Grisham and Christopher Grisham Jr. were walking along Airport Road in West Temple, Texas, when they were approached by police officer Steve Ermis.
The police had received a call from someone alarmed by the sight of a man walking in public carrying a military-style assault weapon.
When Ermis confronted the elder Grisham, the soldier protested. Shortly, the teenage Grisham whipped out is cell phone and recorded the incident. That video can be seen in its entirety below.
At trial, which concluded this morning, Oct. 17, Ermis testified that he did not know why Grisham was carrying the high-powered weapon and that aspects of Grisham’s behavior were troubling to him.
Grisham faces a misdemeanor charge of interfering with the duties of a police officer. According to court records cited in the press, the soldier resisted when the cop tried to get him to put his hands behind his back. He also refused to hand over his rifle.
It is not illegal to carry a rifle in Texas.
Gun rights advocates have taken up Grisham’s cause. Blue Rannefeld, lawyer for the National Association of Legal Gun Defense, gave the defense’s opening statement and blasted Ermis for going “above and beyond to control and intimidate” Grisham.
When the younger Grisham testified on his father’s behalf, he said the rifle was for fending off feral hogs that had been spotted in the area.
He also said that Ermis drew his own gun and aimed it at the back of the senior Grisham’s head when the solider refused to surrender his rifle.
Cute, considering you are a party to this argument. Not so cute mocking disabled children.
I am sure happy neither of you live around me because if you did the cops would feel so neutered that crime would be running amok. I bet you both love the ACLU.
If he would have only said, "Please with sugar on it"?
Being polite to those in government is not the issue here slick.
Hello?
U.S. citizens are not required to kiss the ass's of those in government or call anyone "Sir".
The man committed no stinking crime yet you're all ready to convict this man.
I find you to be very suspicious.
So you’ve been reduced to posting cute pics?
This is what happens when don’t have clue what you’re talking about slick.
One of the nice things about being a law abiding gun owner is that I have less of a need for law enforcement help than a bedwetter like you.
You don't get it...I have no problem with cops when they do their job within the law. But if they mess with me when I am not committing any crime whatsoever, I will make it my life purpose to civilly and or criminally go after them and whatever government agency they happen to work for.
Ya see unlike you I have a real problem with those in government who think they can do whatever they please regardless of what is right or legal.
Unlike you, I have a real deep seated concerns regarding ever escalating widespread government corruption at all levels.
You clearly have no clue here mr. bell.
You want to roll over and kiss their butts, treating them like ruling class royalty instead of public servants while they trash and violate law and the Constitution?
I have no problem with that slick.
The Battle of Athens: Restoring the Rule of Law
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ut6yPrObw
If a trial has nothing to do with rights then you are accusing the court of being a kangaroo court which is a defining characteristic of a police state.
The citizen has the right to make it personal. The law does not.
Putting aside your inability to write properly, you have yet to put forward any valid evidence that Grisham acted in a “belligerent”, “angry”, or “hostile” manner as you have alleged. In other words, you a slandering the man with false accusations.
The jury has been deliberating for a day and a half
over a charge of “interfering with a police officer”,
or something similar.
Not sure what that means for a verdict one way or the other.
Posted: Friday, October 18, 2013 4:16 pm | Updated: 4:23 pm, Fri Oct 18, 2013.
Hung jury in Grisham case BELTON -- A six-person jury was unable to reach a verdict in the misdemeanor trial of Christopher Grisham, with the trial ending in a hung jury Friday afternoon. Grisham, a U.S. Army master sergeant, was charged with interfering with the duties of a Temple Police officer after his March 16 arrest by Officer Steve Ermis while Grisham and his son, Chris, were on a 10-mile hike for a Boy Scout badge. The elder Grisham carried an AR-15 rifle and a concealed handgun for which he had a permit. Grisham said he was carrying the weapons for protection from feral hogs, coyotes and even a puma that was previously seen in the area.
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Update Ping - post 216.
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