Joe Saunders
BizPac Review
April 3, 2014
Texas gun rights activists are planning a rally on Sunday to protest the stun-gun arrest of a teenager arrested by San Antonio police for doing nothing more than exercising his constitutional rights.
According to San Antonio radio station WOA, the arrest occurred Sunday night, when police stopped 19-year-old Henry Gerald Vichique, who was carrying a loaded rifle strapped to his back.
During a 14-minute encounter recorded by Vichique, officers at first told him they had been called because of reports that Vichique was pointing the gun at people. Vichique denied doing anything wrong and repeatedly stressed that he was acting in accordance with the law.
He also asked repeatedly if he was being arrested and was told he was not. At what seemed to be the end of the encounter, the officer told Vichique he was free to go, but he was going to be followed home for his own safety.
“You are not under arrest. You are free to go,” an officer said in the video. “You’re just going to happen to walk home, and I’m just going to happen to make sure you get home safely — and as soon as you get home safely, you will never see us again.”
That’s when another officer arrived who had other ideas.
Vichique is ordered to surrender the gun and refuses because he has not been placed under arrest. Guess what happens next.
“The Taser malfunctioned and did not stop after the five seconds,” the police report states. “I had to manually shut off the Taser.”
According to WOAI, the police report state Vichique was arrested under a San Antonio ordinance that prohibits loaded weapons being carried in the street.
Open Carry Texas argues that that ordinance is illegal because of Texas state law that allows weapons. It also claims the officers who arrested Vichique “lacked training, experience, common sense, and a basic understanding of Texas law and rights afforded to Texans.”
The whole encounter is in the recording, but skip to the 8-minute mark. That’s when things go from bad to worse.
H/T: The Blaze
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