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ShootDontTalk wrote:I find it extremely disappointing that many regulars on this forum simply cannot resist judging people with whom they disagree without a moment of court time or a shred of evidence being presented. It is often stated here that, in effect, being arrested for something equates to being found guilty of something. I regularly read some post here that as a CHL you may not be convicted for doing anything illegal, but "you may not avoid the ride." On this forum, it seems to me, that is all the proof that is needed.

Despite whether any of us like someone or agree with their activities, they deserve a fair day in court before a jury of their peers - something all of you would demand were you in their shoes. And basing any supposition of guilt or innocence on an obviously edited video (which will never be allowed to be admitted into evidence as is) released to the media by a PD on the night of an event, is a foolhardy endeavor IMHO. Once again, I think I will reserve judgement until all the facts are in and the jury speaks - or not. Same as I hope you would do for me.

I'm not judging anyone, but I am noticing that people in LEADERSHIP positions are placing themselves into situations that can, and do, result in bad PR for the efforts to advance Open Carry. The truly amazing thing is that these situations are not isolated incidents, but seem to be repeat occurrences. All this does is give fuel to the opposition and cost us political capital. The arrests of people in leadership positions are symptoms of a problem in the open carry movement, they themselves are not the problem.

I recently interviewed an attorney for my podcast relating to a case he won as well as a legal service he is part of. The case was that of Michael Keoughan from CATI-Midland/Odessa and the arrest was in Andrews Texas. The interview was primarily for the legal service he is a part of, however we did discuss that case a little. The point of the matter is that that people in leadership positions in the Open Carry movement should be AVOIDING situations that can lead to an arrest, not placing themselves into those situations with alarming frequency.

I have never said anyone was guilty, nor have any of the posts I have read here done so. To accuse those on this forum of finding guilt before trial simply because of someone's position on an issue is rather hypocritical and insulting.

In the end it really doesn't matter if the arrest was lawful or not, the antis have their anti-gun news piece to attack Open Carry specifically and gun rights in general. If you are going to be an advocate for something and your in a leadership position relating to it then you have to focus strictly on that subject. Allowing yourself to get sidetracked or try to combine it with something else has a great chance of damaging your efforts.

Lets look at OC leadership in Texas and see what is happening:

CJ Grisham (OCT): Convicted, and appealing his case relating to the arrest relating to the open carry of an AR15 (charge was relating to the interference with a police officers duties). OCed in Oklahoma in apparent violation of Oklahoma law, claims he may or may not have a license, the gun may or may not have been real.

Cory Watkins (OCTC): As noted above he was recently arrested for interfering with a traffic stop, he was open carrying a replica black powder revolver when arrested.

Murdoch Pizgatti (CATI): Not his legal name, operates under this alias for reasons known to himself and friends. Not much is known outside of the fact he is also a founder of DontComply.com and is in a leadership role there as well. Come And Take it as well as DontComply.com are closely linked. He has been arrested on weapons related charges, the validity and status/disposition of which is unknown at this time.

Pastor Terry Holcom (Texas Carry): Aside from a strong dislike (hate may be more like it) of the NRA and TSRA he appears to be the most reasonable choice for someone in a leadership role in the Open Carry movement. He was arrested at the capital in Austin, the charges were later dropped.

If you will notice there is a pattern regarding people in leadership positions within the OC movement, there are a few people I have not mentioned but you get the point. Leaders need to be above the arrests, they need to quit doing things that could get them arrested, and most importantly they need to lead from somewhere outside of a jail cell or court room.

I am reserving judgement until I know more, however let me make the following observations:

1. Cory Watkins is President of OCTC which did sue Arlington in federal court, and won. Some might claim this is retaliation for that.
2. Cory Watkins is a firebrand who's group broke away from OCT because OCTC was too radical.
3. The "Cop Watchers" have more video than they are posting, I would like to see more of the incident and the situation that led up to it.
4. Arlington Police Department has more video than they released, I would like to see more of it.
5. Something simply isn't adding up here, there is a lot more information available to both sides that neither is going public with. Maybe they are just being smart and are saving it for court or maybe there is something that one or both doesn't want to get out.