(Here's raw footage of the arrests.)
From the New York Post,
A SWAT team used an armored vehicle to raid a Texas bar that opened for business in defiance of the coronavirus lockdown, eighty-sixing the owner — and six heavily armed “vigilantes” who were defending her, according to reports.
Big Daddy Zane’s Bar owner Gabrielle Ellison, 47, told the Odessa American that she called on Open Texas to defend her so she could defy the executive order to close, which they all deem unconstitutional.
When police arrived Monday, there were at least 20 protesters there — including six outside brandishing loaded “AR-15 type weapons,” police told the paper.
Multiple deputies and Texas Troopers rolled up Monday with an Armored Personnel Carrier, aiming their guns at the armed protesters and screaming for them to put down their weapons, footage on Fox 24 shows.
Ellison was arrested for defying the lockdown, while six men were arrested for possessing firearms on a licensed property, Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said. An observer was also detained for interfering with a peace officer’s duties.
“I understand their side of it,” Griffis told the Odessa American.
“Defying the governor’s orders is one thing, but when you bring a bunch of armed vigilantes in from other parts of the state for a show of force, I just got a problem with that.”
The sheriff told Fox 24 that they were “not here to violate anybody’s rights” or “take good citizen’s guns from them.”
“We’re just here to enforce the orders set forth by the governor and enforce the law, he said, saying the protesters were “trying to intimidate people and provoke a response.”
The bar owner — who was released later Monday on a $500 bond — insisted they had “no business” arresting any of them.
“They were practicing their second amendment right to protect my first amendment. They have absolutely no business in this jail right now, no business at all,” Ellison told Fox 24.
As of Wednesday, Texas has seen 33,369 reported coronavirus cases, with more than 900 deaths.
Open Texas member Philip Archibald — who was not one of those arrested — defended the group’s actions in a Facebook Live video about the protest.
“We are only going to reopen the country by empowering people and helping them stand up and getting them back off their knees,” he said.
From the New York Post,
A SWAT team used an armored vehicle to raid a Texas bar that opened for business in defiance of the coronavirus lockdown, eighty-sixing the owner — and six heavily armed “vigilantes” who were defending her, according to reports.
Big Daddy Zane’s Bar owner Gabrielle Ellison, 47, told the Odessa American that she called on Open Texas to defend her so she could defy the executive order to close, which they all deem unconstitutional.
When police arrived Monday, there were at least 20 protesters there — including six outside brandishing loaded “AR-15 type weapons,” police told the paper.
Multiple deputies and Texas Troopers rolled up Monday with an Armored Personnel Carrier, aiming their guns at the armed protesters and screaming for them to put down their weapons, footage on Fox 24 shows.
Ellison was arrested for defying the lockdown, while six men were arrested for possessing firearms on a licensed property, Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said. An observer was also detained for interfering with a peace officer’s duties.
“I understand their side of it,” Griffis told the Odessa American.
“Defying the governor’s orders is one thing, but when you bring a bunch of armed vigilantes in from other parts of the state for a show of force, I just got a problem with that.”
The sheriff told Fox 24 that they were “not here to violate anybody’s rights” or “take good citizen’s guns from them.”
“We’re just here to enforce the orders set forth by the governor and enforce the law, he said, saying the protesters were “trying to intimidate people and provoke a response.”
The bar owner — who was released later Monday on a $500 bond — insisted they had “no business” arresting any of them.
“They were practicing their second amendment right to protect my first amendment. They have absolutely no business in this jail right now, no business at all,” Ellison told Fox 24.
As of Wednesday, Texas has seen 33,369 reported coronavirus cases, with more than 900 deaths.
Open Texas member Philip Archibald — who was not one of those arrested — defended the group’s actions in a Facebook Live video about the protest.
“We are only going to reopen the country by empowering people and helping them stand up and getting them back off their knees,” he said.
