Open Carry Texas plans rally to teach Texas sheriff ‘a lesson’

By Caitlin Randle [email protected]

Updated 9:45 pm CDT, Thursday, May 21, 2020

In a video posted last week, Open Carry Texas Vice President David Amad said the group will return to Odessa and teach Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis “a lesson” following the arrests of some group members for carrying guns outside a West Odessa bar.

Six men were arrested earlier this month after openly carrying rifles in a lot adjacent to Big Daddy Zane’s. They said they were supporting the owner, who opened against Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive orders. She was also arrested for violating those orders, as was another employee.

Griffis said in a press conference the day after the arrests that the presence of Open Carry Texas was meant to intimidate law enforcement and that the men were not there to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

Now, members of Open Carry Texas are planning to return to Big Daddy Zane’s and hold a second rally on June 6, according to a Facebook event and video posted on YouTube.

“We’re going to Odessa and we’re going to show this son of a b**** what the Constitution really means,” Amad said in the video. “We’re gonna have to stand up to this ol’ boy.”

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The arrests of the six individuals led to extensive debate on social media over the validity of the charges against them. The men were charged with carrying weapons where prohibited; Griffis cited the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission code when explaining the charges, given the men were on a property adjacent to the bar. The Texas Penal Code defines a bar’s premises as the building where the bar is located and does not include parking lots or nearby properties.

Griffis has said he and his family have received numerous threats since the arrests became national news. In Amad’s video, he called for viewers to cease threatening Griffis’ family.

However, Amad appeared to threaten Griffis in the video.

“This guy needs a lesson,” he said. “He needs a big lesson, and we need to go out there and teach him.”

Amad said any rally attendees who break the law will surrender peacefully, but if they believe they haven’t broken the law and the sheriff’s office attempts to arrest them, he said “we’re not going to allow that son of a b**** to arrest us.”

“I don’t care if he rolls in with the whole 2nd Armored Division, I’m not going to surrender to him,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Ector County Sheriff’s Office said they have seen the video but could not comment on it because it’s part of an ongoing investigation.