Threats made against Oakland County Sheriff's deputies after camera confrontation

Open carry activist carries outside Oakland County Jail, is confronted by deputy

PONTIAC, Mich. – An open carry activist sparked a confrontation with an Oakland County Sheriff's deputy while open carrying a handgun and videotaping the employee parking lot of the county jail.

The confrontation was posted on YouTube. This isn't the first run-in with the law this open carry activist has had. A similar incident resulted in the lockdown of Madison Heights schools.

This time around the video shows the deputy repeatedly asking the activist for identification and asking him what he's doing. He doesn't cooperate and then starts swearing at the deputy when he goes into this pocket looking for identification. The activist wasn't ticketed, and the video went up on YouTube which, according to the Sheriff's Department, spurred some death threats against the department.

Watch the video here (WARNING: Explicit language).

Is it reasonable for a law enforcement officer to ask a man, who is open carrying a firearm and videotaping either near a school or the jail, for ID? The Sheriff's Department sure thinks so, and so does security consultant Erick Barnes.

"There are more threats out there than people recognize," Barnes said.

The struggle today is how to tell who is just ranting on the internet in their mother's basement and who means actual harm. The Sheriff's Department said it is investigating those online threats related to the posting of the video.


About the Author: