Gun group threatens to descend on Texas town after sheriff arrests COVID-19 protesters

The vice president of gun rights group Open Carry Texas warned Ector County Sheriff on Thursday that when he returns to Odessa, he is going to bring 150 men with him.

In a video posted on San Angelo LIVE! and the Open Carry Texas Facebook page, David Amad expressed anger that Sheriff Mike Griffis arrested protesters earlier this month at Daddy Zane’s sports bar in West Odessa, an unincorporated area of the Texas oil town known mostly for its high school football.

Amad is hoping that his message will be more clear on June 6, when he said he and other members of the Second Amendment rights group will converge on Odessa.

“This sheriff did what he did because he simply doesn’t personally approve what those boys were doing,” Amad said of Griffis in the video. “The bottom line is he wanted to make an example out of these boys. He wanted to show the world that if you come to Odessa and stand up for your rights, this is how you’re going to get treated.”

“June the 6th, we’re going to Odessa and we’re going to show this son of a b---- what the constitution really means.”

Activists came from as far as Dallas on May 5 to support the reopening of the sports bar — and protest Gov. Greg Abbott’s mandated closing of the business because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some of the activists were armed and inside the bar, according to media reports, and law enforcement authorities were called, according to News West 9. .

Ector County sheriff deputies and Texas state troopers arrived at the bar and a SWAT team was called, according to media reports.

Eight people were arrested, Sheriff Griffis said.

During Sheriff Griffis’ news conference on May 6, he said that “six were charged with felonies related to unlawfully carrying a weapon on a licensed premise, and one for interfering with the duties of a peace officer and the owner for violating the Governor’s orders,” as reported by OA Online.

Bar owner Gabrielle Ellison told CBS DFW that she understood the risks involved in opening up her bar, but that she needed to feed her family. Her message was similar to that of the Dallas salon owner Shellly Luther, who gained national attention after she opened her business in violation of county and state orders, with armed activists at her side.

“We can’t take it no more, we’re not going to make it,” Ellison said to CBS. “ I am shocked. I had customers come through saying, ‘You know they have SWAT built up, they have SWAT built up.’ Why would you bring SWAT on a peaceful situation?”

According to CBS, Ellison spoke with the sheriff’s office prior to the protest and they told her that “everything would be fine” as long as guns weren’t seen on the property.

“I’m ready for everybody to get back to work,” Griffis said during the press conference, which was posted on Facebook. “And this entire thing has zero to do with the Second Amendment rights of our citizens in this country.”

Following the arrests of the protesters, Griffis told NewsWest 9 that the department had been “getting hundreds of threatening phone calls, emails and texts.”

He also told NewsWest that “enough is enough, and if you want to get your message across there’s a better way to go about it.”

Open Carry Texas’ Facebook post reads that “Open Carry Texas doesn’t make threats; we make promises. If you don’t want violence, don’t get violent with us. If you don’t want a problem, don’t start a problem.”

Amad also says in the video that the protest will be peaceful, and that if anyone breaks the law, they will surrender peacefully.

Since 2016, Texans who have been licensed by the state are allowed to carry handguns openly or concealed, according to Texas Department of Public Safety. But there are many restrictions, including not being allowed in bars.