Pixiq

I can't really fault the officers for approaching her this way in the first place IF she was carrying a weapon even if it was legal.

I didn't hear anything about putting the gun down. Only about putting the camera down. I guess the camera is truly the new gun. It was the camera she was brandishing not the gun.

If this had been about the gun they would have asked her to put the gun down.

If you're allowed to carry open you're allowed to carry open. If they had a problem with the gun they would have said to put the gun down.

What if she had been carrying concealed?

Hi, I'm the one that took the vid. Couple of things:

1. Had I known about the guy that got kicked in the face in my own "back yard," I might not have been so bold.

2. The "woman" you see in the background was a little girl. That's why I blurred her face - and it was not an easy thing for me to do!

Here's what happened:

I live across the street from a high school and I almost always open carry. Mainly, the oc activists in town have done a great job teaching LVMPD their job - knowing that it is LEGAL to open carry in Nevada. In a nutshell, all you need to OC is to be at least 18, be a U.S. Citizen, and not be a felon.

At about 1pm I saw a Clark County School District (CCSD) car detaining someone. I figured it was a simple traffic stop since it was "school zone" be-extra-slow time.

After 2pm I noticed the same cop, cop car, and suspect. Only this time the suspect was standing behind the cop's car and was in handcuffs.

So I went home, told my husband I was going for a walk with the dog, and made sure to take my cam, just in case I get some crap for open carrying. (I'm new in the neighborhood.) As I walked out the house I left a msg on my friend, Dave's, phone telling him that I was going for a walk and checking out something that looked suspicious.

I stayed on my side of the street (across from the high school) and walked toward the incident. I walked right by the African American cop when my dog needed to pee. So I stopped and figured the cop saw my gun. I also noticed there was a little girl in the back seat of the suspect's car. (If you look closely you'll see she was carrying her school backpack.) It appeared the cop had arrested the "dad?"

I started walking forward and a number of scenarios ran through my head - like what happened? Did this cop abuse his authority? Then I see another cop car arrive and he parked behind the other two cars. I looked forward and decided that since I was wearing my flip flops I didn't want to walk what felt like it was half a mile to legally cross the street. I figured the one cop already saw I was open carrying so "Jaywalking" would be fantastic probable cause to mess with me. So I decided to return. As I got closer I made a conscientious decision to video what I was seeing - the second cop appeared to have gotten there to do something with the little girl.

That's when I took out my cam and the cop in the car hollered out to the cop on the sidewalk to say, "the lady's got a camera - over there, the lady with the camera."

That's when you see them coming at me with their hands on their guns giving me unlawful orders.

Couple of notes:

I've never been in trouble with the law, and never been handcuffed (not even for fun.)

Right after I got cuffed, the cop took my gun despite my "I DO NOT CONSENT!" objections. He took it anyway and I said, "YOU HAD BETTER NOT SWEEP ME!" The cop actually did a good job maneuvering my .45, took the magazine out, and the bullet out of the chamber.

Then he ordered me to SIT ON THE CURB. I absolutely refused and told the cop, "you're gonna have to shove me to the ground. And since I've got a gigantic hemorrhoid in my ass, you'll probably make me bleed to death." The guy looked stunned and told me, "Well, then, just stand back against the wall. I was squealing like a stuck pig asking them if they were rookies or something. The White cop said, "I've been a police officer for 12 years." The other didn't say anything.

I kept asking why they were doing this and the words "officer safety" kept coming up. The 12-year cop kept saying, "We have a right to be safe." I kept correcting him saying, "While you're wearing a gun and a badge you have ZERO RIGHTS! You have AUTHORITY. I'M the one with the rights ... rights that you're violating!"

Then my friend, Dave, called me back and I managed to swing my hand over to my pocket to get the call. I hollered into my pocket to Dave, "I'm being handcuffed. Call Burl!" (my husband of 29 years.)

The Black cop said, "Hey lady, you didn't have to do that." So I asked the cop if he'd talk to my friend. And he did.

Then the boss, Sgt. Valdez, showed up and tried to bully me. I wasn't giving them any info. I heard someone say "Did you run the number on the gun?" I said, "I DO NOT CONSENT TO YOU GUYS RUNNING MY NUMBER!"

They kept asking me over and over what my name is. I only said, "Lily." The Black cop got on the phone and it was like he was searching for any wanted "Lily" in the entire universe that matched my description.

Then a metro officer showed up and tried to get me to talk. I did not reply to the following questions:

How much education do you have?
Did you go to high school?
Did you graduate from high school?
Any college (asking as if that was ridiculous).

I know I have the right to remain silent - just not the ability. Cause I exploded when he said this,

"The United States Constitution says you have a right to bear arms. Do you know what amendment that is?"

I said, "DON'T CONDESCEND TO ME YOU CLOWN! I'M OLD ENOUGH TO BE YOUR MOTHER!"

He took a couple of quick blinks and went away for a bit.

Then he came back to try to explain to me how difficult his job is. I said, "I have a quiz for YOU. Which amendment says I have the right to remain silent? GET ME A LAWYER NOW!!!"

He said I didn't need a lawyer cause I wasn't being arrested. I said, "I'm the one in the handcuffs - I WANT A LAWYER!"

Then the CCSC sgt hollered out to me, "You're in big trouble. Your gun is not registered. We're bringing up charges with the attorney general."

I laughed and said, "You boys are either dyslexic or stupid. Do what you're threatening and I'll be LIVING IN YOUR HOUSE!"

Then again someone begged me to just give them my full name. Just then the Black cop triumphantly declares: GONZALEZ, HER NAME IS LILY GONZALEZ.

I never admitted that I was Lily Gonzalez. But I did say, "So.... my gun IS registered."

My husband and son both showed up at the last 2-3 minutes of my handcuffing. The Metro cop was bs-ing my husband telling him how dangerous it is to pull people over. He made it appear like I was interfering with them. Dave says it's called, "Damage control." And my husband felt sorry for THEM. Are you kidding me? I'm thinking - dude, it was I in the handcuffs. Me. Your wife. But he probably thought I was a bully and made them feel stupid. (I was and I did.)

There is something extremely powerful to be able to dominate four cops with guns and badges.... even while handcuffed.

There is quite a bit more that transpired during those 56 minutes. And much more that has transpired since.

You will all be interested to know that I can prove some of what I'm saying. Remember they made me stand back against the wall? Well I flustered them up so much that they forgot I still had my cam. And although most of what you can see is my ass and the wall, I've got a lot of what I just reported ON TAPE!

Thanks for posting my vid on your blog. And I hope to visit it more. You guys are my kind of men!

TL

You can open carry a loaded weapon in Nevada. Why would anyone carry an unloaded weapon around? Cops can ask her to see her registration card. Handguns have to be registered in Clark County.

http://www.nraila.org/statelawpdfs/NVSL.pdf

Only in California are you required to keep your openly carried firearm unloaded. The story in question is from Nevada.

Where the incident occurred, a police officer can stop a person who is open carrying, and ask to inspect their weapon registration card (city law requiring all firearms to be registered) and the weapon, to verify that the carried weapon matches the registration. But that doesn't require nearly an hour in handcuffs, or a demand to turn off and/or put away a camera. As a camera is hardly a weapon, and she'd have had to drop either the leash or the camera to draw her gun, the police having their hands on their own guns cannot be justified.

The fact they turned their backs on their own traffic stop, when statistically speaking, a cop is most likely to be shot during such a stop out of all the various things they regularly do, makes even less sense.