Gun Rights Activists Found Guilty in Michigan

Back in February, two gun rights activists armed themselves and then walked into the Dearborn, Michigan, police department. James Baker, 24, and Brandon Vreeland, 40, both from Michigan, were charged with crimes stemming from the incident.

In early July, the men were convicted. Both were found guilty of carrying a concealed weapon and felony resisting arrest. Vreeland was also convicted with opposing an officer and disturbing the peace. They will be sentenced August 18.

Baker wore a mask over his face. They recorded themselves as they walked into the police station armed with shoulder-mounted firearms and handguns. The teo men refer to themselves as open carry activists, and were protesting what they say was an illegal stop by Dearborn police earlier that day. “We’re going to go in and file a complaint because we were illegally pulled over about an hour ago,” one of the men said on video of the incident, which was uploaded to YouTube.

The police say they stopped the men because they had received reports of two suspicious men wearing tactical vests and masks in a vehicle. When the police went to the scene, the men had apparently left the area. Shortly after that, a Dearborn police sergeant on patrol saw the men in a vehicle and stopped them. The sergeant reported that the men were wearing tactical gear and the masked passenger refused to talk to the sergeant. Despite the strange behavior, he didn’t see any weapons in the car so he let them go.

It was after this stop by the sergeant that they entered the police station. Now, it’s just my opinion, but I think they should have stopped while they were ahead and not gone to the police station. But also, it seems like they were wanting to be noticed. Who wears a balaclava and tactical gear while they’re just sitting in their car?

Regardless of their motives, they walked openly armed into the police station, where the officers responded with their guns drawn. “I will put a round in you, sir,” one of the officers is heard saying on the video. “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

On the video, the men said several times that they were there to file a complaint. “It’s all legal, sir,” one of them said to police.

Vreeland and Baker eventually did put down their weapons and surrendered. Officers seized their seized a loaded AP-14 firearm, a rifle magazine containing 47 rounds, a loaded Glock 19 handgun with four additional magazines containing 66 rounds, body armor and ballistic vests, a mask, an AR-15 rifle, an AK-47-style rifle, a gun belt, and several pieces of camera equipment.

What do you think? Do you think these guys did any good to their cause? I don’t.