CJ Grisham is at it again

[nightmare69]

CJ Grisham is suing Smith County for not letting him carry his firearm into the courthouse under his retired LEO creds. I never knew he was a LEO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJwQ_pP75C8

[The Annoyed Man]

Seems to me like that guy is 100% always looking for a confrontation. It’s the oxygen he breathes.

[ScottDLS]

Are retired LEOs allowed to carry in Texas Courthouses under LEOSA and state law or not? Is it only bad if CJ does it?

[Ruark]

CJ is clearly a confrontational dude. Wow. But he's correct in citing 46.15 (5), which renders the firearms restrictions unapplicable to a retired LEO who has a Certificate of Proficiency. I assume he does, since he's quoting the citation that specifies it:

(5) an honorably retired peace officer or other qualified retired law enforcement officer, as defined by 18 U.S.C. Section 926C, who holds a certificate of proficiency issued under Section 1701.357, Occupations Code, and is carrying a photo identification that is issued by a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency, as applicable, and that verifies that the officer is an honorably retired peace officer or other qualified retired law enforcement officer;

You can read it at:

https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/penal-code ... ect-46-15/

[The Annoyed Man]

CJ Grisham first became known to me on Michael Yon's website back in 2011 … a long time before I heard about his 2A activism. LEO or not, he’s an unstable person.
https://michaelyon.com/dispatches/threa ... n-soldier/

Threats are especially serious coming from an American service member armed with a powerful automatic weapon and plenty of ammunition. When those threats occur in a war zone from someone who has publicly discussed his mental health issues, no sane person would brush them off.

…snip…

During the dozen years I have been in the military on active duty or covering the wars, I have felt threatened only twice by American soldiers. Both times I warned other Soldiers of sufficient rank and position to cause action. Nothing happened. The first soldier is dead. He shot himself last year. He was under investigation for sexual harassment of another officer.

…snip…

The second soldier is Master Sergeant CJ Grisham. He is stationed at Kandahar Air Field nearby, where I must often travel. I have cautioned the Army numerous times through back channels. This soldier concerns me as a lethal threat to my person. Most recently, in another angry tirade, Grisham wrote, “I want to rip his head off and piss down his windpipe!” In my world, there is no television and people die all the time. All bullets are live. All threats are real.

Since the current wars began, I have alerted people about four soldiers. The two Generals I warned about were fired last year—one was subsequently convicted of a crime—and both were sent home from Afghanistan. They were incompetent. The third soldier shot himself and went home dead from Afghanistan. The fourth is CJ Grisham. He should not be in the US military carrying an assault rifle. Grisham has the motive. He has the means. He has access to his target. He has stated his desire. His behavior toward many people in the past has been that of a remorseless, soulless bully. His narcissism is apparent. When he’s backed into a corner, Grisham turns on the charm and claims to have PTSD in a shameless act to garner sympathy. He has gathered small cult-like group who vigorously defend him.

Yon has written a fair amount about Grisham: https://michaelyon.com/?s=Grisham

[ScottDLS]

I'm not necessarily going to judge a guy by what some Internet reporter said about him over a decade ago. I think he got railroaded on an "obstruction" misdemeanor for open carrying a rifle, which is perfectly legal. He's a bit of a publicity hound, but many lawyers are (you know he's a lawyer now), and if retired LEO can carry in courthouses, then he should be able to. I suspect however that particular judges may have the authority to specifically prohibit carry in their courtrooms in some circumstances, though not generally.

[nightmare69]

What department was he with long enough to achieve retired status?

[ScottDLS]

What department was he with long enough to achieve retired status?

Well per a Ft. Worth Star-Telegram article, his Army service as an particular category of intelligence specialist ("agent") was qualifying under LEOSA. If he obtained the credential (which he did), then I suspect he is qualified. It should also be noted that the "court" in which he was carrying was the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, not a judicial court, which I don't think would be off limits to carry even by a non-LEO LTC...maybe there are some other specifics of the location.

[carlson1]

I will be watching how this turns out. I have skin and blood in CJ’s stunt at the Smith County court house.

[The Annoyed Man]

I'm not necessarily going to judge a guy by what some Internet reporter said about him over a decade ago. I think he got railroaded on an "obstruction" misdemeanor for open carrying a rifle, which is perfectly legal. He's a bit of a publicity hound, but many lawyers are (you know he's a lawyer now), and if retired LEO can carry in courthouses, then he should be able to. I suspect however that particular judges may have the authority to specifically prohibit carry in their courtrooms in some circumstances, though not generally.

Yon's reporting is only what first generated my awareness as to who and what Grisham is. Was it prejudual? Yes, but it also made me pay attention, and from that I drew my own conclusions. FWIW, I believe Yon is somewhat of an attention hound also.

Grisham wasn't convicted for carrying a rifle, he was convicted for his behavior when the officer sought to disarm him—which whether we like it or not, is consistent with Texas law…while resisting arrest is not.

The following article is on Yon's site, but he’s not the author. The author is Barbara Lawrence, a retired Second Amendment supporter living in Texas. She said,

Grisham’s behavior in Temple is consistent with his behavior in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2009 when a similar case unfolded about school uniforms.

Stage a confrontation, become outraged when faced with consequences, threaten a lawsuit, raise money from supporters for which there appears to be no accountability, and carpet-bomb the lives and reputations of decent, good people all around him.

At least read that article. It describes the trial in Temple, and while it does not cast Grisham in a positive light, it has an even tone, and tells the story in fairly neutral terms.

Between his arrest while carrying the rifle, and his trial for that arrest, he was already arrested again on a trespassing charge in Austin. The dude can’t resist stepping on his own crank at every opportunity. He has very poor judgement.

The odds are that, if he’d been carrying that rifle slung behind, the incident could well have been resolved differently; but Grisham wanted the confrontation. Honestly, I’ve been onboard for passing both open and unlicensed carry virtually ever since I came to Texas almost 20 years ago. But there are right and wrong ways to get things done if you expect to be politically effective, and specializing in chaos for your own aggrandizement isn’t the right way to get things done. His actions don’t take place in a vacuum.

I don’t judge him for being a 2A activist. I judge him for being an unbalanced putz.

[G.A. Heath]

As someone who has butted heads with CJ I will be the first to admit that I admire his drive and tenacity while simultaneously questioning his motives and most often denouncing his methods.

CJ and I butted heads to the point he blamed Charles for some of my responses which I promptly called him out for. CJ will tell you that he is responsible for the unlicensed carry we have today, and he is correct in part but let me explain.

He and his circus are responsible for making it an issue sooner than it had been planned for and it burned a lot of political capital that we could have used elsewhere. But him and his circus are also he reason that there is a holster requirement for open carry. They are also the reason that there is less trust between police and anyone opencarrying because LEOs approach these encounters anticipating a CJ Grisham style confrontation.

Our unlicensed carry law that we enjoy today is not the product of CJ Grisham and his circus, they fought tooth and nail to kill it all the way up to the point that their 'more pure' bill was dead, buried, and beyond hope of resurrection. When there was no other hope of passing unlicensed carry they suddenly went from doing their best to kill the TSRA backed bill to supporting it so they could claim they helped pass unlicensed carry. It passed, no thanks to CJ Grisham and OCT but in spite of them and their best efforts.

[ScottDLS]

As someone who has butted heads with CJ I will be the first to admit that I admire his drive and tenacity while simultaneously questioning his motives and most often denouncing his methods.

CJ and I butted heads to the point he blamed Charles for some of my responses which I promptly called him out for. CJ will tell you that he is responsible for the unlicensed carry we have today, and he is correct in part but let me explain.

He and his circus are responsible for making it an issue sooner than it had been planned for and it burned a lot of political capital that we could have used elsewhere. But him and his circus are also he reason that there is a holster requirement for open carry. They are also the reason that there is less trust between police and anyone opencarrying because LEOs approach these encounters anticipating a CJ Grisham style confrontation.

Our unlicensed carry law that we enjoy today is not the product of CJ Grisham and his circus, they fought tooth and nail to kill it all the way up to the point that their 'more pure' bill was dead, buried, and beyond hope of resurrection. When there was no other hope of passing unlicensed carry they suddenly went from doing their best to kill the TSRA backed bill to supporting it so they could claim they helped pass unlicensed carry. It passed, no thanks to CJ Grisham and OCT but in spite of them and their best efforts.

The unlicensed carry bill that did pass was actually a net negative for carry rights in Texas, particularly for those who already had a LTC. Moving the 46.035 prohibitions into 46.03 removed the ability to carry non-handguns in many locations where they were previously allowed. By replacing a prohibition on "weapons (handguns)", with a prohibition on firearms. It removed the ability to carry handguns in hospitals (with LTC and absent 30.0x) notice, as well as the ability to carry other non-handgun firearms in hospitals, 51% bars and some other places. Not all non-handgun firearms are long rifles. It includes SBRs, machine guns including machine pistols, AOWs, and folding carbine "rifles". This could be a good reason to have opposed the bill as it was passed. I'm not sure I would go that far, but I can see the purist point that CJ was making.

[G.A. Heath]

As someone who has butted heads with CJ I will be the first to admit that I admire his drive and tenacity while simultaneously questioning his motives and most often denouncing his methods.

CJ and I butted heads to the point he blamed Charles for some of my responses which I promptly called him out for. CJ will tell you that he is responsible for the unlicensed carry we have today, and he is correct in part but let me explain.

He and his circus are responsible for making it an issue sooner than it had been planned for and it burned a lot of political capital that we could have used elsewhere. But him and his circus are also he reason that there is a holster requirement for open carry. They are also the reason that there is less trust between police and anyone opencarrying because LEOs approach these encounters anticipating a CJ Grisham style confrontation.

Our unlicensed carry law that we enjoy today is not the product of CJ Grisham and his circus, they fought tooth and nail to kill it all the way up to the point that their 'more pure' bill was dead, buried, and beyond hope of resurrection. When there was no other hope of passing unlicensed carry they suddenly went from doing their best to kill the TSRA backed bill to supporting it so they could claim they helped pass unlicensed carry. It passed, no thanks to CJ Grisham and OCT but in spite of them and their best efforts.

The unlicensed carry bill that did pass was actually a net negative for carry rights in Texas, particularly for those who already had a LTC. Moving the 46.035 prohibitions into 46.03 removed the ability to carry non-handguns in many locations where they were previously allowed. By replacing a prohibition on "weapons (handguns)", with a prohibition on firearms. It removed the ability to carry handguns in hospitals (with LTC and absent 30.0x) notice, as well as the ability to carry other non-handgun firearms in hospitals, 51% bars and some other places. Not all non-handgun firearms are long rifles. It includes SBRs, machine guns including machine pistols, AOWs, and folding carbine "rifles". This could be a good reason to have opposed the bill as it was passed. I'm not sure I would go that far, but I can see the purist point that CJ was making.

The issues with that bill are the price we paid to get it passed with reduced political capital in time to avoid being burned further the next session. The OCT 'pure CC bill' would never have passed and we would have bled political capital to repair damage OCT and similar groups caused. Remember that these guys first bill they shopped around which no one even filed IIRC was much much worse it would have done away with 30.06 and made gun busters apply among other things. Thanks to the TSRA bill we limited the damage and let the circus move on so we could fix the problems they caused.

[nightmare69]

I will be watching how this turns out. I have skin and blood in CJ’s stunt at the Smith County court house.

It’s going to be interesting how it plays out with Smith County. I hate how he claims to be a retired LEO because of some technicality with LEOSA and his time in the Army that allows him to carry under the statute. No real retired or active LEO would act like such a clown.

[carlson1]

I will be watching how this turns out. I have skin and blood in CJ’s stunt at the Smith County court house.

It’s going to be interesting how it plays out with Smith County. I hate how he claims to be a retired LEO because of some technicality with LEOSA and his time in the Army that allows him to carry under the statute. No real retired or active LEO would act like such a clown.

Also while this spectacle was going on the East Side of the Courthouse behind the scenes the Chief Deputy contacted TCOLE and they said he is NOT qualified as what a retired (LEO) LEOSA is. Thus he was denied entry with a firearm.