Charges filed in March against a gun-rights activist openly carrying a firearm in Olmos Park have been dropped due to “insufficient evidence.”
Olmos Park police arrested Christopher “CJ” Grisham, founder and president of Open Carry Texas, after he openly carried a firearm in the enclave municipality, eventually charging him with felony assault on a police officer and two other misdemeanor charges.
Grisham’s arrest prompted hundreds of armed demonstrators to march on the municipality’s City Hall in April.
Leslie Garza, media liaison for the Bexar County District Attorney’s office, told the Rivard Report Thursday afternoon that Grisham’s felony assault on a peace officer charge was closed on April 30, and two other misdemeanors related to the incident were closed on May 1.
“Getting the charges dropped is exactly what I expected, because the charges never should have been filed in the first place,” Grisham told the Rivard Report Thursday afternoon. “An innocent man was assaulted violently, tossed in a cage, and charged with bogus crimes for doing absolutely nothing but exercising his rights.”
Olmos Park Police Chief Rene Valenciano, who tased Grisham during the March 27 arrest, declined to comment for this story.
At the time of Grisham’s arrest, Olmos Park and other surrounding municipalities had in place ordinances banning the open carry of rifles and shotguns by anyone other than a police officer, which conflicted with state law that allowed for the open carry of such firearms.
Since Jan. 1, 2016, it has been legal for Texans licensed with a concealed-carry handgun license to also openly carry handguns.
Olmos Park and Alamo Heights repealed their ordinances on the open carry of rifles and shotguns shortly after Grisham’s arrest.
Demonstrators at the April 7 rally attempted to deliver hundreds of petitions to Olmos Park City Hall demanding that the charges against Grisham be dropped. They also called for Valenciano’s resignation.
“I have never met officers as corrupt, or a leader as corrupt, as [the] Olmos Park Police Department,” Grisham said.
