UPDATE:

KALAMAZOO, MI

— A man who was acting strangely while openly carrying a rifle on the sidewalk prompted a large police response in

Sunday afternoon.

Kalamazoo Public Safety Lt. Stacey Geik said officers were called to Cork Street Coin Laundry, 823 E. Cork St., at 4:05 p.m. on a report of a man who appeared to be intoxicated openly carrying a rifle outside of the laundromat and across the street at an Auto Zone.

Geik said police believed the man was an open carry advocate who was attempting to demonstrate his Second Amendment rights, but the possibility of the man being intoxicated prompted an officer to be dispatched to the scene to try to speak with the man.

"(The officer) asked the guy if he could talk to him and the guy went into an (expletive)-laden tirade, 'the revolution's coming, I don't have to talk to you, etcetera, etcetera,'" Geik said.

Geik said that while the man wasn't brandishing the rifle, he noted that the gun did not have a strap, which caused the man to hold the weapon in both hands and continue to "fidget" with it.

Tunji Ademodi, who works at the laundromat, said he couldn't believe when he heard the man shout obscenities at officers.

"He's just sitting there calling them all kind of pigs and F-U and this and that and grabbing himself," Ademodi said. "It was unreal."

Officers eventually convinced the man to set down his gun, upon which time it was seized. Geik said the man was informed he would have his weapon returned to him if he would agree to submit to a breathalyzer test, which he repeatedly refused.

"He was given the option to keep his rifle if he submitted to the PBT," Geik said. "He refused and basically told us to jam it.

He did not receive a citation, but Geik said he would be speaking further with the man tomorrow.

Geik said it was unfortunate that the man's actions led to such a large police response, but noted that there are open carry advocates throughout the country who demonstrate their Second Amendment rights without acting hostile towards police.

"We got the original 911 call of a guy saying he might be drunk. You got a guy armed with a rifle it's not in a sling, it's not in a holster, he's handling it; he's completely hostile and over the top with his profanity toward police officers; and then it turned into this."

Alex Mitchell covers county government and taxes for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Email him at amitche5@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.