Armed protest at Alamo ends quietly

During this rally in 2013, Texans showed up carrying rifles, shotguns and antique firearms to protest a city ordinance limiting where gun owners can take their weapons. During this rally in 2013, Texans showed up carrying rifles, shotguns and antique firearms to protest a city ordinance limiting where gun owners can take their weapons. Photo: Express-News File Photo Photo: Express-News File Photo Image 1 of / 66 Caption Close Armed protest at Alamo ends quietly 1 / 66 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — Gun enthusiasts gathered at the Alamo Saturday to rally for the right to openly carry firearms, without state and local restrictions that are now in place.

Demonstrators, many carrying rifles, shotguns or 19th-century pistols, cheered speakers who urged them to hold tight to their firearms, as their protected Constitutional right.

Featured speaker Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a candidate for lieutenant governor whose General Land Office oversees the Alamo, approved the use of the Alamo grounds for the event. Until 2011 the Alamo was overseen by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, which limited demonstrations at one of the state's most recognized landmarks.

Police Chief William McManus said this week that police would oversee the protest, which he expected to be peaceful.

Live coverage updates:

Update 3:05 p.m.

Police have threatened to cite remaining protesters who are armed for a violation of city ordinance that bans weapons in city parks. Police did not enforce the ordinance during the demonstration, but told a small group of armed protesters who declined to leave they would be cited if they stayed.

“How do you even sleep at night,” one protester asked an officer during a five-minute standoff that gained the attention of a small crowd.

The protester labeled the police “tyrants with badges.”

Update: 2:54 p.m.

A handful of protesters that remained at the Alamo after the event ended Saturday were told to leave or be cited by police. Express-News reporters are monitoring.

Update: 2 p.m.

The rallying crowd began to disperse and trail out of Travis Park by around 2 p.m. Saturday. The protest ended quietly, after about four hours of impassioned speeches about the right to bear arms and protecting the Second Amendment against government interference. Organizers expected 1,000 people to join in. Police estimated that at its fullest, the protest drew between 450 and 500 people.

Update: 1:25 p.m.

Protesters arrived at Travis Park to continue their rally, including an “open mic” session with a bullhorn.

The park is named for Alamo defender William Barrett Travis and was once used as a gathering place for Confederate soldiers. The park on East Travis Street features a statue donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, standing at its center.

Update: 1:15 p.m.

Chanting “live free or die!” protesters marched toward Travis Park to continue their demonstration. Hundreds packed the sidewalks leading from the Alamo to the park, where an “open mic” session is planned. Bicycle cops trailed alongside the crowd while they moved off the Alamo grounds.

Update: 12:45 p.m.

Protesters at the Alamo are next expected to gather at Travis Park for an “open mic” session, organizers said. The group was set to start marching to the park at around 12:30 p.m. Around that time, there were still hundreds assembled at the Alamo, where speeches continued.

Four members of the Australian Women's National Soccer team, in town for a friendly match Sunday, wandered through the crowd wide-eyed.

“Only in America,” said midfielder Heather Garriock. "It's surreal. You only see this in the movies.

Meanwhile, on stage, speakers continued to attack what they said were efforts to infringe on Americans' rights, Second Amendment and otherwise.

“I support every one of them,” said B. Thomas, 27, who came from Missouri City near Houston. “We all sing the same song.”

Update: 12:20 p.m.

More than a dozen police officers patroled the crowd at the Alamo, Saturday. Chief William McManus was among them. He did not make public remarks but did have an exchange with national gun enthusiast Alex Jones that drew a small crowd. The radio show host and famed conspiracy theorist walked away from the chief and back into the crowd after a few minutes.

Update: 11:35 a.m.

Three members of the National Charro Federation are on Alamo Street protesting the hundreds of people standing on the plaza where Mission Indians are buried.

“These people that love the Second Amendment, that are law-abiding citizens who respect this country's laws, they should not be trampling on a Native American cemetery,” said Ronald Rocha, 72, a descendant of Mission Indians.

Update: 11:15 a.m.

A couple dozen people were gathered near South Alamo and Sixth streets for a grassroots anti-gun demonstration put on Saturday morning by a group called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Organizers said the would will draw a“line in the sandbox” to oppose “open carry extremists.”

Update: 10:55 a.m.

In stark contrast to Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson's tempered rhetoric, firebrand TV and radio host Alex Jones brought his message of anti-globalization to the stage.

To applause and cheers, Jones blew out his voice as he warned the crowd that “globalists” are trying to take away their firearms.

“They're not misguided liberals,” Jones said, “They're authoritarians who are arming to the teeth to take away our liberties.”

Update: 10:45 a.m.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a candidate for lieutenant governor who helped author the state's concealed carry law, compared Saturday's rally to the famous battle at Gonzalez that sparked the Texas revolution.

“The Mexican army came to Gonzalez to take away the cannon the townspeople had to defend themselves and they said, 'no, come and take it,'” Patterson told the crowd that has swollen to several hundred.

Patterson asked attendees not to blame police for what he called restrictive laws that infringe on citizens' rights.

“Any anger you have, focus it on the lawmakers,” he said.

Patterson asked attendees to make room for people trying to visit the Alamo. He also asked them not to openly carry their weapons in the shrine.

Austin Libertarian TV host Alex Jones is on the stage now.

Update: 10:40 a.m.

A grassroots anti-gun demonstration by a group called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, is set to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at 609 S. Alamo St. with music, games, food and information about gun safety. Organizers said they will draw a“line in the sandbox” to oppose “open carry extremists.”

“As mothers, we have an obligation to push back on the bullying and intimidation tactics of the aggressive carry movement,” organizers said in a press release this week.

Upate: 10:15 a.m.

The rally started with remarks from organizers. “We aren't here to start a war today,” one said, addressing a steadily growing crowd. “We are here to show that an armed society is a polite society.”

Organizer CJ Grisham, an Army master sergeant who was arrested in Temple for carrying a rifle and whose trial last week ended in a mistrial, asked attendees to keep flags blocking the chambers of their guns.

“If the SWAT team comes down and starts surrounding us with tactical gear, it only takes a minute to pull them out,” Grisham said of the orange pieces of plastic most attendees have stuck in the cheers of their guns. “But that's not going to happen.”

Grisham called for a change to Texas laws preventing the open carry of modern pistols.

Upate: 9:45 a.m.

Organizers expect more than 1,000 people to show up Saturday carrying rifles, shotguns and antique firearms to protest a city ordinance that limits where gun owners can take their weapons. As of 9:45 a.m., there were about 300.

A heavy police presence was also expected. Two uniformed officers were spotted at the rally at around 10 a.m., shaking hands with demonstrators.

Update: 9:30 a.m.

More than 100 people, many of them carrying rifles with the slides visibly blocked, have gathered in front of the Alamo for today's open carry demonstration.

Gina Holcomb, 47, the wife of a gun rights activist who was arrested earlier this year in Austin for carrying a black powder pistol, said she and her family woke up at 4 a.m. to drive in from Cold Spring.

“We've got chamber flags in,” she said, pointing to the orange piece of plastic that prevents her AR-15 from firing. “We're showing you can have a peaceful demonstration with citizens with guns.”

LeeAnna Hopson, 35, is in town from Orlando, Fla., for a convention and was jogging by the Alamo this morning.

“Someone warned me people were going to be coming carrying weapons today, otherwise I would have run the other way.”

Update: 9 a.m.

Most of those to arrive early at the Alamo were organizers, among a couple dozen people that started gathering before 10 a.m.

Demonstrator Robert Gustafson, 56, came with his AR-15 rifle, unloaded with a straw blocking the slide.

“This is part of a bigger battle for individual rights,” Gustafson said. “There's something about being a gun owner that says, 'I can take care of myself.'”

Police Chief Wiliam McManus said in an interview earlier this week that officers would ensure “that people do not become alarmed.” Texas law limits carrying of concealed handguns to licensed owners but allows open carrying of rifles if not done in a “manner calculated to alarm.”

“Our goal is not to infringe on anybody's rights in anything that we do,” he said. “Our goal is actually to protect those rights. But when rights, perceived or otherwise, conflict with the laws, that's where police will intervene.”

MySA will be at the rally throughout the day providing updates.