Tomoya Shimuravvdailypress.com
LOS ANGELES • With unloaded handguns strapped to their sides, Scott Gibb and Christopher Hacopian were passing out fliers about Second Amendment rights outside an Upland shopping center.
Two Upland Police officers responded to the scene after they received a call of men with guns. The officers ordered them to put their hands up, stop talking and get down on their knees before they handcuffed Gibb and Hacopian, according to a video footage shot by Hacopian.
Gibb and Hacopian were released after about 15 minutes, but they filed a federal lawsuit against the two officers and the Upland Police Department after the July 13 incident alleging civil rights violations. Gibb is an Adelanto resident and president of the local Open Carry Club.
The jury trial is set for July 17 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, according to Jonathan Birdt, Gibb and Hacopian’s attorney.
Their complaint claimed officers Maurice Duran and Barry Belt illegally detained, searched and battered them. Belt took their wallet and patted them down despite their objection, according to the complaint.
“The officers don’t have the right to detain or handcuff someone unless they believe the person committed a crime,” Birdt said.
It was legal in California to carry an unloaded handgun in plain sight at the time, though a bill signed in January by Gov. Jerry Brown made open carry illegal.
“They are free to check the gun, which takes about 10 seconds,” Birdt said. “They can’t detain them for 15 minutes, berate them by names. They’ve done nothing wrong.”
The Upland Police Department and its attorneys couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.
Most of the conversation between the activists and officers were recorded by Hacopian’s camcorder and the officers’ voice recorders, all of which Birdt uploaded on his website.
“Don’t play me, play your little open carry games with me or anything,” Belt said, according to the audio clip. “This is a detention, not an arrest. If you are looking for an arrest, you are not gonna get it right now, OK? You are being detained until we determine that your guns are unloaded.”
Hacopian said he wouldn’t consent to any search.
“You guys are knuckleheads because you guys are gonna end up ruining the whole carry policy,” Duran told Hacopian.
After Duran and Hacopian argued about the law, Duran shut off Hacopian’s camcorder.
“Because you are allowed to do something does not mean that you should do something, OK?” Belt said, according to his voice recorder. “You are walking around a complex with two guns strapped to you next to a jewelry store that’s been robbed several times, that’s had guns pointed in their face. And you think that’s gonna be OK?”
The plaintiffs offered a $100,000 settlement, which the defendants rejected, Birdt said. Each plaintiff will seek $25,000 plus punitive damages in the trial, he said.
Tomoya Shimura may be reached at (760) 955-5368 or TShimura@VVDailyPress.com. Follow Tomoya on Facebook at facebook.com/ShimuraTomoya.
