Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later and I figured it would most likely happen in Brooklyn, as they tend to overreact...
Walked into Giant Eagle around 11:30 PM, immediately saw an officer at the door, as there usually is.
I was only going in to grab a drink / Monster. A cashier was cleaning up and saw me and I could tell immediately that she was going to cause trouble. Continued my walk, finding no Monster in the coolers near the registers I settled on a Pepsi, on my way back I heard
"Hey you! yo! You!",
to which the officer approached me. I asked what I could do for him, he asked if I had a CCW, I replied Yes.
He responded "What does the C stand for?", whilst giving me attitude. I stated that I am not concealing my weapon and that open carry in legal in Ohio. He proceeded to tell me otherwise. Then demanded that I cover it up, to which I once again explained I do not have to.
He then said "get out of my store", to which I politely explained that it is not, in fact, his store, and that Giant Eagle's policy is to follow state law. He then tried to tell me there were signs posted at the door, to which I told him there were not and once again, Giant Eagle follows state policy.
His next step was to tell me how three people had already mentioned something to him in the minute or so I was in there, I responded that it is unfortunate but I am not breaking any laws. He asked me under what ORC am I allowed to carry a handgun, to which I informed him of ORC 9.68 and state laws preempting local laws. Then he told me that by not covering it up, it was disorderly conduct. I explained to him how just recently, Cincinnati finally acknowledged open carry as being legal and informed their officers that they cannot charge disorderly conduct for open carry due to it being legal in Ohio.
He responded with "Are with in Cincinnati?", which I responded with "No, we are in Ohio, and open carry is legal in Ohio". Again he tells me it is not, I ask him to tell me under what statue open carry is illegal, to which he refuses. He then tells me his badge number (15) so that I can "put it in the report" (which I will definitely do). I explained how I was simply here to purchase a drink and would have left quite a while ago had he not stopped me.
Being that this was my first encounter with a LEO giving me issues, I was a bit nervous and apparently a bit shaky (though I held my ground). He apparently noticed and asked why this was, and I said "truthfully, because this is the first time I've had to talk with a cop about this", he responds "Oh I'm the first to talk to you about this huh?" to which I said Yes.
At that point I was getting a bit tired of the conversation, as I was running late to meeting up at my brothers house, and I told the officer he was more than welcome to follow me out if he'd like, to which he started up on some other nonsense. Eventually he told me he'd be following me, and I said "That's fine, I'm going to the self checkout over there".
While checking out, I went to clip my keys to my pants loop and informed him of this, as my hand would be reaching towards the weapon and I did not want to startle him. He responded with "Why are you telling me, I don't care, what, you want to be able to put everything in your report?"
I responded saying that it was just out of respect and courtesy to inform him where my hands were headed, to which he asked me why I was ignoring his question. I explained I did not understand what he was asking, to which he said "Nevermind".
I paid, then left, he followed me back towards his "post" and stopped there, I turned back and said "Have a nice evening, officer".
All in all, he was rude and refused to accept that he was wrong. I tried to show him ORC on my phone but he didn't want to see it. I get a feeling, however, that he may have known after all.
Notice how he did not ask for my CCW after demanding I cover it up, nor did he have any issue with me openly carrying it elsewhere..just not in "his" store, as evident by him telling me to leave, but nothing more.
He asked why I wanted to be a rebel, I stated that I was just protecting myself and demonstrating my 2A rights.
So though I was hassled, I still walked out on my own free will, when I was done, and still openly carrying.
I will be putting a call in to the Brooklyn Giant Eagle to talk to the GM, then to their corporate if the GM isn't receptive. I will also be placing a call to the Brooklyn Chief of Police.
If anyone would like to help out, here is the Chief's information.
Scott Mielke, Chief
smielke@brooklynohio.gov
216.635.4237
The officer's badge was #15.
Brooklyn PD tends to be notoriously ridiculous with their enforcement of laws, the more people who provide their statements, the faster Brooklyn will hopefully acknowledge our rights. I'm not sure how I managed to grow up there.
(Funny, I've never had this problem in the G.E in Parma Heights near my apartment...)
Walked into Giant Eagle around 11:30 PM, immediately saw an officer at the door, as there usually is.
I was only going in to grab a drink / Monster. A cashier was cleaning up and saw me and I could tell immediately that she was going to cause trouble. Continued my walk, finding no Monster in the coolers near the registers I settled on a Pepsi, on my way back I heard
"Hey you! yo! You!",
to which the officer approached me. I asked what I could do for him, he asked if I had a CCW, I replied Yes.
He responded "What does the C stand for?", whilst giving me attitude. I stated that I am not concealing my weapon and that open carry in legal in Ohio. He proceeded to tell me otherwise. Then demanded that I cover it up, to which I once again explained I do not have to.
He then said "get out of my store", to which I politely explained that it is not, in fact, his store, and that Giant Eagle's policy is to follow state law. He then tried to tell me there were signs posted at the door, to which I told him there were not and once again, Giant Eagle follows state policy.
His next step was to tell me how three people had already mentioned something to him in the minute or so I was in there, I responded that it is unfortunate but I am not breaking any laws. He asked me under what ORC am I allowed to carry a handgun, to which I informed him of ORC 9.68 and state laws preempting local laws. Then he told me that by not covering it up, it was disorderly conduct. I explained to him how just recently, Cincinnati finally acknowledged open carry as being legal and informed their officers that they cannot charge disorderly conduct for open carry due to it being legal in Ohio.
He responded with "Are with in Cincinnati?", which I responded with "No, we are in Ohio, and open carry is legal in Ohio". Again he tells me it is not, I ask him to tell me under what statue open carry is illegal, to which he refuses. He then tells me his badge number (15) so that I can "put it in the report" (which I will definitely do). I explained how I was simply here to purchase a drink and would have left quite a while ago had he not stopped me.
Being that this was my first encounter with a LEO giving me issues, I was a bit nervous and apparently a bit shaky (though I held my ground). He apparently noticed and asked why this was, and I said "truthfully, because this is the first time I've had to talk with a cop about this", he responds "Oh I'm the first to talk to you about this huh?" to which I said Yes.
At that point I was getting a bit tired of the conversation, as I was running late to meeting up at my brothers house, and I told the officer he was more than welcome to follow me out if he'd like, to which he started up on some other nonsense. Eventually he told me he'd be following me, and I said "That's fine, I'm going to the self checkout over there".
While checking out, I went to clip my keys to my pants loop and informed him of this, as my hand would be reaching towards the weapon and I did not want to startle him. He responded with "Why are you telling me, I don't care, what, you want to be able to put everything in your report?"
I responded saying that it was just out of respect and courtesy to inform him where my hands were headed, to which he asked me why I was ignoring his question. I explained I did not understand what he was asking, to which he said "Nevermind".
I paid, then left, he followed me back towards his "post" and stopped there, I turned back and said "Have a nice evening, officer".
All in all, he was rude and refused to accept that he was wrong. I tried to show him ORC on my phone but he didn't want to see it. I get a feeling, however, that he may have known after all.
Notice how he did not ask for my CCW after demanding I cover it up, nor did he have any issue with me openly carrying it elsewhere..just not in "his" store, as evident by him telling me to leave, but nothing more.
He asked why I wanted to be a rebel, I stated that I was just protecting myself and demonstrating my 2A rights.
So though I was hassled, I still walked out on my own free will, when I was done, and still openly carrying.
I will be putting a call in to the Brooklyn Giant Eagle to talk to the GM, then to their corporate if the GM isn't receptive. I will also be placing a call to the Brooklyn Chief of Police.
If anyone would like to help out, here is the Chief's information.
Scott Mielke, Chief
smielke@brooklynohio.gov
216.635.4237
The officer's badge was #15.
Brooklyn PD tends to be notoriously ridiculous with their enforcement of laws, the more people who provide their statements, the faster Brooklyn will hopefully acknowledge our rights. I'm not sure how I managed to grow up there.
(Funny, I've never had this problem in the G.E in Parma Heights near my apartment...)