Open carry advocates march in South Dallas

by CARLA WADE

DALLAS — It's their version of community policing — the community arming itself against police.

"Open Carry Texas all the time gets a pass," said organizer Charles Goodson. "We hope that the same applies to us, and there is no contradiction from the Dallas power structure."

Just like the Open Carry Texas demonstrations that have been controversial in North Texas and around the country, this was one was, too.

The group of about 30 men and women walked along the street near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X boulevards. It included members of the Dallas New Black Panther Party and the Huey P. Newton Gun Club.

Like other open carry demonstrators, they marched with weapons out in the open, getting some of the same startled reactions.

"He was kind of scared," said a woman who was leaving Elaine’s Kitchen with her son. "We didn’t know what was going on."

This message wasn’t just about the Second Amendment right to bear arms; it was also about calling attention to police brutality in Dallas and across the country.

The demonstration follows a town hall meeting Monday night, where Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins unveiled a new investigative unit that will review police shootings.

In recent weeks, there's been a new national focus on police use of deadly force after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

"A lot of people today are talking about Mike Brown. Mike Brown is not an isolated incident. We have many 'Mike Browns' in the City of Dallas. Clint Allen was a Mike Brown. Tobias Mackey was a Mike Brown. Bobby Walker was a Mike Brown," Goodson said, running down a list of recent victims of officer-involved shootings in this area.

Inside the South Dallas cafe, people continued to eat and buy their lunches as the demonstrators also took a break, resting their guns on the dining tables.

“We have to speak up for the people, because the people haven’t had a voice in a long, long, time," said one man who only wanted to be identified as "Joe." "So they are doing what they have to do.”

The Huey P. Newton Gun Club said its goals include:

an immediate end to "police brutality, harassment, and murder of the people"

asserting the right of the people to bear arms and protect themselves

Wednesday's demonstration was brief and peaceful.