Just a polite conversation with a man who said "Get the fucking lynching ropes out. I'm tired of this bullshit."
Denton, Texas activist Willie Hudspeth has been protesting in front of a Confederate monument in the town square. He says the
monument belongs in a museum, something he's lobbied Denton officials for since 2000. Stephen Passariello, also of Denton, was so enraged with Willie's one-man protest that he decided to show up and confront him....with a
loaded gun:
Bystanders said Passariello appeared unreasonable and agitated.
“He was like angry and he was jostling [the gun] like this,” Rinkleff said, motioning as if moving a gun at the hip. “I didn’t know if he had the safety on. I didn’t know if that gun was going to go off at any moment. I would say he was pointing the muzzle toward people as he talked. I was worried.”
Julian Gill of was able to capture some of the
confrontation on video:
She tweeted as police arrived:
The Denton Record-Chronicle reports police took away his ammo, but let him go on his way.
Willie Hudspeth says he was having meaningful conversation with others about whether the monument should be moved when Passariello appeared. Readers of the Denton Record-Chronicle claim Passariello was making wildly racist and threatening comments, some of which were grabbed with a screenshot before being removed:
He later posted a picture of his rifle and bragged he "had it on him at all times."
As Julian Gill from the ntdaily.com later reported, others joined the open-carry protest the very next day:
About five gun-toting activists were at the monument in response to a Monday night display where a Denton resident showed up with an AR-15 to counter a 69-year-old activist who was challenging the placement of the Confederate statue.
“We’re out here to protest the sickening behavior of yesterday,” said Ian McDougal, Lake Dallas resident openly carrying a loaded AR-15, concealed revolver and “Don’t Tread On Me” flag. “It’s ruining the charm of this town.”