imported post
A few weeks ago I was walking along 12th Ave S. near my home in Seattle, on Beacon Hill. I was open carrying like I always do.
Behind me I suddenly hear "Let me see your badge!". A man in his late 30s was pulled up next to me on the side of the road in a red sports-like-car. "Do you have a badge?" he kept yelling. My first instinct was to ignore him and continue walking, but it was clear he intended to engage me.
I go into state Orange and become cautious, and frankly scared since I've never been confronted like this.
"I can see that you have a concealed weapon, and you're going to go to jail unless I see your badge". His declarative tone made me doubly scared, first of what he might do if things get out of control, and also of what could happen if he's a misinformed off-duty officer, or other type of LEO. His manner suggests military / police.
I turn to him and look at him for a second, wondering what to say. As confused as he is, I don't intend to get into an argument with him. Finally I settle with, "Can you identify yourself?". He shoots back "I am just a civilian".
I ponder for a second more, unsure what to do, trying to stay cool, wondering what I will do if he gets out of his car. Next I say "I need to be on my way", following the advice I've read on many columns. I keep on walking.
I'm only a few blocks from home and the safety of my gated apartment complex. The guy decides to follow me. He's angry, on the phone. Calling the police. The car creeps along the road behind me.
He continues to follow me. Construction has blocked off the sidewalk, forcing me to enter the street. I'm just a couple yards ahead of his car -- he's trailing me, moving at my pace. Somehow I gain confidence here; I don't get the impression he will attack me. I haven't looked at him since I began walking away, and I don't look back at him when I step into the street to bypass the construction. Potential encounters flash through my mind: what should I do if he gets out of his car?
Luckily for me, he doesn't. Perhaps he had just gripped the irony of breaking the law by using a cell phone while driving to report another crime, or perhaps for another reason. Perhaps the 911 operator told him he's an idiot.
He stopped a block ago, and I'm ahead of him, crossing the street, making for the security gate. By now I hear sirens, but there are often sirens in my part of town. Probably firetrucks. I head deep into my apartment complex, hoping to get out of site and dodge a possible encounter with police should they come (Perhaps he lied to the dispatcher? Maybe he told them I'm threatening him?).
The police don't come. I exit out back onto the road, but the man is gone.
Phew.
This was my first serious encounter since I've started OCing a couple of months ago. I thought I would write it up since I've been reading the forum today, thinking about and preparing for tonight's forum on the (unlawful) Seattle city gun ban.
A few weeks ago I was walking along 12th Ave S. near my home in Seattle, on Beacon Hill. I was open carrying like I always do.
Behind me I suddenly hear "Let me see your badge!". A man in his late 30s was pulled up next to me on the side of the road in a red sports-like-car. "Do you have a badge?" he kept yelling. My first instinct was to ignore him and continue walking, but it was clear he intended to engage me.
I go into state Orange and become cautious, and frankly scared since I've never been confronted like this.
"I can see that you have a concealed weapon, and you're going to go to jail unless I see your badge". His declarative tone made me doubly scared, first of what he might do if things get out of control, and also of what could happen if he's a misinformed off-duty officer, or other type of LEO. His manner suggests military / police.
I turn to him and look at him for a second, wondering what to say. As confused as he is, I don't intend to get into an argument with him. Finally I settle with, "Can you identify yourself?". He shoots back "I am just a civilian".
I ponder for a second more, unsure what to do, trying to stay cool, wondering what I will do if he gets out of his car. Next I say "I need to be on my way", following the advice I've read on many columns. I keep on walking.
I'm only a few blocks from home and the safety of my gated apartment complex. The guy decides to follow me. He's angry, on the phone. Calling the police. The car creeps along the road behind me.
He continues to follow me. Construction has blocked off the sidewalk, forcing me to enter the street. I'm just a couple yards ahead of his car -- he's trailing me, moving at my pace. Somehow I gain confidence here; I don't get the impression he will attack me. I haven't looked at him since I began walking away, and I don't look back at him when I step into the street to bypass the construction. Potential encounters flash through my mind: what should I do if he gets out of his car?
Luckily for me, he doesn't. Perhaps he had just gripped the irony of breaking the law by using a cell phone while driving to report another crime, or perhaps for another reason. Perhaps the 911 operator told him he's an idiot.
He stopped a block ago, and I'm ahead of him, crossing the street, making for the security gate. By now I hear sirens, but there are often sirens in my part of town. Probably firetrucks. I head deep into my apartment complex, hoping to get out of site and dodge a possible encounter with police should they come (Perhaps he lied to the dispatcher? Maybe he told them I'm threatening him?).
The police don't come. I exit out back onto the road, but the man is gone.
Phew.
This was my first serious encounter since I've started OCing a couple of months ago. I thought I would write it up since I've been reading the forum today, thinking about and preparing for tonight's forum on the (unlawful) Seattle city gun ban.
