Citizen told to leave coffee shop for Open Carry

And would you believe that he is a Portland Police officer who was in uniform at the time?

The realist in me sees this both ways. I understand what the author is trying to convey, that the guy is a cop and cops have guns. I can also see the store owner's point of view that some cops have a bad reputation associated with them, or perhaps their department, and he has the right to tell anyone to leave.

Cops are supposed to be the good guys, so it surprises some people to know that some Americans don't like them.

I do have some empathy for the cop, especially considering that he had a good attitude about the whole thing, but I also agree with him that they are failing themselves. Stuff like this doesn't help, and isolated incidents in no name counties like mine sometimes give an us vs. them mentality that doesn't have to be.

A case in point.

None of the responding officers bothered to even knock on the only neighbors door despite having dozens of deputies with rifles staged throughout the property for hours. It's hard to have respect for officers when they won't let you leave the house, won't tell you what's going on, don't care about their rifle barrels dinging your car doors, and are otherwise callous to the very people they claim they're protecting. And go ahead and file a complaint; you'll be pulled over and ticketed 100 yards from your driveway once a week for the next year. The above linked article turns out to be nowhere near the truth of what happened, but hey, the deputies got to handle their new rifles, so it's all good, right?

Then there's incidents where cops treat peaceful armed citizens like they're criminals, pull guns on motorcyclists and people throwing snowballs, and to the extreme side of things, where they mistakenly shoot someone's dog or a mother and her kid. It all ads up. I no longer trust the Sheriff's department in my county after the above case in point.


But back to the article at the top. I found this piece amusing, and wondered if it really applies to everyone:

My daughter and I were so distraught by this negative experience, about the way the café treated the police –when they should be treated with gratitude and respect and honor – that we went the next day looking for a café with class and dignity for all people, no matter what they are wearing.

We found the Palios Dessert & Espresso Bar in Ladd’s Addition, http://www.palio-in-ladds.com/ and we mentioned the situation we encountered, and the man behind the counter, and he said they treat all people equally there.

And what if John Q. Public strolls in with a handgun openly visible on his hip? Would they be treated equally?