Plano Police clarify weapon identification from protest incident

PLANO, TX – The Plano Police Department has addressed allegations about a May 2 altercation at the intersection of Preston Road and SH 121 that a protester pointed a gun at a motorist who confronted protesters who were standing in the street blocking traffic.

“These reports are false,” the department stated Monday. “A protester pointed an electronic control device at the male subject in an effort to protect the female from being further assaulted by the male.”

The department added that officers on scene confirmed the device was not a firearm.

In a Monday statement released a little over an hour after the department announced that the object was not a firearm, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Plano Police Chief Ed Drain had told Paxton’s office that the object was a “pepper ball gun,” and that in a separate conversation, the chief said the weapon was a “taser.” He pointed out that the department on Monday had now said the object was an “electronic control device.”

“Whatever it was, the police declined to pursue the leftist who brandished the weapon, and no charges are being pressed against him,” Paxton stated.

On Wednesday, Officer David Tilley of the Plano Police Department said that after video of the May 2 event began circulating, Drain met with other local police chiefs as well as members of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.A May 2 protest that leaked from Frisco, where it was scheduled, into Plano, has garnered national attention thanks to viral video footage of …

“We didn’t know at the time what this item was,” Tilley said. “He was told at that meeting by members of the ATF, FBI, and some of the other police chiefs, that they believed that that was a pepper ball gun.”

There has since been a deeper dive into investigating the item, Tilley said, and he said the object the person was carrying matches the Defender Hand 10 Million Stun Gun LED Light and Safety Switch.

Amid speculation that there was another weapon on the scene, Tilley said there is no evidence to show that any other weapon was there other than the stun gun.

Tilley said he understood that the item looked like a handgun.

“It’s not wise to pull a stun gun that looks like a pistol on somebody, because somebody might be armed and they may consider that to be a handgun and turn around and shoot you,” he said.

The person with the stun gun did have a legal right to carry it, Tilley said.

“Electronic control devices can be purchased without a permit or license, and the person who pointed the device did not commit a criminal offense by doing so,” the department stated Monday.