Man Pulls Gun on Austin Protesters — Goes Free.
By: Christa McWhirter
AUSTIN — On the evening of Friday, June 27, people gathered as a counter-protest to a pro-police demonstration organized by Texas Nomads SAR. While the Nomads never showed, a crowd of Black Lives Matter supporters used the moment to peacefully demonstrate.
The counter-protest, led by Peace in Austin — a local, anti-police brutality activist group — first convened at Austin Police Department headquarters around 4 p.m. The demonstration was peaceful until around 6:30, when a man in a white Toyota Corolla drove into the crowd occupying 8th Street and pulled out a loaded gun.
The man, later identified as Logan Bucknam, son of Skowhagen, ME police chief, was driving southbound down the I-35 frontage road. After taking a right turn onto the protester-occupied road in front of APD, Bucknam initially failed to slow down his vehicle as the crowd scattered to avoid being hit.
After Bucknam stopped, shouting protesters kept their distance and attempted to clear the way for him as he yelled back. Bucknam then picked up his gun from, what appeared to be, his glovebox and pointed it at protesters with his finger on the trigger — despite such actions being deemed illegal under Texas Penal Code 42.01: “A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly. . .(8) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm.”
Bucknam then sped through the opening protest organizers created for him and seemed to turn himself over to police. Protesters followed the car to the APD parking garage where Bucknam was escorted to the back of the garage with no handcuffs.
Following the incident, a small crowd formed at the parking garage and more law enforcement was called in — all wearing mace and carrying batons and helmets.
Within minutes, police attempted to corral protesters with no warning. The crowd communicated to each other and the people dispersed so the police were unsuccessful. APD officers returned to the parking garage entrance and the people resumed jeering at them. Again, within minutes, an APD officer lunged at a man — several other officers followed suit.
As protesters attempted to get the officers off of the man, APD began to mobilize and pushed the people back, into the street, with batons and mace. Many officers brandished their tasers, as well as having set up the same kind of long range acoustic device that is used by law enforcement to quell the protests in Hong Kong.
Moments later, APD officers let Logan Bucknam drive away.
