My report on the "Come and Take It San Antonio" Alamo event.

Threepers, the Next Generation. Three Percenter Jason T. with some old fart from Alabama. It was gratifying to find so many younger Three Percenters at the Alamo rally.

From a reader in San Antonio yesterday:

I have heard nothing but silence here (from opposition) after the rally. My contacts say that it seems that the general take is that the less said the better. Nothing official has cropped up in reference to future issues, just seems to be a “wait and see attitude”. I rather suspect that huge sigh of relief was true response, lol. Guess that normal citizens can be indeed trusted to handle both their firearms rights and 1st Amendment rights, at least in San Antonio, Texas.

The anti-climatic, non-confrontational results of several hundred armed folks gathering at the Alamo and their defiant march off-premises daring the authorities to arrest them belied the concerns just days before the event. You may recall:

Patrol officers attending in-service training courses and other meetings/roll calls have been informed that department heads (i.e. Knickers in a bunch Chief McManus) have determined that officers will be told/ordered to make arrests for disorderly conduct. Their reasoning/justification? Any citizens wishing to set up a confrontation with the police by open carrying a rifle will be considered to be acting in a manner contrary to the public peace and good order.

We heard these rumors from several sources in and around the SAPD and city government. It took a lot of guts for the participants to risk arrest to make their point, but they did. Lord, how I loved them when I saw the gathering that morning. You may also recall my later tag on the above post:

I sent a copy of this to the Mayor and City Council of San Antonio with the note: "Posted on my blog this morning. And, I might add, we're seeking some adult supervision and cool heads in the SAPD."

Later reports just before the event indicated that our mention of San Antonio's self-insurance dilemma "caught TPTB by the short hairs," according to one of my sources. The day before the event we knew that any hard-line "harassment and interdiction" orders that had been considered were not being repeated to the various shifts of SAPD. If they were contemplating confronting us, they were all of sudden being very quiet about it. It seemed likely that the decision had been taken by that "adult supervision" to handle us with kid gloves, which is what happened.

Indeed, there are rumors that Chief McManus, who has never been been a favorite of some on the City Council, is in even deeper excrement with the political leaders of SA. The main gripe is not with his anti-gun bias but rather that he picked an unnecessary confrontation that was an embarrassing loss for city government. And collectivists are all about results. The late-in-the-day petty harassment of the individuals remaining in the park and the comments afterward were simply to salve their own chapped asses and a poor attempt to put lipstick on the pig they brought home to Momma. The commissars (er, ah, I mean the City Council) of San Antonio are not pleased -- not pleased at all.  In fact, when I was informed of that fact, I was reminded of this scene from Enemy at the Gates:

Red Army General : I carried out my orders. I sent in all of my boys. But the Germans engulfed us. They have, artillery, aircraft, tanks. And me! What did I have?!

Khrushchev: The sacred duty to resist! I have to report back to the boss. [hands him a pistol] Perhaps you'd prefer to avoid the red tape. (Gunshot.)

Their irritation is understandable. How they expect to enforce their personal prejudices under color of law (a la the Starbucks incident) successfully from here on out is both legally problematic and promises more public relations disasters (not to mention expensive lawsuits against the city and them personally). The rally and march, then, accomplished what it set out to do. As I earlier paraphrased Nathan Bedford Forrest, "we slapped their jaws and forced them to resent it."

This incident has also managed to put even more distance between the Chief and the street cops, who see the whole thing as unnecessary liberal street theater calculated to alienate folks who they view as law-abiding and a source of support against the criminal element. The overwhelming number of cops I encountered were friendly to the point of insubordination to the Chief.

I am also told that they were surprised that we were so well informed about the inner workings of the SAPD and the Chief's initial plans. That, plus the NYT article beforehand, convinced the hierarchy that not only was the whole world watching them but it was reading their minds. They discovered something that we have known for a while -- we are everywhere.

 So, we won.

The victory, however, was marred -- almost negated -- by the Alex Jones roadshow who did the Alamo just about how Debbie did Dallas.

As Bob Wright observed:

The supreme wizard of conspiracy and disinformation, the buffoon of Austin, Alex Jones, invited himself in and was quite foolishly given a microphone. In twelve minutes of hoarse, screaming, incoherent raving he removed every bit of dignity and reason from the event. Thank God the speakers following him, Jay Stang, Mike Vanderboegh, Stewart Rhodes, and Renn Bodecker restored a sane cadence to the proceeding and brought us down from the hysterical ravings of the most audacious huckster ever to come out of Texas, to the reasoned efforts of patriots attempting to save a country. Sorry Alex Jones fans but that is how I saw it. . .

Patterson went way out on a political limb to allow this event at the Alamo. To suddenly have Captain Chemtrails himself (Alex Jones) on the stage, unannounced has now created a political liability for Patterson. Facing an election you can bet your boots the opposition will use this to beat him in the head. Not the best way to repay his political courage in my opinion.

Indeed. I would be surprised if anybody EVER gets another chance to use the Alamo as a backdrop for their rally while Patterson is land commissioner and I certainly can't blame him. However Alex Jones talked his way onto the stage (he wasn't on the speaker's list I was provided) he damaged the entire proceedings. That much is certain. As I wrote in an email early this morning:

My main concern, like Bob's, is in the damage this whole affair has done to Mr. Patterson. The organizers owe him a huge apology, not that it does any good after the fact. Save Alex Jones, the rest of the event (and San Antonio's backing down) was a huge success that we owe in great measure to Mr. Patterson -- but that's like saying, "Well, apart from that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

(A personal note here: I didn't know about Jones even being there until I got back from using the john across the street when I was told that he had made a speech. My initial reaction was grim satisfaction at his available proximity -- Jones had slandered me three years ago at the time of the window campaign, saying that if I wasn't arrested for my advocacy that I was a paid federal provocateur. I went to demand an apology in person and Jones feigned ignorance. After trying to jog his foggy memory, he finally admitted that he did recall SOMETHING about it but it was all rather nebulous. He then said, "Well, it WAS provocative (which is not the same thing, of course, as paid federal provocateur) and he added "I wouldn't have done it." "I know," I retorted, "you haven't got the balls." I then turned and left his august presence with his camera-rolling retinue staring slack-jawed at my back. Ultimately, Stewart Rhodes dragooned him into giving me an ungracious apology. I told him I'd believe it when he did it publicly -- as publicly as he did when he slandered me. Pigs may fly, but I doubt it.)

That said, the entire rally and march recharged my own personal batteries. We came, we saw, we kicked their ass. The other thing that gratified me was the large number of young Threepers and Oath Keepers there. They are the future. They represented all religious and ethnic origins as well -- Americans and Three Percenters all, united in the fight to restore the Founders' Republic. I was exhausted from the drive and the CHF and my wounds acting up, but it was both humbling and thrilling to see personally the success of the Three Percent idea.

Meeting Renn Bodecker was also a personal honor. Renn is 90 and I worried about his stamina with all the walking required. He put me to shame. Here's his and Stewart's speeches at the rally:

And, as I wrote the morning we drove back:

(I had) wonderful time I had seeing old friends like Warrior Class and his charming wife, guys from the struggles in the 90s like Bill Utterback and Jon Roland, my brother from another mother Bob Wright and his right-hand, Sgt. Studley (who once stuck a .45 in an Identity terrorist's ribs to achieve a little public order at a speech of mine). Then there were the comrades-in-arms from Oathkeepers like Stewart Rhodes and Jay Stang and the amazing World War II vet Renn Boedecker. I got to meet long-time readers like Dick F. and met a whole bunch of new folks of all ages. It was particularly gratifying to meet the young Three Percenters coming up. Boy, do I love Texas. It was humbling and a great honor to be so warmly greeted by so many folks. Lots of Threepers here in the Lone Star state. Lots.

Finally, I'd like to thank all those whose contributions made it possible to travel to San Antonio and back. May God bless you all. I hope I made it count.

Mike

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