Texas sheriff sends SWAT team with guns drawn to arrest armed lockdown protestors

A Texas sheriff sent his department's SWAT team with guns drawn to break up a rally in support of a bar owner who reopened her business in violation of Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) coronavirus lockdown on Monday.

The protestors say they did nothing wrong and argue they were simply practicing their First and Second Amendment Rights, while the sheriff says the demonstrators exhibited "a show of force" in their demonstration. Eight people were arrested—six of them for unlawfully carrying a weapon on a premises licensed to sell alcohol.

What are the details?

Gabrielle Ellison owns Big Daddy Zane's bar in West Odessa. She announced she would be reopening her doors in violation of the state's COVID-19 lockdown, because she cannot support her family. She told KPEJ-TV, "The possibility of losing my license—heartbreaking. But they've already taken my income."

Ellison says she even called the Ector County Sheriff's Department ahead of time to let them know there would be a peaceful protest at the bar when she reopened Monday. Ellison maintains she was told there wouldn't be any trouble as long people were not seen carrying firearms on the property.