A Texas woman called the police when she became suspicious of a man at a children’s’ playground.

But the man, a father who was there with his own two daughters, had done nothing wrong except wear a T-shirt that offended the woman.

Troy Johnston, who was at a Benbrook playground where his four and six-year old daughters were playing, was legally and openly carrying his firearm on a holster on his hip, according to Blue Lives Matter. But it wasn’t the gun that set the woman off, it was Johnston’s shirt which read, “I’ll control my guns, you control your kids.”

The cop-designed, pro-Second Amendment T-shirt sold by the company Warrior 12, features an image of an AR-15 rifle.

“I figured I might get some comments or looks,” Johnston said. “[But] I was legally exercising my First and Second Amendment rights.”

A man and his family reportedly  approached Johnston a short time after he had been there letting the father know a woman was “fuming” over Johnston’s shirt and the fact that he was armed.

“I thanked him for letting me know, and continued playing with my kids,” Johnson said, before another family approached him and asked to read what his shirt said.

According to Blue Lives Matter:

Johnston showed him his shirt, at which point the man warned him that his father-in-law had just been harassed by woman in the parking lot, and that she was contacting police regarding Johnson’s attire.

The man told Johnston that he didn’t know “what was wrong with her,” and that he actually “felt more secure knowing there was someone there that would protect them,” Johnston said.

Although he had intended to leave prior to his conversation with the second man, Johnston said he opted to wait for police once he became aware that they had likely been called to the area.

The woman had definitely called police on Johnston, describing the father as a “suspicious person” who had a “gun holstered to his chest” and wearing an offensive T-shirt according to Benbrook Police Department Cpl. J. Reese.

Johnston “was making other parents on the playground very uncomfortable with his t-shirt,” the woman claimed, according to a report by the corporal.

“She was not scared of the gun,” Reese said. “She was concerned about his t-shirt.”

Johnston “voluntarily identified himself” to police, Reese noted, describing him as “polite.”

“I offered my LTC to the cops. They didn’t ask,” Johnston told Blue Lives Matter, adding that the woman watched from a few feet away cautioning others to avoid the park because “there’s a man with a gun.”

“She was highly ticked off,” Johnston said, though he never spoke with her directly. He was eventually able to leave the park, having done nothing wrong.

“I cannot believe how the media has convinced so many people that guns are scary,” he said. “This lady was having a literal panic attack.”

Johnston was not intimidated by the woman’s attempt to infringe on his First and Second Amendment rights, and said he plans to continue wearing his Warrior 12 shirt.

“I love my shirt,” he said. “I’ll probably order more just so I can wear them every day I’m off of work.”

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Frieda Powers

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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