Fort Collins, CO –-(Ammoland.com)- In 2017, Corporal Phil Morris of the Colorado State University police officer encountered 19-year-old Jeremy Holmes acting erratically with a large hunting knife. Morris asked Holmes to drop the knife 36 times in the two-minute video.
In the police video, Holmes stated that he wanted police to shoot him. Morris tried to holster his gun to change to his taser to stun Holmes. Before he could, Holmes charged Morris with the knife forcing the officer to shoot and kill him.
District Attorney Clifford Riedel found the shooting to be “clearly justified.”
The investigation determined that Holmes committed suicide by cop. The internal investigation cleared Morris of any wrongdoing because of the video evidence. He returned to duty.
This month Colorado’s new red flag law went into effect. On January 9th, in Larimer County, Susan Holmes filed an extreme risk protection order against Morris.
Morris now must fight for his gun rights in court.
Under Colorado’s red flag law, a family member, household member, or law enforcement officer can file an extreme risk protection order. One of the choices on the form is “I have a child in common with the respondent.” Holmes marked that she and Morris has a child in common.
Holmes points out the form says nothing about having a biological child in common. In her interpretation, she and Morris have Jeremy Holmes in common. The law’s intent was to let a family member file the report, but the form does not make the intention clear.
Holmes check the box on the form that stated Morris was “a credible threat of or the unlawful, reckless use of a firearm.” She stated on the form that “Phil Morris used his firearm to recklessly & violently threaten and kill 19-year-old Jeremy Holmes.”
Holmes also marked that Morris “might” have a history of domestic abuse. AmmoLand News has not been able to find any domestic violence charges against Morris. Since the ERPO doesn’t require proof or the person to be sure of the charge gun-rights activist, believe complainant could exploit this question to get the ERPO through the courts.
Colorado House Minority Leader Rep. Patrick Neville (R-Castle Rock) tweeted that this case shows how bad a person could exploit Colorado’s red flag law.
“We predicted this and said a falsely accused person has no recourse other than hoping a DA files charges,” Neville tweeted. “No recourse to recoup lost wages or reputation. One example of many about how this bill was so horribly written.”
Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America sees this as an example of why red flag laws do not work.
“This is the very reason we cherish Due Process,” Pratt said. “No one should lose ANY of their rights without a trial by jury, or without the benefit of having one’s counsel present before the judge, or without facing his or her accuser. But “red flag” gun confiscation orders throw Due Process out the window. They strip people of their gun rights without any trial whatsoever, as the police show up to confiscate weapons before one even knows there’s an issue. These laws are egregious. And that is why Gun Owners of America is working to defeat this legislation in Virginia and elsewhere — and to repeal these guns grab laws wherever they’ve been enacted.”
Morris will now have to fight for his Constitutional guaranteed gun rights in court on Thursday. Gun rights activist points out that Morris will have to prove his innocence. They believe that goes against the American tradition of “innocent until proven guilty.”
Alan Franklin, political director of ProgressNow, pushed for the Colorado law. He does not see this case as a failure of red flag laws, but just a one-off case.
“If she lied under oath, she should face charges for that,” Franklin tweeted. “That is not a failure of the law, nor will be the dismissal of the ERPO request if it’s unfounded. Also there is nothing improper with the judge holding an initial ERPO hearing. That’s due process.”
Five ERPOs have been filed in Colorado. Only one has been denied.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.
A stalker could use this ERPO to disarm a victim. An accused criminal out on bail could use this to disarm a witness. Look at NYC. Hell – you don’t even need to come up with bail. Then after 14 or 15 days – THEY GIVE YOU THE DATA ON THE WITNESSES OF YOUR CRIME!! This is obviously not in the best interest of the general public. Almost anyone with an IQ above 60 can see now how this can be abused. The fact that the Alan Franklin continues to dismiss the danger demonstrates he’s not really concerned with public… Read more »
@MKRS – Have read that in some places where cops can seize guns, even people who don’t want a gun buy one to have on hand – so that they can turn it in to avoid tear-down home search. Might behoove anyone in area with RFL to develop thorough concealment for majority of their firearms – just keep EDC and possibly throw-away piece for seizure. Got to placate the thugs if you want to avoid violence. @USA – No need to call me turncoat or wimp. I already know your low opinion of me and my refusal to start a… Read more »
@USA – Roger that. Bumping into you would slow me down and being in your line of fire could be unhealthy.
Back at you – please don’t start an unnecessary shooting war which the rest of us have to finish. Be smart – wait until it is necessary and insure justification is obvious enough to generate popular support.
Did anyone besides me hear the young man keep saying “my life is over”? If someone with a knife charged you, what would you do? I had a manic depressive, bi polar roommate try to kill me with a large pair of scissors. I did as little as possible but I did “convince” her to leave my room with a punch to the jaw. Guess who got bracelets when the cops arrived? I found out that she had told them I was drunk and armed. No kidding. After that, she tried to murder me with my own gun and was… Read more »
@DB – It did seem that he continued firing after the kid fell to the ground. Got to wonder how many rounds were just reflexively continuing to fire. Time seems to slow during high stress events, but that is a side effect of higher brain function shutting down to get out of the way for faster reaction. In short – seems like more shots than necessary but I’d acquit in a heartbeat. The kid wanted to die and managed to do so. This is the incident in CO – and is an example of predicted egregious RFL abuse. RFL’ing involved… Read more »
I would not say that the officer did a “mag dump.” What I saw in this video is the perfect example of training meeting reality. Many people facing the reality of firing their gun at another human being for the first time do not stop as soon as the target goes down, they sometimes go as far as emptying their weapon due to their stress response. The officer in this video acted in accordance with proper training in placing a controlled pair in the center of mass, but then continued to fire a controlled pair to the center of mass… Read more »
Our society just has a lot of people that enjoy getting people in trouble. Any little thing is recorded on a cell phone and posted on social media. I start to wonder if they get sexual gratification out of it. There are just a lot if morbidly vindictive people in the world and too many have authority. Look no further than our Speaker of the House as an example.
@USA – Cannot have it both ways. If you are on the web, you are part of “our society”.
Doesn’t make you complicit with problems rife in “our society”, just means that you can hide, whine, or help solve the problems. Personally I mostly just whine… 🙂
Son was a criminal.
Mother is a criminal.
Apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Any judge worth a shit would dismiss this immediately. The cop should counter sue.
More information please: was the ERPO granted and his guns seized? Is the “due process hearing” a mandatory part of the ERPO law in this state (the one Alan Franklin claims “there is nothing improper” about a judge holding? Or is this available only to LE or the well connected?
@USA – On top of the rest of the BS – if memory serves there is a question on BG-check as to whether one is under indictment for any charge which could result in imprisonment (or something like that). My understanding is that if someone in under indictment for a charge which would make them a “prohibited” person, then they are “prohibited” until charges are cleared up. Sheriff is outright lying – just has to enter indictment into NICS for same outcome.
Judge denied order. Guns were not seized.
Noticeable by its absence is any mention the police conducted a warrant search seizing Officer Morris’s firearm(s). A hearing has been scheduled as the article references Office Morris has to appear on “Thursday” to prove his innocence.
If Officer Morris’s weapon(s) were not seized, as they should not have been, then obviously the Court did not find him a threat to himself or others, so why the hearing under ERPO?
Seems to me, this is another symptom of incompetent legislators and poorly crafted laws. Red flag laws were created to dilute power licensed to the psychiatric community. These laws transfer power to unqualified persons more obedient to democrats, e.g., local judges and crotchety old fools. Ironic that a college police department is the first victim. Due process requires reports from two psychiatrists, one from each side, legal representation, arraignment, indictment and trial by jury. Absent here are psychiatrists, lawyers, an indictment and trial by jury. Nobody wants criminals to have firearms but to be taken seriously, if the accused is… Read more »
@GR – Where the laws are in place, we need to use them also. I personally feel threatened by Gov Northam and his crew.
This is what happens when stupid DEMOCRAPS make any law. First you check to see if a DEMOCRAP can profit from it and then see if it violates someones right. If yes to both a DEMOCRAP will vote for it. The moronic lawyer AKA POS that filed the case should be fined for Malicious Prosecution and lose their law license. Then the mother jailed and lose custody of the child.
There is some ‘judge’ out there that would give this ridiculousness more time than it takes for the request to ‘hit the circular file?’ These “Red Flag” laws are going to cause ‘Red Blood’ to flow!
@Firewagon – clearly there is a judge out there, as there is a court date set. Perhaps judge scheduled the hearing so that accuser has to stand in front of him and repeat her story. That will provide judge opportunity to “throw the book” at her.
Sorry as I’d be to see this go poorly for the officer, feel for him but the political fodder is priceless in battle to terminate RFL nonsense. No person with even a smidge of “common” sense could see this as an appropriate outcome.
Dude – Fish, Fish………. Ya got your wish.
This article is not accurate. It’s accurate up until the part where his gun were seized.
A Google search shows that the judge denied the red flag order. That doesn’t mean the law is good, only that this story goes too far. Here is the link:
https://www.9news.com/mobile/article/news/local/next/larimer-county-judge-denies-extreme-protection-order-csu-cop/73-0ed932d4-d182-4808-8da3-0b51472d8ae9
Or do a Google search. While I agree we all must fight these laws it doesn’t mean we should motivate people using lies. If we do we become the left.
Are you willing to give up a little freedom to feel safe? That statement came out after 9-11. Now the government isn’t asking before they take away your due process and they don’t have to be right.
Accusation is all they need to confiscate your firearms and you won’t even know your accuser.
What could possibly go wrong?