There is a lesson here folks and that is LEARN THE LAW. Texas is a great state and we have a capital punishment express lane and the ability to concealed carry. Hell, we can even openly display shotguns in the gun rack. You can shoot folks DEAD on your property and from your car if you are responding the reasonable threat of deadly force. It has never been okay to detain people at gunpoint unless you are a deputized officer of the law. This guy broke the law. The right to keep and bear arms is poorly served by those individuals that fail to learn their rights and obligations with respect to firearms. The crap this guy pulled was covered in the first 15 minutes of the concealed handgun course. The Right to Keep and Bear arms is a powerful right. With this great power comes great responsibility. Actions like this will be used by the looney left to revoke our God given right to self defense and self-determination in government. This guy got off light IMHO.
So if someone threatens you with deadly force you can use deadly force to resist. But if you come across a lawbreaker who is not using or threatening to use deadly force you cannot use deadly force to detain them.
Makes sense, actually. Answer me this; if you have a trespasser on your property (which these people clearly are), can you threaten the use of deadly force to require them to leave (”Get off my property or I’ll shoot!”)?
What I get from your argument is that he should have killed them instead. Like they say, dead men tell no tales.
This rancher wanted to keep his conscience clear by not killing them, and he received injustice instead.
That said, the rancher should sue the backers here for damages from the charges he was cleared on.