ALAMOGORDO – Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin said he would carry firearms with him to Washington, D.C., where he plans to travel for the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
“I’m gonna be there on Jan. 20 … and I’m gonna take a stand for our country and for our freedoms,” Griffin said Thursday. “I’m gonna leave either tonight or tomorrow. I’ve got a .357 Henry Big Boy rifle lever action that I’ve got in the trunk of my car and I’ve got a .357 single action revolver, the Colt Ruger Vaquero that I’ll have underneath the front seat on my right side and I will embrace my Second Amendment.
“I will keep my right to bear arms. My vehicle is an extension of my home in regards to the constitutional law and I have a right to have those firearms in my car.”
Griffin, a Republican and founder of Cowboys for Trump, made the statements during the Thursday meeting of the Otero County Commission, where he appeared without a face covering as mandated by New Mexico’s emergency public health orders.
Griffin has a history of controversial statements and he has said the FBI had spoken with him after receiving complaints regarding his actions and speech.
Griffin was in Washington, D.C., at the Capitol building on Jan. 6 when a violent insurrection broke out as the Congress worked to certify the 2020 election for Biden.
Griffin said he did not participate in the violence on that day, rather was there to hear a speech by President Donald Trump.
“I went there to support my president and stand up for our country,” Griffin said.
Griffin said the FBI acknowledged his right to bear arms and transport them in a vehicle. He said he also informed the FBI about threats he personally received, and said the FBI would investigate.
“I am turning all of my access to all of my county emails over to the FBI,” Griffin said. “I’m turning all of my Facebook page and all of my Facebook inbox messages over to the FBI and I’m also gonna turn all of the hate mail that I have received – the printed mail – over to the FBI and investigations are going to start taking place.”
The FBI did not respond to requests by the Alamogordo Daily News for comment, citing the bureau’s policy of neither confirm or deny ongoing investigations.
Griffin’s statements come as the New Mexico State Police announced it was preparing for potential armed protests at the state Capitol in Santa Fe next week. Such protests were reportedly planned for state houses in all 50 U.S. States.
Trump on Wednesday asked for restraint by protestors and demonstrators.
“I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind,” Trump said in a written statement. “That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers.”
