Welcome back to the Lackluster Channel. In May of 2019, Deputy Alan Gaston of the Lucas County Sheriff's Office walked into an IRS building in Toledo, Ohio to check on a personal tax issue. Gaston, a defensive tactics instructor, says he had questions about an IRS letter and was there to get a phone number. He said you're going to have to take your gun and duty belt off. And I said, "Well, I can't do that." Before he knew it, he faced a loaded weapon pointed right at him. At first, the deputy was informed that he was not allowed in the office with a firearm, but there was no safe for the deputy to stow the weapon, and the discussion quickly escalated into a verbal argument. "Well, you can't leave your weapon up here. You're going to have to take everything off." I said, "Well, do you have a locker?" He said, "No, we don't. You're going to have to take it to the car." And I said, "Well, I have been up here once before three times and you've never had me here." And you And they never said, "No." I asked him, "Are you here on official business?" He said, "No." Okay, you have to take your weapons off the property. You cannot have them here. He asked me if there was some place where you could store them. I said, "No, there's no place here on property that you can store them. You're going to have to take them off the property." At times, it appears as though the officer had his hand on his holstered weapon, though he claims to have been merely resting his arm on it. Over the course of a few minutes, the deputy continuously refused to lock up his weapon and allegedly denied requests for him to leave, even after a threat from an IRS employee that they would call 911 if he didn't exit the building. So, another gentleman stepped up and said, "Hey, you got to do what he says, or you're being disruptive." I believe he said. And I also look, you've got to follow the instructions of the guard. I don't care if you're the mayor or the congressman or whoever, but still he If he tells you leave this office or one of us tells you, you you've got to leave. The security guard eventually unholsters his weapon and pointed directly at the deputy before following him out of the office. Take your hands off your weapon. I said, "I not taking my hands off my weapon. He immediately goes and draws his weapon out. Points it at me. I said, "What is wrong with you?" And I said, "I'm leaving." He follows me out. He says, "Too late now. You're going in cuffs." When I turn around to walk away, I said, "This is stupid." Okay, cooperation. You know, because I just figured I'd diffuse it by Just leaving. And that's when he follows me out here. So, he follows me around the corner here. And I said, "You need to go back inside. I'll get the elevator to get on." He said, "No." He said, "No, you're not getting on." An IRS employee and witness then called 911 reporting that the deputy was refusing to leave. 911, what's your emergency? Yeah, we got a uh taxpayer at the IRS office at 433 North Summit that has a gun and he won't leave the premises. The 911 call strangely left out the fact that Allan Gaston was the deputy sheriff. I was expecting to show up cuz he All he said was he had just a black male and they gave no description and no clothing. Never said he was a deputy, nothing. So, I'm waiting to show up and just have some black guy walking around in cities. US Code Section 930 states that it is illegal to knowingly possess or cause to be present a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a federal facility. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however, under subsection D, an officer, agent, or employee of the United States is allowed to carry a firearm in a federal facility as long as they are conducting official duties such as investigating or prosecuting a potential crime. To be clear, Deputy Gaston was not carrying out official duties at the time of this incident. He was inquiring about a personal tax matter. Though he was in uniform at the time, visiting the IRS office while being paid by your tax dollars, he was not part of an investigation or prosecution. This means that, technically speaking, he was committing a federal crime. The security guard followed the deputy to the elevator. That's when Gaston pulled out his phone and took a photo of Eklund holding the gun. It's only then he holstered his weapon. It's too late. I'm putting cops on you. Stop. He comes out and he's screaming while pointing his gun at me. So, when I pull my phone out to take a picture of it, he puts it away. I said, "Well, there's cameras in here anyway." Officers and deputies arrive at the scene and attempt to make sense of the situation, but they seem confused about which laws applied to this specific set of circumstances. They tried to determine whether the officer was visiting the IRS office on official business. So, I stopped up here to ask a question about Gentlemen, I didn't talk to you before he talked to you. We're We're right here. Okay, again. I stopped up there to ask a question. You want to I'm going to sign it. It's fine. I stopped up there to ask a question about uh some tax situation. When I walked in, he said, "If you're up here on official business." I said, "No." Well, that gentleman up there, he's not here on official business. He came in here He had his He had his weapons. He told me to release his weapons. He didn't listen. I drew on him. You can't point your gun at someone. This isn't even a life-threatening situation. He didn't turn around, walked away, and he's still pointing that at me. And he's pointing it at other civilians. I didn't see that. My whole There's cameras here. There's cameras There are cameras here. Please look at your cameras. My whole issue is that he's in uniform. You know, I mean, it's It's common sense. It's clear that he is a deputy. No, he is. That's like one of us coming up here dressed like this. I was I I was told about this after the fact. Even if he's an officer? You're not allowed to have your weapons on federal property. Even us? Even you, unless you're here on official business. Personally, I'd haul his ass in. I don't care if he's a FPS employee or not. There's no I carrying my gun up here when I was sworn because they said, "Well, you can't have it in here." He had a hard-on for me from the minute I walked in. And then you drew on him? He had his hands on his weapon and I gave him ample time. I told him if he didn't have his hands off his weapon three times, I was going to shoot him. He went from having his hand on his pistol to having his hand on his taser to having his hand on his baton. So, when I So, I told him to turn around and put his hands up. And he put his hands up and I told him to put them and he doesn't listen. And he turned around and he just drew my gun on him. Next, the officers seem to argue over whether the IRS office constitutes a federal building. What's his reason? He's saying that it's a federal building and the offices up here that there no one's allowed, regardless of status, to have a firearm in the building. Really? Yeah. What's he got on him? This is not This is not a federal building. No, it's not. This is a federal office. there, but from there You know what I'm saying? It's clearly Right. This is our suspect with a gun. He just can't be here with weapons. He wouldn't listen. Glad he didn't pull a gun on me cuz I would have probably pulled mine on him, but to disarm him. Yeah. And And then but I didn't I just is is he feels that he was in the right. Now, I don't know what you guys' rules are and I know it says no firearms. So, the only problem is But common sense. Yeah, but he had no common sense. I I know. Okay. I mean it would be different if he walked up here and was in city clothes and had a shirt on and then he seen his shirt moving and he had a gun on. that's what I thought was going on. Or Joe Schmo off the streets walks up here and it's openly carried and he's got his gun hanging out. It says downstairs no weapons. When I got in the elevator to leave, he kept his gun out and kept his foot on the elevator. You're not going anywhere. From what I'm hearing right now, he needs to go. You got to wait out here cuz you were the one that called and we got to get this cleared up. Yeah. And you were responding on official business, you can come in there. No, you got to wait out here, sir. At what At what point do you think it's good to pull a gun on pointing it at a And then yeah, that's law enforcement officer. He's He's in full uniform, that is. He's got a gun and everything. I'm sorry, man, but I've got my direction from the Federal Protective Service. I have to listen to them. Okay, so this isn't a federal building. Well, no, it's a federal office. This is a federal office, yeah. He don't think he owns this building. No, my office is in this federal office. I got to call your boss. Listen, do not make this worse, man, okay? Please. I'm going to be traveling by the Federal Protective Service. I have to get back to my my job. Lucky you got a little bit of experience and time around here, you ain't freaking waffle-ass ass. Oh, I know. I'm going to call You called 911, and now you want to call 911 I did not call 911. Who did? Federal marshal. This guy's a boob. I understand you're And this is just how much you understand what's wrong bringing a firearm in a in a government in like when you're in Well, any He's not on official. Even though he's on county, he's supposed to He's on county time. I understand. We'll check all the records you have to do. But he's coming here on personal business, and he's not on official business. He can't bring his firearm. As long as he's As long as he's in uniform How was he in uniform? in uniform. But he's not on official business. Doesn't matter. As long as he's in uniform, because I mean, it would if he And here's Here's my what if. What if he just got off shift or was going to take care of this cuz he doesn't live in the city or close to here before he goes home. Okay, and then and then and then it just And I'm just playing devil's advocate for you so you can understand. Say he does put all of his stuff in his car and locks his car up, somebody breaks in and steals all of his stuff. Now we got some criminal running around. You know what I'm saying? Well, that is I just came to ask a simple question. That's up to him. He said come cuz this He pointed his He pointed his gun at me. Arrest that son of a The security guard was branded a racist and was fired. He pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated menacing, which was later amended to simple assault, to which he withdrew and entered a plea of no contest. He was given a suspended sentence of 6 months and was placed on active probation for 1 year. Had to undergo mental health counseling, a gun safety class, and could not own a firearm during his probation. Deputy Gaston sued the two security companies involved and Seth Ecklund, the security guard, seeking damages exceeding $25,000, alleging assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and the officer's wife claimed loss of consortium. The lawsuit was reported settled for an undisclosed amount and was dismissed with prejudice. As for the security guard, he certainly could have handled the situation much differently. The obvious solution would be for each party to call their supervising officers for clarification, but the guard was foolish to draw his weapon in the circumstance. However, the fact remains that the deputy may have been committing a legitimate federal crime, and by refusing to comply with the guard's request for him to leave, trespassing as well. But again, ignorance of the law is not a valid defense unless you're a law enforcement officer. And I know it says no firearms, so what the problem is, but common sense, this boob shouldn't ever have a gun. I mean, my personal opinion, when you Well, when you walk up here in a full uniform, In this case, Deputy Gaston was never charged. The irony is that while officers mistakenly draw firearms on people for seemingly arbitrary reasons, they rarely ever face punitive consequences for the improper use of force. And if they do, they're shielded by qualified immunity and indemnification. On the other hand, the security guard was sued and criminally charged for doing the same thing. Many innocent suspects who have faced the business end of a police-issued firearm never see justice, while this deputy appears to have actually broken the law. Mhm. The law. Yeah. Can I go home? So, let me know what you think of this situation in the comments down below. Was the prosecution and civil action against the security guard fair? And if not, would it change your mind if Deputy Gaston was charged as well? Thanks for watching. If you have a video, use the submit link in the description or pinned comment. If you enjoyed this one, subscribe and hit the bell for future content. And check out our other channels, Lady Lockluster and The Odd Side. Remember to like, share, and leave a comment about what you think of this interaction. It's the easiest way for you to help expose corruption and misconduct. Merchandise is available using the links below. Join the Lockluster family for just a buck. 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