November 16, 2015 7:24 PM

Contrary to his claims, police video shows MQ Sullivan was not threatened by Corsicana Police

Video also shows Texas Right to Life President Jim Graham was ecstatic about police citations that he and Sullivan would later use as tools for fundraising

As some self-proclaimed conservatives plan to again protest a Rep. Byron Cook campaign event later today, video has surfaced that was filmed during their last protest of the chairman. It shows that claims made about Corsicana Police by Michael Quinn Sullivan are dubious at best.

Sullivan and Texas Right to Life President Jim Graham told a tale of police "intimidation" in Corsicana a few weeks ago. They claimed their freedom of speech had been chilled when they were issued citations for violating a city ordinance requiring a permit for gatherings of over 25 people occupying a public roadway.

Sullivan said he and others were "Threatened With Jail.” Sullivan, who handles the day-to-day operations of Empower Texans for the group’s Chairman Tim Dunn, claimed that “the City of Corsicana doesn’t put much stock in that whole First Amendment prohibition against government ‘abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.’”

But, police body camera video of Sullivan and Graham's interactions with officers reveals a very different story – a story of those police officers being extremely lenient, polite, agreeable, and asking for cooperation. In short: The video is not all that exciting, which is exactly the point. On social media and in fundraising emails, Sullivan and Graham portrayed the day’s events as an epic showdown with an overbearing police force while freedom of speech hung in the balance.

It was nothing like that.

By Scott Braddock