He walked Clearwater Beach with an AR-15. Is he a menace or a martyr?
https://youtu.be/LQIDPxFmy7w?t=123Four Clearwater Police officers stopped him minutes later, about 100 yards from Pier 60. Taylor, who also carried a handgun on his hip, wasn’t worried. He was used to being stopped by cops — he sought it out, even. This is what the camera was for.
Taylor, proprietor of a YouTube channel called The Armed Fisherman, has for three years traveled Florida with his fishing pole, flag and weapons. He almost always provokes a police response, which he gladly uploads. The videos get tens of thousands of views, part of an online ecosystem of so-called civil-rights auditors, who invite and film confrontations with police and other officials.
Openly carrying firearms is illegal in Florida, but state law makes a few exceptions, including one that allows open-carry while hunting, camping or fishing, and while going to and from those activities. Taylor tests this law time and again.