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Michael Foster, 43, is white.
Clarence Daniels, 62, is black.
Both men live in Florida and met rather violently Tuesday at a Wal-Mart as Daniels shopped for coffee creamer for his wife.
What Daniels didn't know was that Foster had watched him leave his car and saw him put his legally registered firearm into his waist holster before entering the Wal-Mart. Since Florida is an open-carry state, Daniels had done nothing wrong, yet, according to the Tampa Bay Times, Foster tackled Daniels to the ground and placed him in a choke hold.Â
" 'He's got a gun!' " deputies said Foster shouted.
" 'I have a permit!' " Daniels yelled back multiple times, sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon told the Tampa Bay Times.
According to the newspaper, law enforcement had to separate the two men, who were tussling on the Wal-Mart floor. Foster was arrested and charged with battery, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
"Unfortunately he tackled a guy that was a law-abiding citizen," McKinnon told the newspaper. "We understand it's alarming for people to see other people with guns, but Florida has a large population of concealed-weapons permit holders."
The sheriff's office told the newspaper that it doesn't condone citizens taking matters into their own hands, especially when one person has a gun.
"You better make sure there's a good reason," McKinnon told the newspaper. "Otherwise you might be confronting a guy that is legally permitted to carry a gun."
Read more at the Tampa Bay Times.
