Brooks Place, the well-regarded barbecue trailer in Cypress, has been making headlines for not only allowing but encouraging diners to openly carry handguns in a holster. The business owner, Trent Brooks, offers a 25 percent discount to open carriers with a valid concealed handgun license.

This morning, Brooks discovered a threat of violence in his Facebook reviews.


The account, going under the name “Scott Layden,” posted its only profile photo in December and shows a man in a tuxedo holding a red rose. UPDATED, 1/7/2015, 12:58 p.m. The source of the profile picture appears to be a Russian modeling web site, Orange Models Management. The man in the image is identified as Tikhon Alexander.  The photo has been cropped to remove the modeling agency's watermark on the right-hand side, which seems to indicate that it was stolen. 

There’s little information on the account, other than several page “likes,” mainly for television stations and reporters. The account follows only three other Facebook accounts: CNN news anchor Don Lemon; Paul Joseph Watson, editor-at-large of the Infowars website; and Rotich Denis, an account that claims employment at “Iron Bank of Braavos,” a Game of Thrones reference.

Brooks said on Facebook that he is still planning to conduct business as usual, writing on Facebook, "We will not be closed this Saturday or any other Saturday. We do not think this is a legitimate threat but unfortunately as we know craziness and evil does exist. SO WE ARE AND WILL BE OPEN. Thank you!"

Brooks says he’s contacted the Harris County Sheriff’s Department to report the message. He told us it's the only threat of violence he’s received so far on his open carry-friendly policy. There's no word yet on whether he is planning to hire professional security in light of the threat on Saturday. UPDATE, 1/7/2015, 12:12 p.m.: Trent Brooks responded "Yes" when asked if he is planning to hire professional security in response to the threatening message. 

We’ll update this post if any new developments occur.