Gun rights Facebook stunt in Michigan condemned

Two gun activists were arrested after they entered a Michigan police station wearing body armour and masks, and carrying a large rifle.

The men, who describe themselves as "independent police auditors", said they were filing a complaint, and live-streamed the encounter on Facebook.

Michigan is an open-carry state, where it is legal to publicly carry guns.

But police said the stunt was "irresponsible" and that people had "fled in fear for their safety".

James Baker, 24, and Brandon Vreeland, 40, were arrested at the scene and released on bail pending court appearances.

The incident began, Dearborn police said, with a traffic stop to investigate reports of "two suspicious men" wearing tactical vests and masks.

A sergeant on patrol stopped the pair "to investigate further" but no action was taken, police said.

Some time later, Mr Baker began a live video stream to Facebook outside the police station.

"We're going to in and file a complaint because we were illegally pulled over an hour ago," Mr Baker said, wearing a tactical vest, balaclava, and rifle. Mr Vreeland could be seen nearby, also wearing armour, but carrying a camera.

"We felt a little afraid for our lives when we were pulled over, so we figured we better protect ourselves," he added, tilting the camera to show the rifle