Tensioned gun march in Virginia pulls everyone from Proud Boys to Black Panthers – very armed

Despite fears of violence and a country on the brink of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, gun rights activists rallied outside the Capitol of Virginia on Monday, drawing right-wing groups increasingly hostile to the government and openly armed in defiance of the law. .

They came to Richmond with flying flags and screaming slogans, a volatile collection of extremists and militants whose politics and unrest have troubled the country over the past few weeks. Among the first to arrive were the Boogaloo Bois, then the white nationalist Proud Boys, the Black Panthers and several Virginia militias. All swinging AR 15-style rifles and deep suspicion that Democrats under Biden would tighten gun regulations.

Some armed activists rallied outside the cordoned-off Capitol, ignoring a gun-free area where protesters were not allowed to openly carry firearms. Dozens of Capitol, city and state police patrol along metal barriers, but do not confront the protesters.

The annual rally – held on the state legislature’s lobbying day – typically attracts more than 20,000 people, but was scaled back from the grassroots level by the Virginia Citizens Defense League this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some stood shoulder to shoulder, but hundreds of other proponents of gun rights from across the state drove in caravans in solidarity through the streets of this former Confederate capital.

But a united cause quickly gave way to tension. A dozen Boogaloo Bois, with distinctive Hawaiian shirts and dots revealing their alliance with Black Lives Matter, cheered as the Black Panthers marched past. The Proud Boys defied the Boogaloo Bois. The Panthers condemn America’s racist past, even though others in the crowd blamed the Black Lives Matter movement for violating Confederate monuments. Some rejected the January 6 attack on the Capitol in support of President Trump, while others said they participated in it.

Tom Speciale, 52, a government contractor and veteran of the military, said he feared a movement by liberals to regulate guns would gain momentum under Biden.

“If they can disarm you,” he can control you, “he said.

Specials joined the January 6 rally in support of Trump, but said he did not break into the crowd at the Capitol with others, adding that those who did should be investigated for ‘potentially criminal’ deeds’.

“People’s passions are very high,” Speciale said. “Eventually, stirrers were used.”

During Monday afternoon, in a city that once personified the Old South, men and women with guns stood 110 miles from the White House. The ever restless fault lines of the country were clear. Trump was not a focal point of the protest, but his ghost and the divisions and anger it incites resounded. This raised questions – on a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King jr. – on the threats of extremism and white supremacy in an era of increasing demands for civil rights and racial justice.

When an armed protester waved a transgender-friendly flag, a militia member accused him of being a pedophile. A few Proud Boys also applauded him at first and then decided he was on their side. Tempers flared up as different groups gathered, but they were never beaten.

“Proud boys go home!” shouted a Boogaloo Boi at one point.

“Say it to my face!” shouted a proud boy back.

The police looked from a distance and did not intervene.

Some in the crowd wore Make America Great Again hats, but many more said they did not support Trump, including Mike Dunn, a liberal local leader of the Boogaloo Bois. Dunn, 20, said he attended the protest in defiance of the local ordinance approved by the city council and backed by lawmakers last year, which bans armed protests.

“This is my Capitol,” he said.

He was not deterred by federal officials investigating Boogaloo Bois and warning that they might target capitals after the January 6 storm on the U.S. Capitol: “They have been following us for years,” Dunn said as he joined Boogaloo Bois stood. with camouflage, a Hawaiian pressure mask and a gun in it.

He said he was also not afraid that the police would stand nearby, despite signs in the city center warning that the weapon was being carried openly.

“They will not arrest us,” Dunn said. He was right.

During a brief appearance during the rally, the Virginia Citizens Defense League leader said he had no problem with Boogaloo Bois and Proud Boys joining the rally.

“They have the right to be here,” said Philip Van Cleave.

Van Cleave was concerned about new gun control laws such as the Richmond gun-free protest ordinance and said it was time to send a message: ‘Give us back our rights.’

Dunn agrees, but says Van Cleave’s lobby group is not doing enough to challenge such laws.

“All we do is step up,” Dunn shouted at Van Cleave. “They did not solve the problem. The only solution is armed insurrection! ”

But Dunn made no attempt to confront the police standing a few feet away. Michael Fouche, a member of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, stares at Dunn and mocks.

“Nice speech,” muttered Fouche, 54, a construction contractor. “Would have meant more if you went to the other side of the barricades.”

Following the rally, a local right-wing activist called on supporters of gun rights to march to a nearby monument to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, a native of Virginia, in the historic Fan District. Black Lives Matter activists have occupied the monument since last summer and turned it into a memorial for those killed by police.

Police blocked the streets around the monument, now covered with graffiti. They stopped a black man who, according to witnesses, openly carried a pistol in a gun-free area. By law, the weapon must have been hidden. Supporters of Black Lives Matter, some of whom are armed, have complained that police are selectively enforcing gun laws so that right-wing activists can threaten them.

“It was already like that,” Kyra, 30, said, asking to be identified only by her first name. “We’re not going anywhere.”