Despite fears of violence and a country on the brink of President-elect Joe Biden’s possession, gun rights activists gathered in front of the Virginia Capitol on Monday, attracting right-wing groups increasingly hostile to the government and openly armed. in defiance of the law.
They went to Richmond, waving flags and shouting slogans, a volatile group of extremists and militants whose politics and grudge have disturbed the country in recent weeks. Among the first to arrive were the Boogaloo Bois, then the white nationalists Proud Boys, the Black Panthers and several Virginia militias. All brandished AR 15 rifles and deeply suspected that Biden’s Democrats would tighten arms regulations.
Some armed activists gathered in front of the isolated Capitol, ignoring an arms-free zone where protesters should not be carrying weapons openly. Dozens of police officers from the Capitol, the city and the state patrolled metal barricades, but did not face the protesters.
The annual demonstration – held on the lobby day of the state legislature – usually attracts more than 20,000 people, but has been reduced by the Virginia Citizens’ Defense League this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some stood shoulder to shoulder, but hundreds of other gun rights advocates 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 tensions. A dozen Boogaloo Bois, wearing Hawaiian shirts and patches that reveal their alliance with the Black Lives Matter, cheered as the Black Panthers marched past. The Proud Boys insulted the Boogaloo Bois. The Panthers condemned America’s racist past, even though others in the crowd blamed the Black Lives Matter movement for disfiguring Confederate monuments. Some condemned the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill in support of President Trump, while others said they participated in it.
Protesters argue with police officers during a heated debate near the Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond, Virginia.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Tom Speciale, 52, a government contractor and an army veteran, said he feared that a move by liberals to regulate weapons would gain momentum with Biden.
“If they can disarm you,” he said, “they can control you.”
Speciale joined the January 6 demonstration in support of Trump, but said he did not break into the Capitol with other people in the crowd, adding that those who did should be investigated for “potentially criminal acts”.
“People’s passions are very high,” said Speciale. “They ended up being taken advantage of by the agitators.”
Throughout Monday afternoon, in a city that once symbolized the Old South, men and women with rifles stood their ground 110 miles from the White House. The nation’s always tireless failures were evident. Trump was not the focus of the rally, but his spectrum and the divisions and anger he incites resonated. It raised questions – on a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. – about the threats that extreme right-wing extremism and white supremacy pose in an era of growing demands for civil rights and racial justice.
When an armed protester arrived waving a transgender-friendly flag, a militia member accused him of being a pedophile. Some Proud Boys also made fun of him at first, but decided that he was on their side. Moods exploded when different groups converged, but they never got into fights.
“Proud Boys, go home!” a Boogaloo Ox shouted at one point.
“Say it to my face!” a proud boy shouted back.
Boogaloo Oxen armed with guns and flags demonstrate during the lobby day in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
The police watched from a distance and did not intervene.
Some in the crowd wore Make America Great Again hats, but many others said they did not support Trump, including Mike Dunn, a local libertarian leader of Boogaloo Bois. Dunn, 20, said he attended the rally in defiance of the local law passed by the City Council and supported by the state legislature last year, preventing armed protests.
“It’s my Capitol,” he said.
He was not dissuaded by federal officials who investigate Boogaloo Bois and warn that they may target state capitals after the January 6 US Capitol invasion: “They’ve been after us for years,” said Dunn as he stood. with his colleagues Boogaloo Bois wearing camouflage, a Hawaiian mask and carrying a rifle.
He also said he was not afraid of the presence of police nearby, despite signs in the city center warning that carrying weapons openly was prohibited by law.
“They are not going to arrest us,” Dunn said. Was he right.
During a brief appearance at the rally, the leader of the Virginia Citizens Defense League said he had no problems with Boogaloo Bois and Proud Boys joining the rally.
“They have a right to be here,” said Philip Van Cleave.
Van Cleave was concerned about new gun control laws, such as the Richmond Firearms Protest Act, and said it was time to send a message: “Give us back our rights.”
Members of the Black Panthers of Virginia stand guard on Main Street as they demonstrate during the lobby day.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Dunn agreed, but said that Van Cleave’s lobby group was not doing enough to challenge such laws.
“All we do is move on,” Dunn shouted at Van Cleave. “They did not solve the problem. The only solution is armed revolt! “
But Dunn made no move to confront the police who were only meters away. Michael Fouche, a member of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, looked at Dunn and scoffed.
“Nice speech,” murmured Fouché, 54, a reform contractor. “It would have meant more if you went to the other side of the barricades.”
After the demonstration, a local right-wing activist asked gun rights advocates to converge on a monument near Confederate General Robert E. Lee, a native of Virginia, in the city’s historic Fan District. Black Lives Matter activists have occupied the monument since last summer, turning it into a memorial to those killed by the police.
The police blocked the streets around the monument, now covered with graffiti. They stopped a black man who, according to witnesses, openly carried a gun in a gun-free zone. The law states that the weapon should have been hidden. Supporters of the Black Lives Matter, several of them armed, complained that the police were selectively enforcing gun laws, allowing right-wing activists to threaten them.
“It’s been like that,” said Kyra, 30, who asked to be identified only by her first name. “We are not going anywhere.”
A person walks with a flag in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)