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four proud boys with a direct line of sight to the virginia capitol building just asked me where the capitol is and if i’ve seen any antifa
there are as many reporters as boogs, proud boys, and assorted gun weirdos. half the guys here are currently being interviewed on camera.
i think there are more reporters here than attendees. the official VCDL lobby day event is just a bus caravan & according to their tracker, the buses are (as scheduled) still a ways out.
honest to god, this is forty photographers doing a photoshoot of ten guys in assorted insurrection costumes. this is embarrassing for everyone involved.
my concern now that there is mainstream concern over far right activity is that this massive influx of interest doesn’t come with any skill in covering it. i watched a proud boy give an interview about what “western chauvinism” means to him. and they’re gonna put that on tv.
a small contingent of libertarians has arrived
richmond police department, recruitment division, rolling up to the crowd of guys illegally carrying loaded rifles
a gubernatorial effigy
the ron paul portrait is affixed to a set of bolt cutters
phillip van cleave of the VCDL has arrived
i guess this is more of just a suggestion?
some interesting new ways of carrying your rifle: pressed firmly to your crotch & like it’s a newborn baby
ouellette & his boys are looking for me, not realizing we’ve already spoken more than once. i am sure he doesn’t intend to do anything that would be a violation of his bond! https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1345875115746189312
update: the giant duffel bag the proud boys are carrying is full of t-shirts they are selling, which is much funnier than what i was worried it might be.
this is just a mobile press conference for some guys in hawaiian shirts. a far cry from last year’s gun lobby day.
i’m a block away from marcus-david peters circle now where richmond police are arresting a young black man for allegedly illegally concealing a handgun. the crowd gathered here rightfully points out that white people are flagrantly violating gun laws in peace over at the capitol.
as the arrest is happening, several cars from the VCDL gun lobby day caravan cut through the scene, appearing to be trying to get toward the robert e lee statue (the street is blocked off to vehicle traffic)
the young man was given a summons and not taken into custody. the crowd is heated & the cops are exchanging insults with several people they know by name but the cops are leaving.
when did the richmond police get a whole fleet of minivans?
god i forgot how good this plinth looked redecorated
another contingent from the VCDL caravan arriving in the city, driving on the shoulder for nearly a mile before their exit
the area about the capitol building in richmond is a ghost town now. the few dozen members of assorted fringe groups who showed up earlier in the day to demonstrate have all gone. all that’s left are the 4 proud boys loitering outside 711.
i spoke with hampton russell ouellette, the self proclaimed leader of the virginia proud boys. he denies having traveled to DC for rallies and denies having posted photographs of himself at those rallies. (see below for photos he posted of himself at a rally in dc) https://twitter.com/rwparlerwatch/status/1337606840822067211
still not sure what the boys are so proud of
passed one lone demonstrator on our way out, but it looks like this year’s gun lobby day was a misfire
of course, you can hardly call it a lobby day since the capitol building was empty. there were no lawmakers here to lobby (or intimidate) this year. last year, several lawmakers feared for their lives amidst this sea of people angry about gun legislation. https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1219242392664051712
