The group organizing today’s gun rally in Richmond, Virginia, has issued a last-minute alert warning of threats against its speakers.
“One of our members with access to police intelligence has advised us that specific threats have been uncovered to three of the speakers at the rally. Yet, just a few days ago, when specifically asked about any such threats, the Capitol Police denied knowing of any and have not shared any such information to date,” said the alert from the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
RIGHT NOW: State and #Richmond police prepare for thousands of people from across the country to flood the Capitol for a gun- rights rally. @WAVY_News pic.twitter.com/bkOFtxXCLR
— Kiahnna Patterson (@KPattersonWAVY) January 20, 2020
The VCDL also warned that despite a big police presence in the city, police may have underestimated the size of the pro-gun crowd headed to state capitol grounds to protest sweeping gun control legislation moving through the newly elected, Democratic-majority General Assembly.
Public safety is everyone’s responsibility. Remember, if you see suspicious activity, report it to local law enforcement. Keep these 5W’s in mind. pic.twitter.com/2cwy1LjdNO
— VACapitol2020 (@VACapitol2020) January 20, 2020
“VCDL is concerned that the police may not have fully considered the crowd size that is coming, even though we have indicated it could be as much as 120,000. Be prepared to move to an overflow area if directed to do so,” said the alert.
There were no other details on the “threats” to pro-gun speakers.
Richmond, across from the security line into the capitol pic.twitter.com/B0YIQmNnVZ
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) January 20, 2020
Meanwhile, state officials have warned of the potential for violence from pro-gun and far-right groups, though there have been no further details released on that either. Gun control advocates have said they’ve received death threats.
The media and gun control activists have raised fears that the pro-gun crowd will be violent. But the “lobby day” leaders have repeatedly vowed to make their case against gun control peacefully, as they have at dozens of meetings around the state to push county and city officials to approve “gun sanctuary” resolutions.
The extremists headed to Richmond aren’t responsible gun owners. Some are openly calling for violence and even a second civil war. And lax gun laws enable them to access arsenals and ammunition and parade around the public square with too little regulation. #IStandWithVirginia
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) January 19, 2020
VCDL has noted that it has been hosting “lobby day” on the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday peacefully since 2002 and has gone along with Gov. Ralph Northam’s emergency decree banning guns from inside the caged-in rally area closest to the capitol. But it has also asked armed members outside the gun-free zone to “watch over us.”
The city has taken several precautions to prevent any violence, clashes, or attacks. The Federal Aviation Administration has also issued a ban on drones in the area. The state has raised concerns of a repeat of the deadly clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 during a “Unite the Right” rally.
Crowd sizes for today’s rally have ranged from 50,000-130,000, and buses of pro- and anti-gun protesters are arriving from as far away as Texas.
