Far Right Activists From 2017 Charlottesville ‘Unite The Right’ Rally Are Joining Monday’s Virginia Gun Extremist Rally in Richmond

The Daily Beast: “Charlottesville Banned These Far-Right Activists, but They’re Bringing Their Guns to Richmond”

According to new reporting by The Daily Beast, far right leaders involved in the deadly ‘Unite the Right’ rally are promoting and attending the upcoming gun extremist rally in Richmond on January 20^th. The report compounds preexisting fears that the January 20^th rally is on a collision course to becoming another Charlottesville – but this time, with more guns. 

“The event has also drawn militia groups from across the country, and plenty of internet chatter that Monday could kick off the ‘boogaloo’—far-right slang for a violent American revolution or civil war. It’s also drawn in at least four people and organizations who were in Charlottesville  on the day of the ‘Unite the Right’ rally when white supremacist James Alex Fields killed counter-protester Heather Heyer with his car.”

Next Monday’s gun extremist rally is an attempt to intimidate lawmakers into rejecting the democratic will of the people who, by wide margins, voted to flip Virginia’s General Assembly to a gun sense majority for the purpose of passing common-sense gun safety laws.

The Daily Beast article shows that among those who are organizing and recruiting members of out-of-state militia groups to descend on the Virginia Capitol are multiple leaders of far-right extremist groups who played critical roles in the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally. Following the rally in Charlottesville, these figures or their affiliated groups were barred from returning to Charlottesville armed for demonstrations.  

In recent days, one of them has posted particularly noxious, violent messages on social media directed at a Virginia lawmaker. 

“Shoaff, a Tennessee resident, has gone further than most other right-wing personalities in his calls for violence in Richmond. In a December broadcast, he advocated for the hanging of Rep. Donald McEachin, an African-American congressman, after McEachin suggested Northam could use the National Guard to enforce new gun laws.

“In an interview with the Daily Beast, Shoaff stuck by his calls for lawmakers who support gun control laws to be hanged.”

Other extremist groups and individuals, including groups speculating about the ‘boogaloo’, have pounced on the January 20^th rally as another opportunity to espouse their violent and hateful agendas. 

“Shoaff isn’t alone among Richmond attendees in flirting with the idea that the Richmond “Lobby Day” and related events could end in a violent clash. While the VCDL has tried to position itself as a more moderate voice among the Monday rallygoers, a video posted to its Facebook page in December asked whether the “boogaloo” would “begin in Virginia.” Chris Hill, a member of the Three Percenter militia, repeatedly described the Monday events as a prelude to “boogaloo” in a YouTube video.” 

Read the full article here, and read more about the January 20^th gun extremist rally in Richmond here.