The Virginia chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots networks, today responded to reports that two alleged Neo-Nazi group members who pled guilty to gun related crimes plotted to assassinate a Virginia lawmaker. According to court filings from federal prosecutors, the Neo-nazi group members were recorded at a Richmond gun rights rally planning an attempt to assassinate the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and aimed to spark “a civil war that would decimate racial and ethnic minorities and subjugate women.”
“These allegations should horrify every Virginian,” said Mike Fox, a volunteer with the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Something is deeply wrong when lawmakers’ lives are at risk because they’re taking action on behalf of the Virginians they represent. This is a grim reminder of the threat extremism poses to our democracy – particularly when extremists have easy access to guns – and how fortunate we are in the commonwealth to have leaders committed to making us safer nonetheless.”
Everytown Support Fund released reports in October 2020 and January 2021 on the gun lobby’s role enabling armed far-right extremism, which detailed the gun lobby’s decades-long amplification of radicalizing rhetoric and advocacy for laws that enable right-wing extremists in the United States to arm themselves. The reports also examined the toxic mix of conspiracy theories, far-right extremism, and accessibility of guns in America and the connection between extremism, lax gun laws, and the Capitol insurrection.