Armed militiamen, Boogaloo Bois show up at Richmond gun rally/lobby day

Video: Graham Moonaw caught armed milita and Boogaloo Bois admitting to illegally carrying rifles at the Richmond protest 44 sec

The 18th of January saw another armed protest in a state capitol, this time in Richmond. The annual 2nd Amendment lobby day organizers were upstaged by militia and Boogaloo Bois open carrying in defiance of Richmond's recent legislation banning firearms at protests. Two days to go to Inauguration.

As all this went down, Black Lives Matter activists were elsewhere, at the Robert E Lee monument, which faces an active "tear it down" campaign to remove it along with all other Confederate monuments.

Meanwhile, DC was peaceful while the fascists were in Richmond. A few hours after that wrapped up however, small packs of fascists were seen in Anacostia, where they would have been pushed by the closure of 14th st after crossing the 14th st Bridge. They defaced artwork on a 395 overpass and elsewhere in Anacostia, and presumably got out of the neighborhood before being found and engaged by local youth. Also a smattering of MAGAt and militia types have been arrested at or near checkpoints for J6 warrants and on gun charges over the past few days.

The MAGAt's "Boogers," and other assorted fascists are here, and the mess on Jan 6 has moved the National Guard, Army, and even Marines into position for any martial law games Trump may attempt early morning on Jan 20 to pre-empt the Inauguration. It will be up to the troops to decide what to do about any unlawful orders from Donald Trump. Thus, we face the spectacle that in essence the military gets the final vote on whether Biden or Trump is president on Jan 21. They are suppposed to follow the Electoral College, which in turn is supposed to follow the popular vote on a state by state basis. We shall see.

Looking back, Jan 18th is the exact 4 year anniversary of the mass GLBTQ march on what was then the home of Michael Pence. The next night was the Deploraball and the massive J20 protests the day after that. Of course, J20/2017 did not feature packs of armed men (without police badges) hunting people in the street and stabbing them, and certainly not the prospect of an infantry battle between soldiers loyal to Trump and soldiers loyal to the US Constitution. The Jan 6 storming of the Capitol by comparison was never kettled, prosecutors have not sought to charge all participants with a grand conspiracy, and nobody charged for J6 is facing 80 years potential prison time. Of course, the whole US could face 80 years of dictatorship if Trump pulls a martial law rabbit out of a MAGA hat.

Sandi Bachom got this photo of militamen open carrying in violation of new Richmond city laws concerning weapons at demonstrations. One in the Hawaiian print shirt used by the Boogaloo Bois

Black Lives Matter activists at the Lee monument in Richmond, which has been intensely redecorated since the start of the George Floyd Uprising last May

BLM Plaza in DC on Jan 18

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