I would never try to predict what is likely to happen in #richmond tomorrow, but let me just provide some context of why I am hopeful violence will be averted and why that is mixed news. 1/
The #richmondrally has the benefit of two key features that are always desirable in a high risk event: 1)notice, meaning resources can be deployed, plans made, public notified, etc. and 2/
2)lessons learned, meaning what happened in Charlottesville is now known to have been the result of poor planning, so everyone has adopted changes. The motto "Go big or stay home" describes the state of emergency to the FAA ban of small aircraft/drones to National Guard. 3/
But the real reason why I am hopeful for peace and sad about why is because the proponents of guns -- once within their constitutional duty to rally -- have silenced everyone else. They have so elevated the fear that a rational person will avoid civic participation. 4/
How else to read the state of emergency, the request people stay away, the cancellation of anti-gun rallies, the day off given to those who might be working at the statehouse, the deployment of police, barriers, the hunkering down. It's to protect, but it results in silencing 5/
A little taste of the gun lobby's "freedom of expression" from FB today. I will add that any peaceful gun rights advocate who attends this event does not get any benefit of the doubt now. via @McnallyKell
6/
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Words look familiar. Right? Trump's tweet is working. He could have done 3 things INSTEAD: 1)applaud arrests of 6 white supremacists vowing for violence in Richmond; 2)support law enforcement Monday or 3)STFU. He did none of those. He incited. #stochasticterror 7/
No, he sided with a cause where white supremacy arrests had been made, against a state where Charlottesville still pains and where good men/women of fed, state and local law enforcement and military will wake up Monday and deploy and, I suspect, keep the peace. One hopes. 8/8
