Thread by @FordFischer

VIDEO THREAD: Today I filmed as "boogaloo" activists marched to the Ohio State House in Columbus for an armed "unity rally."

Ahead of the event, mounted officers came over and let the boogaloo activists pet their horses.

The interaction was very friendly.

"The boss is calling, uh-oh!" a cop joked at the end of this clip.

"Why are you talking to the insurgents?" he joked that his boss would say.

Police photographed participants as they began in front of the Ohio state house.

"Henry Locke" introduced the group as "the Ohio Boogaloo" and said he wanted to spread a "message of unity."

He emphasized that they're not pro-Trump or pro-Biden.

Boogaloo activist and self-proclaimed "goon" @classcountryboi also described the unity theme.

"It doesn't matter if you're antifa, it doesn't matter if you're a MAGA," he said. "It's time that we join together, join hands. Stand together."

The event then turned into a mingle.

While the people there largely got along, one right-winger who was not with the "boogaloos" began arguing with them, including misgendering a transgender woman who had been sitting at the park.

Boogaloos came to her defense.

"That is a real woman," said "Henry Locke."

I'm not going to flesh out that argument from my last tweet, but it's worth noting that the right-wing guy who opposed the boogaloos argued with them for vastly longer.

As with all my content, watch the livestream if you're interested in full context.

https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1350838737089904640

Another group of armed guys arrived and identified themselves to the boogaloos as "ancaps" (anarcho-capitalists) and were welcomed into the group.

One dressed as the "ghost of George Washington" with a rifle said partisan division is problematic while the issue is politicians.

An unarmed man who calls himself "the dancing trucker" was there wearing a "dancing for peace" shirt and dancing with whomever would participate.

He did this the entire event.

Three apparent militiamen with Gadsden flag patches showed up but wouldn't speak a word, even to the organizers, and covered their eyes when people got close to them.

People made fun of and accused them of being undercovers, then largely ignored them.

A Trump supporter and apparent believer in the "Stop the Steal" movement also showed up, and @jake_zuckerman attempted to interview him.

Apparent Biden/Harris supporters tried to shout over their conversation, "Stop giving racist platforms!" to prevent the interview.

The boogaloos talked to the community with some mixed results. The biggest criticism among resistant left-of-center people there is that in spite of purported anti-racism, the term "boogaloo" is associated with race-war 4Chan ideology.

An African-American Trump supporter called the left-of-center folks who believe boogaloo are racist "brainwashed."

A white boogaloo guy hugged him after clarifying that he doesn't support Trump, "but I respect his right to support who he wants."

Toward the end of the event, police chatted with the boogaloos.

Police said they had expected more people but would have been fine with that too as long as it stayed peaceful.

Here is my full, HD footage summary of today's "boogaloo" rally at the Capitol.

As always, all @N2Sreports raw footage is available to license.