Thread by @MrOlmos

Lobby day thread Richmond, VA

Some boogaloo boys talk to reporters.

-Boogaloo boys are an extremist movement born online

-They think the internal contradictions of the country will eventually lead to a collapse,

-some of them want to “accelerate” that process and kick off the “boog”(civil war)

A handful of Proud boys are here. One is hawking t-shirts

While many of the MAGA groups didn’t show up to state capitols this weekend, boogaloo boys across the country did, albeit in small numbers.

For context: I count 92 journalists

This is almost a press conference for boogaloo boys. In sound bites they sound awfully reasonable, but that’s deceptive.

here’s three writers who’ve digested a lot of their world:

@Leah_Sottile : nytimes.com/interactive/20…

@jason_a_w @IwriteOK : bellingcat.com/news/2020/05/2…

police aren’t enforcing the “no firearms” ordinance

Lobby day

Not sure it’s the best look for police to have their recruitment division out during a gun rally

The original Black Panthers of Virginia are here in support of the 2nd amendment

Mike Pain, second in command of the Original Black Panthers of Virginia “praying is great, we still need to pray, but nothing happens without action”

Mike pain says this demonstration hasn’t changed much since last years, even in light of the George Floyd uprising, Pain says the focus here is about the 2nd amendment

Philip Van Cleave is the organizer behind this rally, he runs Virginia Citizen Defense league.

You might know Philip Van Cleave from the time Sacha Baron Cohen got him to advocate guns for toddlers

It is a very small turnout. Scattered groups around the Capitol. No nucleus to this gathering.

Boogaloo boys pose for photographers

All gas no breaks

There is no tension.

Boogaloo boys and police chatting

Extremist reporters on the ground in Richmond

@HannahAllam NPR

@loisbeckett Guardian

@willcarless USA Today

At the Robert E Lee monument, in what was the Capitol of the confederacy, a Black Lives Matter memorial

Richmond, VA

And now, your moment of zen

Right-wing demonstrators gathered at a Lowe’s parking lot NEAR Lee monument where Black Lives Matter crowd is holding a bbq

Richmond police shut the parking lot down. The caravan moved on without incident.

I am out of Richmond.