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Virginia Braces for Gun Rights Rally Monday

Associated Press

   RICHMOND, VA - Virginia's capital city is bracing for the expected
   arrival of thousands of gun-rights activists and other groups that have
   vowed to descend on Richmond to protest Democrats' plans to pass
   gun-control legislation.
   Gov. Ralph Northam declared a temporary state of emergency days ahead
   of Monday's rally, banning all weapons including guns from the event on
   Capitol Square. Militia groups and white supremacists were among those
   expected to mix with gun-rights activists, raising fears the state
   could again see the type of violence that exploded in Charlottesville
   in 2017.
   Virginia's solicitor general told a judge Thursday that law enforcement
   had identified "credible evidence" armed out-of-state groups planned to
   come to the state with the possible intention of participating in a
   "violent insurrection."
   Toby Heytens also suggested during his arguments in a lawsuit by gun
   advocates that challenged the weapons ban that the crowd could number
   in the tens of thousands. The Supreme Court upheld the weapons ban.
   The Virginia State Police, the Virginia Capitol Police and the Richmond
   Police are all coordinating the event and have plans for a huge police
   presence at Monday's rally with both uniformed and plainclothes
   officers. Police plan to limit access to Capitol Square to only one
   entrance and have warned rallygoers they may have to wait hours to get
   past security screening.
   Authorities will be looking to avoid a repeat of the violence that
   erupted in 2017 in Charlottesville during one of the largest gatherings
   of white supremacists and other far-right groups in a decade. Attendees
   brawled with counterprotesters, and an avowed white supremacist drove
   his car into a crowd, killing a woman and injuring dozens more.

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