Thousands of people are expected to converge at Virginia’s Capitol on Monday to protest proposed changes to gun laws during a holiday traditionally reserved for lawmakers and the public to meet.
Richmond is under a state of emergency declared by Gov. Ralph Northam, who said the annual lobby day and rally has drawn the attention of militia and out-of-state groups who have come to “intimidate” and “cause harm.”
“They are not coming to peacefully protest,” the Democratic governor said Wednesday when he declared a temporary weapons ban on Capitol grounds, where the rally will be held at 11 a.m.
Tensions have been building across the state since Democrats gained a majority in the legislature and vowed to enact tighter gun control laws following the May mass shooting in Virginia Beach. As lawmakers filed bills to limit handgun purchases and require universal background checks, gun owners — first in rural counties, then in large cities like Virginia Beach — packed local government chambers, demanding localities not enforce any proposed legislation they considered an infringement on their Second Amendment rights.
In Richmond, Northam said intelligence officials had received “credible, serious threats” of violence comparable to those targeted towards Charlottesville, where in 2017 neo-Nazis and white supremacists clashed with counter protesters and a woman was killed.
A planned vigil for victims of gun violence, held annually on MLK Day for nearly three decades, was canceled Friday.
“Advocates have faced armed individuals trying to intimidate us each year,” said Lori Haas, the state director for the Coalition Against Gun Violence. “But this year is different; we have received information that heavily armed white supremacists will be seeking to incite violence, and our organization has decided that the safety of our volunteers, advocates, and staff, many of whom are survivors of gun violence, must be our top priority.”
Haas said a few hours later on a call with reporters that there was a “very, very good chance” she would still come to the Capitol Monday, but encouraged others to stay home.
“I don’t think anyone should go down there with the intention whatsoever of having a conversation or a confrontation,” she said.
On Thursday, FBI officials arrested three armed men suspected of being members of a neo-Nazi group that had discussed plans to come to Richmond Monday, the New York Times reported.
A heavier-than-usual police presence was felt at the Capitol all week, with fences going up around the building on Wednesday. By Friday, a security checkpoint had been set up near the grounds’ soon-to-be only entrance during the rally.
Roads around the Capitol will be closed to vehicles starting 8 a.m. Monday, when nearly 40 buses coordinated by the pro-gun-rights group Virginia Citizens Defense League — the main organizers of the rally — will arrive to lobby lawmakers in their offices across the street from the Capitol.
Virginia allows people to openly carry guns in public places, so those with weapons who are denied entry onto the grounds will likely be in the closed-off streets.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday announced temporary flight restrictions around Richmond. Northam said Wednesday one of the threats police knew about involved “weaponizing drones.”
City and state police have urged people to stay home on Monday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a state holiday — and all non-essential employees who work in or around the Capitol have been advised to stay home.
Suzette Denslow, the House clerk, said Friday the young pages who intern during session and help lawmakers with clerical duties will be staying home.
In a plea to members over the weekend, VCDL’s president Philip Van Cleave asked for 10,000 members to commit to “taking one for the team” and coming unarmed for the rally inside Capitol grounds. He urged others to stand outside the perimeter with guns to “watch over your brothers and sisters inside the fence”.
Still, Van Cleave has been urging members to remain peaceful on Monday.
“The eyes of the nation and the world are on Virginia and VCDL right now and we must show them that gun owners are not the problem,” he said in an email to members early Thursday morning. He’s asked for the Virginia Supreme Court to appeal a lower court ruling that said Northam had the authority to institute a gun ban.
Van Cleave blamed Northam for the potential danger, saying his gun proposals escalated what otherwise has always been a calm lobby day.
“All these people coming, this whole flare up is because of him,” he said in an interview. “He’s the one that declared war on gun owners.”
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The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press will be at Monday’s rally. Check PilotOnline.com and DailyPress.com for coverage from our reporters and photographers as it happens.
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Marie Albiges, 757-247-4962, malbiges@dailypress.com
