# Thread for Richmond Gun Rally Mon. Jan. 20 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 18, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598 "2020-01-18T02:59:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/1 "2020-01-18T02:59:26Z")
Figured the pit would be the likliest forum for this potato, given that things could get really sketchy. Lots of militia groups and a number of hate groups will be descending on the the city, and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency for that day. Already some scary [related shenanigans](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/us/fbi-arrest-virginia-gun-rally.html) > [@](#): > > The unease increased after the F.B.I. announced the arrest on Thursday of three armed men suspected of being members of a neo-Nazi hate group, including a former Canadian Army reservist, who had obtained weapons and discussed participating in the Richmond rally. The men were linked to the Base, a group that aims to create a white ethnostate, according to the F.B.I. > [@](#): > > The Base’s members use encrypted chat rooms to discuss their supremacist agenda, the FBI says. According to court documents, the extremists frequently discuss topics such as “recruitment, creating a white ethno-state, **committing acts of violence against minority communities (including African-Americans and Jewish-Americans)**, the organization’s military-style training camps, and ways to make improvised explosive devices.” my bold > [@](#): > > Additionally, three other men associated with the Base being tracked by the F.B.I. were arrested on Thursday by the authorities in Georgia. Officials said they were plotting to kill a couple belonging to the loose affiliation of radical activists known as antifa. Hey what could go wrong with this thing, right? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/2 "2020-01-18T03:15:35Z")
Trump is urging everyone to remain calm and reasonable about this. Okay, kidding. [Trump is egging them on](https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/trump-raises-tensions-in-virginia-as-local-authorities-fear-richmond-gun-rally-could-be-the-next-charlottesville/). ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/3 "2020-01-18T04:03:37Z")
It’s worth noting that “The Base” is the English translation of Al Qaeda. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/4 "2020-01-18T04:08:35Z")
So, what should we do? Root for all reasonable Virginians to take to their basements as the state government melts down to their socks all Alt-Right gun-toting NAZIs by low yield atmospheric nuclear weapons? ( Effective in exterminating vermin, true, but is it worth the radioactive half-life? ) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/5 "2020-01-18T06:19:25Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > So, what should we do? Have police monitor the event. Arrest anyone who breaks the law but allow those who assemble peacefully to do so. And use it as an opportunity to identify members of these organizations. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/6 "2020-01-18T06:26:26Z")
Might as well put a [face(s)](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/17/us/fbi-arrests-richmond-gun-rally/index.html) to scumbaggery. > [@](#): > > Tabb said the three men arrested in Delaware and Maryland on Thursday “definitely had an intent” to travel and attack the Richmond rally. He did not specify the Georgia men’s intent regarding Richmond, and the [Base raid] Wisconsin case had not yet been made public when he spoke Friday. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/7 "2020-01-18T10:17:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Have police monitor the event. Arrest anyone who breaks the law but allow those who assemble peacefully to do so. And use it as an opportunity to identify members of these organizations. I look forward to mass arrests. Maybe a good knock-down all-out riot but hopefully without any shootings or murders (I know, implausible for this particular rally). Tear gas all around and pepper spray galore! Just like our beloved Vietnam War riots on college campuses in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s! I look forward to mass convictions on various felony counts. Every one of them will then become ineligible to own or possess firearms ever again! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/8 "2020-01-18T13:52:20Z")
A gun rally on MLK Jr. day! What a happy racist coincidence! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/9 "2020-01-18T14:46:18Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Trump is urging everyone to remain calm and reasonable about this. > > Okay, kidding. [Trump is egging them on](https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/trump-raises-tensions-in-virginia-as-local-authorities-fear-richmond-gun-rally-could-be-the-next-charlottesville/). From the quoted tweet in the link above - > [@](#): > > Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia. That’s what happens when you vote for Democrats, they will take your guns away. Republicans will win Virginia in 2020. Thank you Dems! > > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2020 Spelling, punctuation and sentence structure looks… ok. Commonwealth of Virginia? I wonder who wrote that for him? Maybe Miller. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/10 "2020-01-18T16:14:54Z")
Here’s an explainer on the rally: [What to Know About the Virginia Gun Rally - The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/us/virginia-gun-rally-explainer.html) (not paywalled for me, but maybe I’m still under my limit for free views this month) I haven’t heard much about large scale counter protests. I assume there will be some. Does anybody have any information on numbers of people expected, on either side? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/11 "2020-01-18T16:45:21Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > I haven’t heard much about large scale counter protests. I assume there will be some. Does anybody have any information on numbers of people expected, on either side? I can’t find a link other than tweets about it, but the head of Moms Demand has asked their members to stay away and “focus on phone banking” that day. I’m guessing there won’t be many organized groups counter protesting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/12 "2020-01-18T16:56:59Z")
I wonder what effect having no one show up for this protest other than the protesters have? No bystanders, no counter-protesters, just empty streets and no news coverage other than, “no one thought these people were important enough to pay attention to”. Except, come to think of it, they’d probably start crowing that everyone was so scared of them they didn’t dare show their faces. Maybe use the same tactics that the anti-fox hunters do. Air horns and the like. Maybe toss glitter bombs and salt-water balloons at them. (Salt water to ensure the water in the balloons doesn’t freeze, since ice-filled balloons could cause harm and the whole point would be to harass without actual harm.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/13 "2020-01-18T17:08:16Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > A gun rally on MLK Jr. day! What a happy racist coincidence! They probably wanted to schedule the rally on a holiday so they could all take a day off from their jobs. No…wait…none of these losers has a job. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/14 "2020-01-18T19:22:47Z")
> [@C3](#): > > I can’t find a link other than tweets about it, but the head of Moms Demand has asked their members to stay away and “focus on phone banking” that day. I’m guessing there won’t be many organized groups counter protesting. Thanks. On the one hand, I’d like to see a huge turnout by counter protesters so the gun nuts don’t get to claim their opposition was too scared to come out. On the other hand, I think they’re itching for a fight, and I don’t want another Charlottesville. I read that some right wing extremists are hoping this march will provide the “boogaloo”, i.e., an event that sparks a civil war. How serious or influential those people are, I have no idea. A Democratic governor who survived a blackface scandal might end up having to fend off a violent attack from a right wing mob egged on by the President. What a time to be alive. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/15 "2020-01-18T21:29:48Z")
Not usually one to commend the FBI, but kudos to them so far. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that the more and more the FBI shows successful efforts at heading off at the pass any potential far right threats, the more and more I could see President Golightly tweetstorming about about SAD FBI CRUSH CITIZEN’S RIGHTS TO FREE SPEECH or CORRUPT FBI OUT TO TAKE AWAY OUR GUNS. I dunno, a fair-minded chap can always cynically speculate now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/16 "2020-01-18T23:11:32Z")
Good to hear those rat turds got arrested. Who calls themselves “the base” anyway? What do they think they are anyway, a kilo of sodium hydroxide? -Egomaniacal Dumbasses. They deserve what they got, and then some. Maybe they can join Trump’s illustrious defense team… ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/17 "2020-01-18T23:34:45Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Who calls themselves “the base” anyway? What do they think they are anyway, a kilo of sodium hydroxide? When I was taking organic chemistry, I also worked at a restaurant and heard the manager say he was pouring some acid down the drain. The bottle was clearly marked “SODIUM HYDROXIDE” and I decided not to tell him that he was wrong, and why. 😃 But you’d think people would WANT to be there, since it will be the safest place on earth with all the guns around! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/18 "2020-01-19T02:31:40Z")
As has been pointed out, “The Base” is the English translation of “Al Qaeda”. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/19 "2020-01-19T03:22:58Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > A gun rally on MLK Jr. day! What a happy racist coincidence! It’s Lobby Day in Virginia, when Virginians traditionally go to Richmond to lobby their legislators. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598/20 "2020-01-19T03:32:53Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I wonder what effect having no one show up for this protest other than the protesters have? No bystanders, no counter-protesters, just empty streets and no news coverage other than, “no one thought these people were important enough to pay attention to”. > > Except, come to think of it, they’d probably start crowing that everyone was so scared of them they didn’t dare show their faces. > > Maybe use the same tactics that the anti-fox hunters do. Air horns and the like. Maybe toss glitter bombs and salt-water balloons at them. (Salt water to ensure the water in the balloons doesn’t freeze, since ice-filled balloons could cause harm and the whole point would be to harass without actual harm.) Making them play to no audience does sound appealing, but I really would get a kick out of having that [tuba player from the white supremacists’ march show up…](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs4P1kKK-5k) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-richmond-gun-rally-mon-jan-20/846598.md?page=2)