State of emergency: High tension in Virginia as right-wing

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The unfortunate thing is:

There are neo-Nazi white supremacists out there. And their allies, the Ku Klux Klan. And people involved in what is termed "Christian Identity." And survivalists in general who come together in militias, in anticipation of some sort of apocalypse.

That's not propaganda. That's fact. These folks exist.

Still if the government of the state had to declare an emergency and ban guns from the area, there must have been some credible threats. But yes Salon.com is quite biased, so generally maybe not a great source.

I am fairly sure the authorities are justified given the last time neo-Nazi milita men gathered in one place they caused mayhem
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2- ... e-n1001971
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 67136.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... ville-riot

You seem consistent Ezra...whenever right wingers behave badly you automatically blame the left....getting old

Three more suspected neo-Nazis connected to a white nationalist group that reportedly planned to have members at a gun rights rally in Virginia have been arrested, authorities say.

Three Georgia men were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and participating in a criminal street gang as part of the hate group, The Base, according to the Floyd County Police Department.

The three Georgia men, identified as Luke Austin Lane of Floyd County, Michael Helterbrand of Dalton and Jacob Kaderli of Dacula, were planning to "overthrow the government and murder a Bartow County couple," Floyd County police said in a statement.

Lane, who was arrested near his home without incident Wednesday, and Kaderli are being housed in Floyd County, and Helterbrand is to arrive later Friday, police said. Lane was also denied bond Thursday.

It was not immediately clear if the Georgia men planned to attend the Virginia rally. Multiple media outlets reported Thursday that the men in Maryland planned to attend, and authorities moved on them in fears they might incite violence

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, the group organizing the rally and challenging Northam in court alongside Gun Owners of America, has said the event is still on. The group planned the "lobby day" to try to sway state legislators not to pass a host of gun control measures that Democrats have promised after taking control of state government in November.

Following the election, more than 100 localities in Virginia declared themselves "sanctuaries" for the Second Amendment, saying they wouldn't enforce unconstitutional laws. Legal experts and Herring have said those resolutions hold no legal weight as local law does not supersede state law.

However, as momentum grew with the sanctuary resolutions and planning of the lobby day, the movement spilled across state lines and onto pro-gun social media, sparking interest from groups outside of Virginia.

Groups identified as extremist organizations urged members to flock to Richmond on Monday, using fiery language of "tyrants" trying to seize arms and promising civil war.

Some of the militia groups that said they would attend the rally in Richmond are the same ones who attended the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, the Daily Beast reported.

The Base, the group of which the six men arrested this week allegedly are members, has been identified as a hate group committed to creating a white ethno-state. Police in Georgia say the group, founded around July 2018, seeks to "accelerate the downfall of the United States government, incite a race war and establish a white ethno-state."

One of the men arrested in Maryland, Patrik Jordan Mathews, 27, is a former Canadian Armed Forces reservist who was dismissed over ties to white supremacists; he allegedly entered the U.S. illegally in August.

According to an arrest affidavit, the Georgia men were arrested in connection with an undercover FBI operation during which an agent was accepted into the group and gained access to its encrypted online messaging applications.

The three men allegedly planned to murder a couple they believed to members of Antifa, the anti-fascist group. According to an arrest affidavit, Lane spearheaded the plot to kill the couple with the help of Kaderli and Helterbrand, however, the operation was delayed, in part because Helterbrand said he had a bad back.

On at least two occasions, the men along with the undercover agent drove to the couple's house to scope it out, the affidavit says. They also discussed burning the house down after the hit, the affidavit says.

At one point in the planning, the men discussed what would happen if their victims had children. Lane told Helterbrand they would "probably just leave them," but Helterbrand said he'd have "no problem killing a commie kid," the affidavit says.

The men allegedly settled on a February date to commit the murders. Lane also identified future targets who were members of television media, the affidavit says.

Lane also allegedly said he wanted to kill other members of The Base who knew about the plot and whom he feared would discuss it. According to the affidavit, a member of The Base in Maryland and one who had recently entered the United State illegally were his targets, however, those members were not named.

The affidavit describes the group as operating with regional cells for security purposes.

In Maryland, prosecutors said at a court hearing Wednesday that one of the men compared The Base to al-Qaida and discussed traveling to Ukraine to fight alongside "nationalists."

Prosecutors say Brian Mark Lemley Jr., 33, and William Garfield Bilbrough IV, 19, traveled to Michigan last year to pick up Mathews. The men have allegedly operated in Maryland and Delaware since, building an assault rifle, amassing ammo and trying to make DMT, a hallucinogenic drug, as they discussed The Base's activities.

President Trump on Friday warned of an “attack” on the Second Amendment after Virginia Democrats curtailed access for firearms at the state capitol.

“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!” Trump tweet

´And the cops are always on the side of the fascists. Most cops *are* fascists.

I would ban guns just to emasculate hillbillies/rednecks.

I think the left likes to consistently crank out a lot of hype and hysteria. I agree it gets old.

http://huffp.st/1YBVcQL

Waiting for EzraS to tell us all that this has nothing to do with far right extremists behaving badly and is all the fault of left wing reporting.

Do you have a thing for EzraS?

Only for calling out his hypocrisy & absurdity as he tries to assert his slanted opinions as neutral & holier than thou.

You sound mighty fixated.

http://huffp.st/1YBVcQL
is all the fault of left wing reporting.

Ignorant, myopic and spiteful, not to mention spectacularly unselfaware. People like you are why Trump is in office right now, and why you have four more years of the bad orange man to look forward to.