****VA Rally reporting thread.***

[Hodgie]

What are yinz seeing for head count? It's hard to estimate on the ground but it's so packed it's hard to move. Has to be 10s of thousands.

It's all over the place and almost impossible to find out right now I heard 10k early this morning and then the VCDL said something like 120k which from what I have seen is highly unlikely as of now. We need some good aerial drone shots of the entire complex and everything surrounding it.

[alpacaheat]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...rally-updates/

Chitty as usual reporting.

Elsewhere in the crowd, Justin Burns, 19, and his friend Spencer George, 30, flaunted their own arsenals: Both had strapped assault-style rifles across their chests, with bullets visible in the clips. Spanning the men’s bulletproof vests were more ammo clips.

The duo, both welders, had driven 10 hours to attend the rally. They brought the rifles, Burns said, in case anything goes wrong.

“All it takes is one person to make a bad decision and fire off a round for things to go sideways,” Burns said.

Clutching his AR-15-style rifle, George said it felt “awesome” to see so many gun-toting gun rights activists gathered in one place. The sea of weaponry, he said, made him feel less alone.

[middlefinger]

It's all over the place and almost impossible to find out right now I heard 10k early this morning and then the VCDL said something like 120k which from what I have seen is highly unlikely as of now. We need some good aerial drone shots of the entire complex and everything surrounding it.

drones are banned

[Hodgie]

I put the entire article up because it one of the only ones by a "major" news source that has not put some kind of evil civil war nazi slant on it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...rally-updates/

Jan. 20, 2020 at 10:22 a.m. EST
Thousands of gun rights supporters from Virginia and across the country are coming to Richmond for a rally in opposition to gun-control laws being advanced by the General Assembly’s new Democratic majority. After threats and indications of potential violence, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) ordered a state of emergency and banned guns from Capitol Square; gun-control groups and advocates for other causes are staying away from what in the past has been a day of citizen lobbying on a wide range of issues. Gun rights activists and militias are dividing into two groups: those who will shed their weapons and enter the secured area, and those who will remain armed and in the streets outside the capitol complex. Follow our live updates here:

10:15 a.m.
Inside restricted rally area: No guns, but also no bathrooms
Inside the pen, some activists wondered whether the main event was really outside the fenced-in area they’d waited so long to enter.

The much thicker crowd on the streets below had the look of Times Square on New Year’s Eve, with people shoulder to shoulder. While there was some early morning chanting on the square, the crowd seemed to mellow by late morning as sounds from the more raucous street gathering floated up. Wild applause, whistling and a militia’s fife and drum corps on the streets mixed with the sounds of multiple police helicopters whirring overhead.

On the streets, people were free to carry guns. And they had access to rows and rows of portable toilets, provided courtesy of VCDL. Those inside the pen had to give up their guns. Gone, too, was any chance for a bathroom break.

On the upside, there was plenty of room to mill around on the grassy square, even with many hundreds inside.

Mirdanda Smith and her father made their way through the throngs and into the square only to discover another advantage to being outside the gates. In the thick of the crowd, she said, “It’s a lot warmer.”

That said, Smith, a 25-year-old computer programmer from Chesapeake, had no regrets. She had room on the bright if breezy hillside to show off the sign she carried, one she hoped would show that gun rights advocates are not a one-dimensional crowd.

“I want gay married couples to be able to protect their marijuana plants with guns,” it read.

[alpacaheat]

President this morning:


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...84434635100162


Donald J. Trump
‏@realDonaldTrump

The Democrat Party in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia are working hard to take away your 2nd Amendment rights. This is just the beginning. Don’t let it happen, VOTE REPUBLICAN in 2020!

7:43 AM - 20 Jan 2020

[Hodgie]

drones are banned

Not the ones the government fly. I am would be surprised if no mass media outlet was able to get an aerial view of the crowd at least from a new helicopter.

[alpacaheat]

Not the ones the government fly. I am would be surprised if no mass media outlet was able to get an aerial view of the crowd at least from a new helicopter.

They wouldn't share it though. They want to minimize us as much as possible.

[mikelets456]

President this morning:


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...84434635100162


Donald J. Trump
‏@realDonaldTrump

The Democrat Party in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia are working hard to take away your 2nd Amendment rights. This is just the beginning. Don’t let it happen, VOTE REPUBLICAN in 2020!

7:43 AM - 20 Jan 2020

He will expose those that simply don't like guns and those that want us disarmed and "taught a lesson"....let it begin.

[K.C.]

The speakers are due to start, listen here:

https://newsradiowrva.radio.com/

[alpacaheat]

Crowd shots courtesy of https://twitter.com/MichaelCoudrey/s...69560143998976