REPORT from 2A Rally in Richmond
Just got in, so not sure what others have reported
Seemed like ~ 20,000 people there
Did not see ANY antifa or counter-protestors at all - majority of attendees stayed outside the designated area, we were in both at various times.
HUGE law enforcement presence, even snipers on 3 buildings facing the penned area and one in a cherry-picker facing the road, and 3 helicopters, though I did see 2 very small planes flying overhead, which was a little odd.
→ ALL law enforcement were really nice, professional, courteous (we spoke to some in almost each area they were stationed). While they were professionally alert, they were obviously relaxed around the inside of the designated area, even at the search-stations at the entrance, they were jovial and good-natured.
LEO was treated really well by rally-goers (I asked each group of them I saw) - they were really impressed at how everyone was appreciative of their presence (people thanked them for being there) and you could tell that they on the one hand were glad to be there amongst law-abiding, polite and civilized people, they were on the other hand not pleased that it needed to take place at all (off the record).
LEO was treated TERRIBLY by the City and the Governor: - some told us they were there at 4 am, were not provided even water and were not allowed any breaks at all. Those who had brought something on their own were glad they did. One lady had gummi bears :)
There were people of many races and ages there. EVERYONE got along really well with everyone else, even in very tight quarters.
There was supposed to be one entrance and 3 exits. The Governor changed it and closed all 3 exits so everyone had a very small exit at the entrance (near the search-area). There were a very large number of porta-pottys provided by VCDL on a side street (one exit would have led directly to it), so that side street was jam packed all day. While it was incredibly crowded, there was no pushing, no irritation or anything by anyone. Everyone, whether armed or not, helped everyone else out.
There were petitions to get various people on the ballot to run against Sen. Mark Warner and someone else (accidentally threw away the literature b/c I had picked up litter and put it in that pocket. Stickers and literature were given out freely. Someone rewrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic and handed those out. When I find it I will retype & post it - it's really, really good.
Many people picked up incidental litter as we walked around - the neon orange GUNS SAVE LIVES stickers didn't really stick because the temp was about 20F at 9am, so they were on the ground everywhere (not thrown, they just kept falling off), and while there were those there was only really sort of incidental/accidental litter, so it was easy to just scoop it up and toss it. There was really no actual littering like you see at Women's March in D.C. and one LEO came over to thank me for picking the little stuff up. I know they appreciated the people who were there and we appreciated them, too.
There was a LOT of media there, though there were many professional-grade equipment, the only actual identifiable MSM was a local station. There were many, many independent media there, so there will likely be footage all over youtube.
We did not see Alex Jones (so we could go to the opposite area, kek) or Whatshisface Spencer.
We did see some surprising things - one was a cardboard box cardboard sign that said DEMS for NRA. There was some sort of small parade around the block at the bottom of the hill of the designated area that included an LGBT rainbow flag.
Met some people who know about Q there and of course they were really nice.
Others came in from Texas (flew in!), PA, CO, TN, NY and FL to support fellow citizens.
ALL THE FEARMONGERING BASTARDS WERE WRONG. We were not cowed, we were not intimidated, this only strengthened our resolve.
We will NOT back down. We will NOT negotiate and legislators absolutely must understand that they DO NOT RULE US, they WORK FOR US. Their job is to represent OUR interests, not theirs or their big donors. Their job is to PROTECT our LIBERTIES. If they handle this in a way that does not represent our interests, they will be removed.