State of Emergency in VA Ahead of Pro-Gun Rally as Judge Upholds Ban on All Weapons

Posted on January 17, 2020
(Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A judge has upheld the Virginia governor’s ban on all types of weapons at a pro-gun rally planned for next week. Gov. Ralph Northam had announced the ban on Wednesday as he declared a state of emergency over threats of “armed militia groups storming our Capitol.”

The judge’s order Thursday came hours after the FBI announced the arrest in Maryland of three men who they say are tied to a white supremacist group.

Virginia’s solicitor general told Richmond Circuit Court Judge Joi Taylor that law enforcement identified “credible evidence” that armed out-of-state groups planned to come to Virginia with the possible intention of participating in a “violent insurrection.”

Meantime, Three members of an alleged neo-Nazi group have been arrested by the FBI, allegedly in the possession of several weapons, that had discussed traveling to the pro-gun rally in Virginia next week.

According to FOX News, the complaint charged Canadian national, 27-year old Patrik Jordan Mathews; also charged are, 33-year old Brian Mark Lemley Jr.  of Elkton, Md., with transporting a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony.  19-year old William Garfield Bilbrough IV of Denton, MD. was charged with “transporting and harboring aliens.”   One of the men charged was affiliated with the U.S. military.

(Associated Press)

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