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In Richmond, the capital of the US state of Virginia, pro-Trump armed groups began to gather on “Lobby Day.”
Gun rights activists are gathering in the Virginia state capital for an annual rally on January 6 of this year, after the invasion of the United States Capitol and two days before the presidential inauguration, at a time tense.
Authorities are alarmed on “Lobby Day” in Richmond, about 110 miles (175 km) south of Washington DC, where Democratic President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in to replace Republican President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Lobby Day takes place in a highly polarized climate after a year of clashes between anti-racist protesters and white nationalists in the United States.
Pro-Trump rallies across the country scheduled for Sunday largely failed after the FBI issued warnings and several states deployed the National Guard.
“We come to remind you that we are still here,” a gun rights activist who introduced himself as Trevor Sunday night in front of the Virginia state building told Reuters.
Other groups, including the anti-government “boogaloo” movement and liberal protesters will join in on Monday. Lobby Day is a national holiday celebrated annually in honor of the civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. It coincides with the day.
