“Not Another Charlottesville”: Richmond Police Enforce Weapons Ban Ahead Of Confederate Rally
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Sep 16, 2017
With the memory of Charlottesville still fresh in everyone’s mind, Richmond Police have announced that they’re planning to impose strict security measures – including a temporary “weapons ban” – during a celebration of Confederate Heritage set to take place on Saturday near a famous statue of Robert E Lee on Monument Avenue.
By banning most weapons, a decision that was discussed during a city council meeting earlier in the week, police hope to prevent the level of violence witnessed just 70 miles away in Charlottesville last month, when a young woman was killed and dozens were injured after a white nationalist demonstrator drove his Dodge Charger into a crowd of protesters.
“We do not want what happened in Charlottesville to happen in Richmond,” said Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham in a letter distributed to residents this week.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, authorities are planning to cordon off a “weapons-free assembly zone” around the statue of Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in an effort to head off any potential violence at a rally to support preserving Confederate monuments planned for Saturday. After a crowd of protesters destroyed a statue of Robert E Lee in Charlottesville last month, the city is refusing to allow anyone within a designated perimeter of the statue.
In recent months violent clashes between violent fring groups on both the right and the left have become depressingly regular occurrences at conservative speaking events and rallies. Police at the University of Berkeley tightened security on Thursday during a speech by former Breitbart editor and conservative author Ben Shapiro. While the speech was described as a “success” by organizers, and protests were described as “largely peaceful,” Berkeley police still made nine arrests, three on weapons-related charge, according to Fox.
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