Organic Prepper: Northam Declares State of Emergency in Virginia

In Northam Declares State of Emergency in Virginia Because “armed militia groups plan to storm the Capitol” Daisy Luther of The Organic Prepper, pulls some info together while discussing how Virginia Governor Northam has declared a State of Emergency for the January 20th Lobby Day protests. By declaring the state of emergency he bans firearms and other weapons from the grounds. In addition to the rights-destroying bills that have incited the most unrest, she notes that when the people of Virginia said they would vote out the representatives next term in response to the introduction of the bills, Dems introduced a bill to eliminate voter ID. Then when the people said they would petition to remove the legislators from office, Dems introduced a bill that would nearly triple the amount of signatures needed.

Interestingly, former Virginia House member Mike Watson said of the declaration:

Perhaps he should take a look at VA Code first: Del. Tony Wilt & I patroned this bill in 2012 so that no one could declare an emergency in an effort to prohibit citizens from exercising their 2nd Amendment rights. Signed into law 3/1/2012

Supposedly the governor has declared the capitol grounds an emergency “shelter” in order to give a façade of legality to his declaration.

GOA and VCDL challenged the ban on Jan. 16th seeking an injunction, a few hours later the judge denied the challenge. GOA and VCDL are appealing to the Virginia Supreme Court.

Here is an excerpt from the Organic Prepper article:

…Citing violence that erupted in Charlottesville during a Unite the Right rally in 2017, Northam said that there are credible threats that “armed militia groups plan to storm the Capitol” during Monday’s rally. In an executive order,  he announced he is banning all weapons from Capitol Square for the day.

Credible intelligence gathered by Virginia’s law enforcement agencies indicates that tens of thousands of advocates plan to converge on Capitol Square for events culminating on January 20, 2020. Available information suggests that a substantial number of these demonstrators are expected to come from outside the Commonwealth, may be armed, and have as their purpose not peaceful assembly but violence, rioting, and insurrection. Assuring that Virginia’s Capitol Square and surrounding public areas are sheltered safe places for those who come to participate in the democratic process, as well as those who work on or near Capitol Square, is my greatest priority.

The anticipated effects of the potential convergence of tens of thousands of demonstrators on Capitol Square, some of whom may not come to assemble peacefully, constitutes an emergency as described in § 44-146.16 of the Code of Virginia (Code)…

When you push a population to the brink, threatening them with gun confiscation at the hands of the National Guard and telling them that their lawful actions of rebellion are meaningless, you have to expect that population to push back. Particularly a rural, gun-loving population that makes up most of the counties in Virginia…

On their Facebook page, they said of Northam’s emergency declaration:

VCDL is going to have our attorneys investigate this situation once we hear Northam’s statement on Wednesday and we will let you know what we find out. (source)

Based on the comments on the VCDL Facebook page, a lot of Virginians are not planning to comply and it looks like there could be widespread civil disobedience on Monday. You can find out more information about Lobby Day here…

Click here to read the entire article at the organic prepper.

According to an article at VPM, Virginia House Democrats have repeatedly said they were acting on the recommendation of the Capitol Police in restricting firearms. However, Police Chief Pike has told reports that neither he nor his agency recommended the ban, but they did comply with a Democrat request to figure out how to put such a plan into effect.

Also, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. has said that he is “pretty sure” that he will call for civil disobedience if the Virginia bills pass.

The VCDL issued a statement on the ban today, Jan. 16th:

I’m sure that everyone has now heard that Governor Northam has declared a state of emergency and banned the carrying & possession of weapons on Capitol Square in Richmond from 5:00 pm Friday, January 17 to 5:00 pm on Tuesday, January 21.

VCDL believes that this gun ban is illegal.  Our legal team is looking at our options and we will keep you advised as soon as we have a definitive plan.  As it stands now, you can carry on 9th Street, or other nearby streets, as long as you don’t go into the fenced-in Capitol grounds area (or into any of the government buildings).  There will be 17 magnetometers to speed up security for those wishing to be on the Capitol grounds, which puts you near the stage.  You CAN have a knife with a blade LESS THAN 3 inches.  Again, wait for final word on the Capitol grounds gun-ban situation over the weekend.

Every year since 2002, VCDL has come to the General Assembly to peacefully assemble and lobby our elected officials on Martin Luther King Day.  The only difference this year is that the crowd size is expected to be significantly larger due to the Democrat leadership’s promise to pass draconian gun control laws that would adversely affect law-abiding citizens while having minimal impact on criminals.

The Governor claimed in his Executive Order that there has been credible intelligence gathered suggesting that the purpose of many of the participants in VCDL’s Lobby Day is not to peacefully assemble but instead is to foment “violence, rioting, and insurrection.”  Yet, neither the Governor nor any of his law enforcement has informed VCDL of any of these alleged threats.

The inflammatory rhetoric from Democrats (including the Governor, Attorney General, Congressman McEachin, Delegate Levine, and many others) regarding the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement and VCDL’s Lobby Day leads us to wonder if they really want Lobby Day to go peacefully. 

The Democrats are afraid of the voters and want to portray this peaceful assembly of law-abiding gun owners in the worst possible way.  They would love for it to degenerate to “violence, rioting, and insurrection” in order to smear gun owners.  Has the Democrat leadership actually invited violent groups to attend for the purpose of disrupting our peaceful assembly?

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS:  There have been many rumors, videos, and articles flying around the internet. We cannot stress enough that this is a peaceful day to assemble and address our Legislature about protecting our right to keep and bear arms.  Lobby Day is NOT about statues, flags, racism, sexism, or anything other than protecting the right to keep and bear arms for ALL law-abiding citizens.

Yes, we hold a rally, but the point of the day is communication with our legislators.  (Note that a rally is not the same thing as a protest.)

To our knowledge there are no credible threats of violence.  That being said, please practice appropriate situational awareness.  IF YOU SEE A BAD ACTOR flag down a police officer and point it out.  If someone tries to provoke you, smile and walk away.  There is probably someone secretly recording the interaction, with the intent of capturing some kind of inappropriate reaction on your part.  Don’t take the bait. It’s not worth the bad press.  Again, you might want to notify law enforcement of such bad actors.

The eyes of the nation and the world are on Virginia and VCDL right now and we must show them that gun owners are not the problem.  Lead by example.  We have been, and continue to be, in close contact with several law enforcement agencies and will keep them informed of all potential threats that we become aware of.  Law enforcement will be in abundance at the event, both uniformed and plain clothes, to provide security and we are sincerely appreciative of their efforts to keep everyone as safe as possible.