quote:

Fearing potential violence, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is declaring a state of emergency and is banning firearms and other weapons on the Capitol grounds in Richmond ahead of a gun rights demonstration planned for next week.

"We have received credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies that there are groups with malicious plans for the rally that is planned for Monday," Northam said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Gun rights supporters are preparing to converge on Richmond for a lobbying day and a rally Monday morning. They're opposed to efforts by Virginia Democrats — who've just taken over control of the Virginia legislature following the November 2019 elections — to pass a slate of gun control bills backed by Northam.

The event, hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League, is expected to draw thousands of armed demonstrators, some from out of state. Organizers have said they hope to hold a peaceful event.

But Northam said officials have heard reports of "out-of-state militia groups and hate groups planning to travel from across the country to disrupt our democratic process with acts of violence." He said they "are coming to intimidate and to cause harm."

Northam is raising concerns about a reprise of the deadly violence surrounding the white supremacist march in Charlottesville in August 2017. He said state intelligence analysts have identified threats and rhetoric online that mirror the chatter they were picking up around that time.

quote:

FBI in Baltimore, Maryland charged Brian Lemley, 33, and William Bilbrough, 19, with transporting and harbouring aliens. They charged Mr Lemley and Canadian Patrik Mathews with transporting a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony.

The FBI alleges that Mr Mathews entered the US illegally at the Manitoba/Minnesota border. All three are accused of being members of a white supremacist group known as The Base.

According to the criminal complaint filed with the state's attorney general, The Base's members discussed in encrypted online chatrooms "recruitment, creating a white ethno-state, committing acts of violence against minority communities (including African-Americans and Jewish-Americans), the organization's military-style training camps, and ways to make improvised explosive devices".