USA: Neo-Nazis planned to open fire at a gun support rally to create chaos

FBI agents have arrested several activists of a particularly radical group that has declared a minority war ahead of a particularly tense event in Virginia in protest of democratic moves to increase gun control. Trump hearted: "Second Amendment to the Constitution under attack"

USA: Neo-Nazis planned to open fire at a gun support rally to create chaos

(In the video: The Override Attack at a Charlottesville Rally, 2017)

The FBI has recently arrested six neo-Nazi activists, including a defector from Canada, across the United States, on suspicion of planning to wreak havoc in support of the right to carry firearms and murder anti-fascist activists.
The suspects are affiliated with an extremist group, the "Base," which unites neo-Nazis and acts as a military organization.

According to the FBI, the group has declared war on minority communities in the United States - Jews and blacks, among others - and abroad. Unlike other extremist groups, "The Base" is not focused on propagating propaganda, but on recruiting skilled members, such as former military personnel, to train others for acts of violence.

Three suspects, including the Canadian defector, were arrested in Maryland and Delaware on Thursday and charged with federal offenses. The next day, three other Georgia activists were arrested. An FBI official said police and federal agents made the arrests ahead of the Virginia rally, scheduled for Monday, in light of concerns they plan to act there violently.

We planned to murder anti-Fascist activists. Georgia suspects (Photo: AP)

Three far-right "base" activists arrested in Georgia, January 17, 2020 (Photo: AP)

According to charges against the group arrested Thursday, they built a rifle, purchased thousands of bullets and replaced vests that could carry replicas.

"One of the key reasons we now operate is based on Monday's rally scheduling and the direction of some of the causes of violence in Richmond," said Jay Tab, FBI Deputy National Security Director. He said at a Washington event that the FBI has a "decent sense of concern" because the agents "can't keep track of everyone and everything."

He added: "We have had some interest in some factors that we know will at least be there, and we have no way of knowing when rhetoric becomes violent."

Trump: "Democrats Will Take Your Weapons"

The arrests have only heightened the fear that the rally in Richmond will rapidly deteriorate into violence as thousands of protesters plan to head to the Virginia capital. In 2017, a rally of far-right activists in the city of Charlottesville, also in Virginia, became a battleground when a neo-Nazi activist ran left-wing protesters and murdered one of the participants.

"These extremists are going to try to connect with these events to take advantage of the intense emotions and bring in new recruits," said Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northham signed an injunction prohibiting the carrying of firearms at the state government plaza at the time of the arrest, and the state Supreme Court rejected the appeal filed by organizations supporting the right to carry firearms. They plan to protest a series of laws that Democratic lawmakers are planning to pass in order to increase oversight of weapons sales and maintenance.

President Donald Trump, who was at the time accused of rampant condemnation of the extreme right-wing violence in Charlottesville, attacked Democrats, saying the United States Constitution was "under attack." Virginia is a key state in the upcoming election, and in 2016 Hillary Clinton won it. Democrats took over the two state legislatures in November 2018, for the first time in decades.

"The second amendment to your constitution is under significant attack in Virginia's wonderful community," Trump tweeted Friday night. "That's what happens when you vote for Democrats. They'll take the weapons away from you."

Neo-Nazi life sentence from terrorist attack in Charlottesville: "I regret"