A few nights ago, in Richmond's Museum District, while I was walking my dog a group of paramilitaries pointed a rifle at me while threatening me.

They work for the private security company "Centcom Global", under contract with the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

No one that I spoke to would provide any names or other identifying information since "they are not cops and don't have to"

It was late at night, and I had been walking my dog for awhile. I had been walking along sheppard and was following the road thay separates the museums from the United Daughters of the Confederacy building. My dog wanted to sniff in some bushes so not really thinking I let him.

After a few moments, I figured he was too interested in whatever it was so it must be trouble so I turned to go back to the street. At this point I saw an SUV had pulled up and I was now surrounded by 4 guards in tactical vests. They were initially calm if a bit on edge.

They asked me to leave, I agreed, I asked which way they wanted me to go - I didn't want to approach them and either have my dog do something unpredictable or have my actions misconstrued as aggressive. Here the tone shifted, the man speaking said he didn't care. Just move.

I started walking to the road, and on the way I asked what area I needed to avoid. This is when they turned aggressive. The man I was speaking to began getting angry and told me not to play any games with him. I was now on the far side of the road relative to the UDC building.

He got into my face and told me to just leave. I told him to back up, and to stop threatening me. Mainly I did not want anything to happen to my dog, he sometimes acts unpredictability around people in uniform.

(As an aside - my dog was great throughout, he just decided to nap)

Here I guess these guys in uniform carrying guns really don't like being told what to do, so they started shouting at me. I was pretty sure I was no longer on their property (I never did get an answer as to what area I needed to avoid) so I told him to back off.

He got even more angry, pulled off his vest and asked if I wanted to take this to the streets, he didn't need to be on the property, working as a guard to fight me. I told him to put his vest back on, he is still representing his company regardless.

At this point a different guard had gone back to the SUV and came up to me pointing a rifle at me (it looked like an AR-15 but I didn't get a good look at it) telling me this is serious and I had better respect them.

At this point, with this private security guard threatening me with a rifle on what I assume is state property - I started yelling at him to put his gun away, how irresponsible he was pulling it out in a residential area, etc. After a tense few moments he put it away.

At this point one of the other guards tried to defuse the situation, talking more calmly and standing between me and the two that wanted to fight. Shortly thereafter the two angry ones sped off in the SUV.

I told the calm guard I wanted to file a complaint, since it seemed the most reasonable thing to do, at this point another guard walked up claiming to be a supervisor. I told him the story and asked for his name and the names of those involved. He told me he didn't have to.

I really don't know what I should do, but these people are making my neighborhood unsafe and putting the lives of everyone living here at risk. If he had shot who knows where the bullet might have ended up.

Bullets from a rifle go a lot further then from a pistol.