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not exactly a massive crowd here in downtown richmond this morning for state senator amanda chase’s “stop the steal” rally
i honestly don’t know what the point is of holding one of these in virginia, a state biden won by ten points. chase appearing here really only serves to highlight her connection to the two virginia men arrested in philadelphia two nights ago. https://twitter.com/goadgatsby/status/1324619064724119552?s=21
chase has appeared in public numerous times with joshua macias and antonio lamotta, the qanon believers arrested the other night on gun charges while attempting to sabotage vote counting efforts in philadelphia... by delivering fraudulent ballots. https://www.kmov.com/news/report-armed-men-arrested-in-philadelphia-were-trying-to-deliver-fake-ballots/article_12ee5e77-a724-5633-9c52-6bc3ae91a28b.html
there is a news crew here speaking german and i am just unbearably embarrassed at the thought of a foreign audience witnessing this https://twitter.com/goadgatsby/status/1325103343992254464
i think one of the attendees just complained to the police about me & goad being here (we’re sitting quietly on the curb across the street)
participants are now gathering in front of the washington building (which is closed today), the home of the virginia department of elections
big karen energy from the woman next to me with her head in a swivel during the pledge of allegiance to see who isn’t saying it.
land of the free (don’t count the votes!!!!!)
“this is literally a form of oppression,” says a speaker about the news not telling him what he wants to hear
standing on state property, holding a microphone, flanked by state police protecting his right to do so, the speaker says he is sick and tired of it being impossible to have a political ideology without some form of censorship.
jim mcguire, a state delegate for the henrico area, says the US was founded on the church.
mcguire says he is in touch with the lawyers for the trump team and has been “reporting some strange things” happening in virginia. the crowd breaks into chants of “four more years”
the next speaker is the founder of “richmond women for trump.” she says she prayed to god to “show me my role in this war,” saying she is a warrior for god. the crowd shouts amen.
she is recounting in painstaking detail her personal journey of meeting a woman online and making a facebook group together. everyone is cheering.
now she’s talking about taking the girls to the mall to wave trump flags
“are you ready for a new governor? are you ready for four more years or president trump?” shouts state senator amanda chase to the small crowd. they all cheer.
chase says she refuses to accept the lies from the fake news media, “many of whom are here today,” about the election.
“the second amendment is the foundation of every right that we as americans and virginians have to protect ourselves,” says chase, who has disavowed two close associates arrested on gun charges two nights ago.
chase refers specifically now to her announcement back in february that she intended to run for governor. unrelated, here’s a still from video of that event. the man at her right hand is antonio lamotta.
now we’re all clapping for the police
“that is never the role of government. all businesses are essential!” chase shouts into the microphone about the “radical marxist” abuses from governor ralph northam, a man she calls a “tyrant,” to a flood of cheers.
“we never should censor our history, we need to live and learn from it,” chase says, not specifically naming but obviously referring to efforts to remove confederate worship from public space in virginia.
chase says she supports “all black people,” but calls black lives matter a terrorist organization. a man in the crowd holding one side of a trump flag shouts “anarchists!” and “terrorists!!”
do these people know their king is making a public address momentarily & they’re gonna miss it?
“for those of you who don’t believe that suburbial [sic] women don’t support trump, YOU ARE A LIAR! because i am a suburbial woman and i support trump!” chase shouts.
chase refers briefly to lamotta and macias, saying they were driving to philadelphia to “observe” “peacefully.” she doesn’t mention the box of fraudulent ballots found in the car or the gun laws they broke.
oh man i guess no one here has checked their phone https://twitter.com/ap_politics/status/1325112441928359939
“i don’t do covid by the way,” chase says. “i’m the only legislator in the virginia state assembly who doesn’t wear a mask.” she brags about how the state had to build a plexiglass enclosure around her desk to protect her colleagues, calling it her “freedom corner.”
oh my god i’m so excited to be in the middle of this election denial rally when everyone finds out the election just got called and their guy didn’t win.
“we the people will trust an election when there is a transparent, fair, and honest process in place,” chase says. “we will not accept fraudulent election results.”
chase is introducing bishop leon benjamin, a former congressional candidate & pro-trump pastor. he’s really turning up the tent revival vibes out here.
the pastor shouts about spiritual warfare as a news crew asks delegate mcguire about the election being called for biden
i’m trying to listen to what amanda chase is telling these news cameras but the pastor is literally screaming into a microphone about the book of revelations, so the vibe is weird.
state senator chase is now pivoting from “i don’t know them” to “they are innocent until proven guilty” about her associates caught trying to get into the philadelphia convention center with guns & fake ballots
the pastor just said “trump is gonna take pennsylvania!” and the crowd cheered, not knowing the race has already been called.
“trump is gonna take nevada!” he shouts, and the crowd cheers again.
“trump might even come back and take virginia!” and they go wild.
“trump is gonna take nevada!” he shouts, and the crowd cheers again.
“trump might even come back and take virginia!” and they go wild.
this is very surreal
the pastor asks the lord to gird his loins as the light begins to expose the corruption. he leads the crowd in a snippet of the lord’s prayer. the woman in the american flag hoodie who has been twirling a trump flag for the last hour has her arms raised to the heavens.
“the media is getting scared,” leon benjamin says. (how is he reading my tweets during his speech? it’s true - i’m very uncomfortable!)
joe ordia is speaking now. i think he might be running for some kind of office or something but his SEO is really bad. mostly he’s just an anti vax guy who was recently a guest on infowars and is parroting some weird conspiracy theories about the election.
ordia tells everyone that all big tech companies are in cahoots and they should get off mainstream social media, “your eyeballs are their currency.” someone shouts “get on parler!” and he agrees. someone else shouts “GAB DOT COM!” (that’s a site for nazis)
ordia finishes by telling the crowd to use the next 70 days to “get your house in order for whatever comes next,” telling them to stock up on food and water.
leon benjamin is back at the mic leading a chant of “stop the steal.”
leon benjamin is back at the mic leading a chant of “stop the steal.”
“we don’t want any escalation or violence on our side,” ordia says. “trust our judicial process.”
comforting final statements, honestly. let trump take this to court. “we don’t want to fight this with our second amendment,” he said during his earlier remarks.
comforting final statements, honestly. let trump take this to court. “we don’t want to fight this with our second amendment,” he said during his earlier remarks.
and now a painful rendition of “god bless america,” a beautiful harmony of the very shrill voice of the woman with the mic and the dull drone of a crowd joining in.
just mingling and having a nice time
a counter protester sarcastically started a “fascist lives matter chant,” and a woman at the rally corrected them, chanting “ALL lives matter.”
i couldn’t tell if we were marching or if the crowd was just dispersing in one vaguely similar direction. apparently they are doing a “jericho march” - walking around the fenced off capitol building. very weird low energy march. i thought i was walking to my car.
i guess they intend to walk and pray until the walls around the governor’s mansion fall?
“kanye stole the votes! storm calabasas now!” a counter protester is trolling from the back of the march.
why are we crossing broad street? where is this little trump train going?
i think they were praying for the light to change. and god really did answer their prayers. so blessed.
god, this march is so bleak. no chants. no energy. no clear direction. just walking down the sidewalk along broad street silently carrying the flags of a man who lost the election.
no care is being taken by the trump march to ensure the group stays together. an elderly couple carrying rosaries can’t keep up and have been left behind.
we’re back at the tenth & bank intersection outside the capitol building. leon benjamin is claiming dead people, dogs, and cats voted for biden & says he personally saw a ballot addressed to a pet bird.
benjamin leads the crowd in prayer, begging god to uncover the illegal votes.
amanda chase praises the people who came out today, saying she knows how much it means to the president. “i know what it feels like to be under attack,” chase says.
someone at the edge of the crowd said “fuck donald trump” and now this crowd of angry white people has turned around to face several young black activists, chanting “USA! USA!” at them.
i still don’t know if they know fox already called it for biden
“you’re so stupid you don’t even know if you’re a boy or a girl! which bathroom are you gonna use?” a trump supporter shouts at a protester in feminine dress.
honestly not sure why they’re chanting “lock them up” at us now.
leon benjamin is trying to recapture his crowd’s attention, yelling about biden’s tax plan.
leon benjamin is trying to recapture his crowd’s attention, yelling about biden’s tax plan.
a man in a MAGA hat has taken his mask off to a scream “down with communism! down with fascism! down with you! you’re annoying! shut up! just shut up!” and then, inexplicably, “i love black people!”
capitol police have moved in to physically separate the angry MAGA grandpa who was arguing with a small group of counter protesters. a woman just yelled over a cop’s shoulder, “we own houses! we’re LANDOWNERS! are you?” at a black college student.
incredible covid stance from this news team
lmao the video shows state senator amanda chase lunging at goad and demanding that he get out of HER face, incredible https://twitter.com/goadgatsby/status/1325139688131354624
counter protesters playing a siren sound over “god bless america” played over a speaker by the trump supporters. just an auditory mess here outside the capitol in richmond.
goad is now engaging in civil discourse with a trump supporter, a woman who says the counter protesters are “uneducated, uninformed,” and as an immigrant from el salvador she knows about what’s happening here. she’s very worried about marxism and keeps bringing up noriega.
these dogs want to go home
i am NOT proud of this shit, are you kidding me
remember the lady who said her opinions were more valid & needed police protection because she owns land? here she is telling a black organizer they’re a monkey in the jungle https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1325139449064398849
“a lot of people aren’t smart enough to understand that,” says a guy on the megaphone explaining that donald trump’s early lead (before all the early & mail in votes were counted) means he is the rightful winner.
things are going well here
“i don’t follow anyone,” says... this woman, who is currently berating a black man for not being more grateful that her great grandfather fought in the civil war “to free the slaves”
the man in the tie-dyed american flag tshirt is screaming soros conspiracy theories into a megaphone to a dwindling crowd
“there are some issues you could consider me liberal on, but those days are over,” says the speaker. he waxes nostalgic for “the democratic party of the 60s,” but now they’re bolsheviks, unfortunately.
infowars hat, adventure time backpack, ready to roll.
the speaker says people should urge friends and family in states like pennsylvania and michigan to call & write their state legislators, saying “they’re the ones that actually certify the electorial [sic] votes” and they can’t be allowed to certify votes for biden.
no one is still listening to the megaphone guy
a black clad anti capitalist was briefly given the mic to speak, giving a quick elevator pitch for communism. it wasn’t well received. tie dye guy says he agrees everyone should be equal and that’s why he supports trump 
this guy says he actually voted for jo jorgensen, but if he had to choose between trump & biden, he’d choose trump & drove here from va beach to support trump (who he didn’t vote for)
“if i wanted to live in china, i would go live in china. i wanna live in free-ass america.” https://twitter.com/goadgatsby/status/1325150717489766401
“if i wanted to live in china, i would go live in china. i wanna live in free-ass america.” https://twitter.com/goadgatsby/status/1325150717489766401
whoa there bud, he just said he wants everyone responsible for this (the “treason” he is alleging occurred in counting the ballots) “finding their salvation at the end of a ROPE!”
the illegally armed libertarian says if people don’t wake up, they’re gonna find themselves in a police state, then quickly turns to the cop next to him and says “no offense to the police.”
“even if you’re an anarchist and you respect freedom,” you should support trump, says the tie dye guy, accidentally being honest?
“donald trump can’t stop every police shooting,” he says, defending his president against criticism from a black man in the (now tiny) audience
this woman doesn’t think all cops are bad but right before i started this video, she did yell the N word.
“not one republican owned a slave,” says this woman with unbearable smugness. she’s also just finished telling a black man who is currently suing RPD for pepper spraying him through his living room window that he is “enslaving himself” by believing in racism.
neither of these speakers seems at all aware that there is someone else speaking to the same tiny crowd
ok i’m out of here. this isn’t even a rally anymore. this is just a couple of people in the street yelling incoherently.
