RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Authorities in Richmond say they will restrict certain weapons and shut down some streets during a weekend demonstration over the city’s Confederate monuments.
Mayor Levar Stoney and Police Chief Alfred Durham held a news conference Thursday about the city’s preparation for the Saturday event.
A Tennessee-based Confederate heritage group is helping organize a rally near Richmond’s massive monument of General Robert E. Lee. Counter-demonstrations are expected, although Durham says police don’t know exactly who is coming.
Virginia is an open carry state, but the chief says weapons like bats, flag poles or shields will be prohibited.
The event comes about a month after a rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville prompted in part by the city’s decision to remove a Confederate monument descended into deadly violence.
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