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When two protests converged at the state Capitol on the Fourth of July, the standoff was perhaps inevitable.

Hundreds had gathered on Saturday for an Independence Day tailgate and “First Amendment Protest” against the ongoing restrictions over COVID-19. They proudly displayed their firearms, exercising their Second Amendment rights, as well.

But the rifles strapped on their backs and holstered guns quickly turned into a show of force and a possible threat of violence. Another crowd was approaching in demand of an end to police violence. They marched to the Capitol as they have for many nights before, calling for justice through their face masks and trading the day’s celebratory red, white and blue for a somber black.

Members of both crowds said they felt threatened as the marchers met the armed assembly, with law enforcement largely out of sight. 

The evening ended without incident, and the Department of Public Safety said five troopers and a captain were on duty at the Capitol mall. But for some, the minimal police presence — in contrast to the blockaded streets and the riot gear-clad cops of past demonstrations — showed that not all groups are equally protected.

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A woman holds a rifle while facing a crowd protesting against police violence at the Arizona state Capitol on July 4, 2020.

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Video shows woman threatening to shoot protesters

Camille Johnson marched to the Capitol with at least 150 others to protest against police brutality and demand justice for the slain U.S. Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen. She took video on her cellphone as a woman in the other demonstration loaded a magazine in her rifle, lifted it, and placed a finger on the trigger.

In Johnson’s video,the woman holds her rifle with both hands, lifting it at chest height but not pointing it at the crowd as a chorus of “Power to the people” fills the air. She holds the gun for about 90 seconds, then lowers it and enters her car, saying, “Do you want to get (expletive) shot?” 

The Arizona Republic attempted to reach the woman in the video but she did not respond to requests for comment.

Others in the First Amendment protest wore bullet-proof vests or large rifles around their bodies. One woman raised her middle finger at the unarmed protesters, then clutched a pistol at her waist, according to another video captured by Johnson.

“They just looked like they were looking for an excuse to use their guns against us,” Johnson told The Arizona Republic, calling the weapons “ridiculous” and unnecessary.

“We are all unarmed, protesting just like you are, and you’re the one with a rifle loaded at the ready,” she said.

Senate candidate: We were the ones getting harassed at the Capitol 

Daniel McCarthy, who is running for the U.S. Senate in August and whose campaign helped promote the First Amendment tailgate and protest, said supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement were actually the ones harassing what he described as a peaceful gathering of families.

“This Antifa element — you can call them whatever you want — there were people there who were trying to disrupt our Fourth of July,” McCarthy said. He alleged that the crowd of protesters surrounded their cars, preventing them from leaving the parking lot as they yelled and chanted.

McCarthy said that “taking precaution to bring their firearm is only common sense” for people who attended his event, considering recent “riots and looting” across the Phoenix area. Arizona is an open-carry state and the Capitol group were well within their legal rights to carry firearms. 

The demonstrations against police brutality that began in late May, however, have largely remained nonviolent.

Rather than brandishing their weapons, McCarthy said of attendees, “What I saw was a tremendous amount of restraint from patriots just trying to enjoy the Fourth of July.”

“I would never encourage anyone to threaten or attempt to threaten anyone with their firearm,” McCarthy said. “I think it’s a sad day in America that on the Fourth of July, young children and families have to worry about being at their state Capitol.”

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W.E. Rising leader: This was our first time facing armed counter-protesters

The Black Lives Matter movement and broader fight for racial justice are often seen by police and bystanders as threatening, said Lee Percy Christian — even when the group is completely unarmed. Christian has helped organize the ongoing protests with other leaders in the W.E. Rising Project.

“Imagine if we did come out (armed) the same way they’d come out toward us,” he said, his voice hoarse from protesting two nights in a row. “There would be an uproar in this entire state.”

One leader with W.E. Rising was equipped with a pistol on Saturday, Christian said, but the organizers don’t encourage weapons and continually preach nonviolence at their events.

“Our security is the people. We’re all security,” Christian said. “There’s strength in numbers.”

Still, the line of weapons was intimidating to him: It was the first time during weeks of protests that he’d seen an armed opposition.

Christian said he wasn’t aware another group would be at the Capitol when he set out on the march, and the confrontation came as a surprise. He called the low-profile police presence “shocking” as the two groups came head to head.

DPS: People with guns at the Capitol is not new

The Department of Public Safety is charged with law enforcement on the Capitol grounds and spokesman Sgt. Kameron Lee said troopers were monitoring the situation on Saturday. The department deployed additional troopers — 10 were on standby — to the area when a confrontation seemed likely, he said.

Past demonstrations have often drawn five times as many officers and fleets of police cars, even when no weapons were present.

When asked about the danger of loaded guns, Lee noted the department has been successful in making sure that everyone who brings firearms to the Capitol is aware of the laws.

“The presence of citizens carrying firearms at the Arizona state Capitol is nothing new,” he said. According to Lee, DPS also worked with Phoenix police to allow protesters to leave the Capitol parking lot, and communicated with the two protest groups, “requesting them to exercise restraint.”

Neither Johnson nor Christian recalled seeing any officers, however, and both said the crowds dissipated without the department’s intervention.

Christian’s group of protesters have often shunned police at their events — “We don’t want them to try to tell us what to do or where to go,” he said — but the Fourth of July event felt different, he said.

When the threat of danger seemed real, he looked in vain for a sign that an authority would protect them if shots were fired.

For an agency sworn to protect all people, he said, “You would think that when we’re being threatened and intimidated on public property, that they would take into their own hands to come and make sure that everybody was OK.”

Reach the reporters at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Find them on Twitter @helenwieffering or @vv1lder.

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