Black men arrested with weapons at protest while armed white militia men avoid charges in Greensboro
As a peaceful protest was dispersing on Tuesday night, Greensboro police arrested six African-American men, charging them with violating a North Carolina statute called Weapons at Parades Etc. Prohibited and seizing guns from five of them.
In contrast, three white men, including one with a history of firearms training with open white supremacists, showed up armed with handguns and rifles while wearing paramilitary gear at the protests on the first three nights while making violent posts on Facebook, and have so far managed to avoid incurring any similar charges from the Greensboro Police Department.
Jason Passmore, a Greensboro native, has been active with the Stokes County Militia, whose executive officer Brandal T. Payne has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as member of the white supremacist group Identity Dixie. Before joining the Stokes County Militia, Passmore organized the Guilford County Militia, whose members showed up at then-candidate Donald Trumps June 2016 campaign stop at the Greensboro Coliseum. The now-defunct Guilford County Militia adopted the Guilford Courthouse battle flag, which members carried to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. in August 2017 (Passmore did not attend that event).
Howard Graves, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Passmores activism fits within the umbrella of militant, anti-government extremism.
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