David Hogg spent much of Monday mocking the gun-rights activists who marched on the Virginia Capitol in Richmond as insecure fascist wannabes in the thrall of white supremacy who need to read a book.
Over several hours, Mr. Hogg sent out dozens of tweets and retweeted dozens more containing a farrago of insult and condescension, and he repeatedly characterized the march as a Nazi enterprise.
“VA is in a state of emergency because white supremacists and nazi’s are using their 2nd amendment rights to shutdown the 1st amendment rights of students, veterans, and clergy,” he wrote.
The march also is racist because white people can carry weapons and some black people get killed, he explained.
The nearly-20-year-old Harvard student reasoned that “17 y/o Trayvon Martin was shot on his way to get some skittles. Yet there are thousands of white men able to march around openly caring assault weapons on Capitol grounds. This is not about self-defense it’s about the enforcement of white supremacy.”
He also retweeted a similar claim by Bishop Talbert Swan, a Massachusetts NAACP chapter president, that when white people wield guns, it’s to control black people.
“White men carrying assault rifles to the VA state capital. Must’ve traded in the tiki torches this time around. This ain’t about gun rights, it’s about white supremacy, intimidation, and keep Blacks and other non whites ’in their place,’” Mr. Swan wrote.
Stephen Gutowski of the Washington Free Beacon interviewed at the rally a black man identified as Mark from Northern Virginia who said he felt completely comfortable at the rally and derided Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam for pushing the racism claim despite his having worn blackface or a KKK hood.
“For me as an African-American on MLK Day, it’s critically important that we preserve the ability to defend ourselves and our loved ones. I will not allow anybody to push a narrative saying that there are racist people at these rallies. It is not true,” he said.
Intellectual superiority was very much part of Mr. Hogg’s persona, claiming that “Donald Trump is an idiot” because, on Mr. Hogg’s account, he thinks the 2nd Amendment requires children to be killed.
“If you’re so bad at arguing that you need to carry a gun to make sure no one talks to you because you don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Harvard student claimed in another tweet, “you should put down the gun and pick up a book.”
Mr. Hogg’s litany didn’t come close to ending, claiming the marchers were “showing up with guns to intimidate children,” are “so afraid of kids that don’t want to be shot that you have to dress up like G.I. Joe,” and, with a “Lol” at the start and a laughing emoji at the end, that “they actually think there in Call of Duty.”
The political f-word also made its inevitable appearance.
“If you use guns for armed intimidation of children that just want to say why they don’t want to die— you’re not responsible gun owner you’re a fascist,” he claimed.
Many of the protesters publicly brandished weapons in defiance of an emergency declaration, but there were no reports of violence or arrests.
The promised antifa counterprotesters never showed.
The marchers were protesting gun-control bills being pushed through the state legislature by the newly ascendant Democratic leadership.
At the end of the afternoon, Mr. Hogg declared victory.
“If less than 20 kids demanding we not be shot got 22,000 armed people who sent thousands of death threats AND planned actual terroist attacks to show up and we still won[,] Just wait to see what else we have planned for 2020,” he proclaimed.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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