They plan to be peaceful and they have a message: It’s time to start respecting Black Americans’ constitutional rights to carry firearms.
This Saturday, a pro-2nd Amendment march is set to take place led primarily by Black gun owners in Oklahoma. The march, titled 1,000 Brothers and Sisters in Arms, will begin at 2 p.m. at Ralph Ellison Memorial Library in Oklahoma City and end about a mile away at the Governor’s Mansion, USA Today reports.
“As an African American, it’s important to send a message to the governor and president that we aren’t going to allow people to come into our communities and brutalize us,” march organizer Omar Chatman said. “That goes for corrupt police officers, white supremacists and criminals. Criminals have no color. It doesn’t matter if you are a Black man, white man, Asian or Hispanic.”
“If you come into our community, know we are armed,” he added.
As USA Today points out, Oklahoma citizens age 21 or older can carry a firearm in public without a permit.
About an hour-and-a-half away in Tulsa, President Trump is set to have his first rally since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The rally, originally scheduled for Friday, was rescheduled to observe Juneteenth.
“I have encountered the police and observed them while holding my gun from a safe distance,” Chatman said. “I’ve been displeased with every encounter. They treat Black men with guns with condescension and sarcasm. They should engage us as they would anyone else.”
Chatman says he plans to bring his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle which he has carried in public multiple times before.
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