Apparently these gun grabbing Democrats don’t like it when you lawfully protest outside of their homes with your legally owned and carried weapons. Delegate Mark Levine was absolutely butthurt and acted like a total little bitch about the whole situation. The protester didn’t back down even when the police showed up. I hope we see a lot more of this.
On Monday, Virginia Delegate Mark Levine told the story during a speech on the House floor in Richmond. It was a story about an armed man who showed up outside his Alexandria home on Saturday.
Photos show the man holding a gun, along with the Virginia state flag, and a sign that says ‘Withdraw HB 961.’
House Bill 961, which Levine introduced, actually failed in the legislature this week. But had it been approved, the bill would have banned the sale of assault weapons in the Commonwealth.
Gun rights advocate Brandon Howard says that is what brought him to Levine’s home.
“He is the lawmaker who authored that bill, who put that bill in front of the General Assembly. Therefore yes, he was the lawmaker we were protesting,” said Howard. “House Bill 961 is unconstitutional. It strips citizens of their rights.”
Howard, who is from Hopewell, Virginia, called it a peaceful protest.
But on Tuesday, Levine told ABC7 that Howard crossed a line.
“For me, I’m going to press charges. I’ve called the police. I’ve talked to the Commonwealth’s Attorney, and I hope they can prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law,” said Levine. “And if they cannot prosecute him because of the way our Virginia laws are, well then that’s the advantage of being a lawmaker. I intend to come back to Richmond and introduce legislation to make sure that anyone who threatens a lawmaker at the point of a gun and says I’m coming to your home with a gun unless you change your mind on legislation – I want to make sure that person can be prosecuted.”
Howard says he notified Alexandria Police of his plans to protest outside Levine’s home several days ahead of time. He maintains he was well within his rights to be there, telling ABC7 that he had the proper weapons permits in hand, and was standing not on private property but in a public park that sits adjacent to Levine’s home.
"It is perfectly legal for me to carry my firearm on a sling and my handgun in a holster. That’s Virginia law, " he said.
Howard and Levine never spoke to each other, but both men spoke to the Alexandria Police Department.
“The sergeant came up, he told me he had received a call about a large magazine in a firearm, and he asked me for my permit,” he said. “I said no problem, I took out my wallet. I handed the sergeant my driver’s license and my concealed handgun permit. Sergeant said thank you very much, have a great day.”
As for Levine, he says he learned about Howard’s plans after being alerted to a social media post that encouraged gun rights activists to protest outside of his home in Alexandria.
“I did ask the police to tell him I was more than happy to have him come to my office here in Richmond, speak to me here in my office. We have metal detectors in Richmond, so I feel very safe in my office, and he could’ve chatted with me about anything he wanted,” said Levine. “I also told the police to tell him that if he didn’t want to chat with me but just wanted to protest me, he’d have every right to stand outside my office in protest and carry signs and call me all kinds of names and that was okay as well, but I didn’t want him to come to my home with a gun.”
Levine says Howard stood armed outside his home for about two hours on Saturday afternoon. It was not until after Howard left that Levine said he watched a video that Howard had posted on a Facebook page belonging to a group called The Right To Bear Arms Virginia. Howard confirmed he is a founding member of that organization.
“If this all goes through, I want you sir, personally, to come and try to take my gun, try to take my property that’s legally purchased and legally owned. Because if you are the one, or whoever you send, be aware and be known, I hope you kissed your wife. I hope you kiss your husband. I hope you kiss your children goodbye before you come and try to take mine. Because that’s the last time you would ever kiss them in your life. Because you’re only getting my gun one way, and that’s with the business end,” Howard says in the video.
Levine feels that comment is a direct threat to lawmakers.
“When I sat on the House floor and told people what happened, it wasn’t just Democrats that came by my side. Many Republicans came by my side, they said this is disgusting. This is wrong,” said Levine. “I don’t think any reasonable person supports threatening elected officials with weapons. As I said, that’s something that’s done in dictatorships, it shouldn’t be done in America. You want to threaten me? Threaten me by running against me. Go for it.”
Howard insists his comments in the video were taken out of context.
“This isn’t a threat to nobody,” he said.
ABC7 asked Howard to explain what exactly he meant by his comments in the Facebook video.
“In my video, I said I hope we never have to see in the United States, never should we have to spill blood on our own soil,” he said. “What it says in the video, if these laws are passed, it says they are unconstitutional and I will defend the constitution with my life if need be.”
Right now, the Alexandria Police Department isn’t saying much, except to confirm that Levine did file a complaint with the police department. A spokesperson confirmed they are investigating to see whether any laws were broken.
https://twitter.com/DelegateMark/status/1229536955249184768?s=19
