Over one hundred heavily armed militiamen from across the country gathered at the battlefield memorial in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday, defending hallowed ground against an attack by antifascist protesters that never came.
On the 154th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, a pivotal moment in the country’s bloodiest war to date, several armed men and women held a rally in an open field near a battlefield cemetery memorializing both Confederate and Union soldiers fallen during the battle. They responded to a supposed threat by far-left antifascist protesters, who allegedly made a post online revealing plans to desecrate monuments and tombstones belonging to Confederate soldiers. Though antifa refuted the claim, and despite all indications the threat was a hoax, men and women showed up regardless with the intention of protecting what they held to be an important aspect of their heritage.
Although no confrontations occurred, one individual reportedly shot themselves in the leg with their revolver. When EMS came to their aid, the revolver discharged a second time. The militiaman is not critically injured.
Filmed by Ford Fischer and Alejandro Alvarez
Edited by Ford Fischer
Photo by Alejandro Alvarez
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