Recent reports of Arizona liberals showing up armed for a counter-Trump protest indicate that patriot groups are no longer the only game in town when it comes to private citizens willing to take up arms against perceived government overreach.
Late last month, Phoenix New Times reporter Stephon Lemons interviewed members of an activist group operating under a loose-knit leftist organization calling itself Redneck Revolt.
From the report:
I was late to the pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” march, which began at Cesar Chavez Plaza — after some confusion about the demonstration’s starting at the now past-tense “Patriots Square Park” — and ended at the lawn of the Arizona Capitol.
So I headed straight to the Capitol, but the pro-Trump event was petering out. One of the cops present told me that the MAGA march consisted of a group of about 100.
However, across the street, on the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza-side of 17th Avenue were the left-wingers, some of them masking their faces, some not. Many of them were armed with long guns. You know, just like the “patriot” groups.
While I was taking photographs of them, a woman approached me and told me that the group would not be granting interviews. She gave me a flier with a statement from something called the “Redneck Revolt,” which according to the flier aims to “put the RED back in redneck.”
The group claims its aim is to promote liberty from a populist perspective, arguing that mainstream conservative and liberal movements have been co-opted to serve the interests of only the nation’s wealthy and politically connected classes.
From its website:
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