A “Trump Train,” or caravan of vehicles with Trump flags traveled around Henrico and Richmond today eventually leading to a gunshot and pepper-spray being deployed by caravan attendees.
According to Richmond Police (RPD), they were dispatched at 4:18 p.m. on Sunday to Marcus-David Peters Circle on Monument Avenue. for reports of a woman being pepper-sprayed by an individual from a vehicle. RPD says that officers were also called to the scene for a report of an unoccupied vehicle being shot. “At approximately 4:18 p.m. an adult female who was at the circle reported she was pepper-sprayed by an unknown individual from a vehicle,” said RPD in a press release. “A few minutes earlier, officers responded to the 1800 block of Monument Avenue to investigate a report of an unoccupied vehicle struck once by gunfire. No other injuries were reported to the Richmond Police Department. Officers responded to clear the area and investigate the assault.”
Witnesses who were on the scene at the time of the Trump caravan’s arrival say that they heard a gunshot when the Trump caravan was at the circle. Videos also show members of the caravan driving across the grass median on Monument Avenue.
— Ian Munro – Daily News-Record (@iamIanMunro) November 1, 2020
The caravan was organized by Mike Dickinson, a Richmond City Council candidate. Dickinson ran for Congress in VA-07 as a Democrat in 2016, and as a Republican in early 2020. He has since embraced the Trump crowd and this was the second Trump car rally that he has organized in recent weeks.
After the encounter, Dickinson took to Facebook to reflect on the day. “WHEN ELECTED IT IS WAR ON ANTIFA AND BLM CRIMINALS,” he said at 8:24 p.m. “We will unleash our GREAT POLICE DEPT to arrest them all and KEEP the losers locked up!” One man responded to Dickinson, asking “What about the injustice of officers killing innocent people?” Dickinson responded, “if they are truly innocent 99% are not.”
The posts from Dickinson continued. “WE THE PEOPLE are not afraid of LOSER BLM, we will not be INTIMIDATED. We will take our city back. We will come down Monument anytime we want,” he said. “Mayor Stoney- get up and do something about it. You are incompetent. You let the criminals run free.”
Dickinson also organized an event in 2019 with Trump-associate Roger Stone at a strip club in Richmond. Notable attendees of the event were members of a group called the Proud Boys, a far-right and neo-fascist male-only organization. In a quote to VPM at the time, Dickinson spoke about the Proud Boys attending, saying “It was open to the public,” and that they were “not going to restrict anyone. Anybody’s welcome to come and we had no problems.”
When asked about the purpose of driving the Trump caravan through Marcus-David Peters Circle, a place that many people in Richmond see as a place for healing and unity, Dickinson said they can go wherever they want. “It’s a Richmond city street. This is a free country. We can go anywhere we want. Blm antifa dont own anything. This isn’t Europe with the no go Muslim zones.”
Dickinson sent a video over text message that first shows a man in the back of the truck aiming something towards the circle, then one of the people on the ground next to the truck tossed an object over top of the vehicle landing on the other side. Immediately after that, the man in the back of the truck can be seen spraying a liquid towards at least three people on the ground.
It appears that someone from the truck carrying Mike Dickinson deployed pepper spray on 3 people. Before the deployment, you can see one of the people hit with the spray throw a bottle underhand, not hitting anything. pic.twitter.com/3jhKElYx7B
— Goad Gatsby (@GoadGatsby) November 2, 2020
Another angle from that same moment. One of the persons who were pepper sprayed was then hit by car. pic.twitter.com/fnBaWFJbqB
— Goad Gatsby (@GoadGatsby) November 2, 2020
When asked about the reports of a gunshot at the circle, Dickinson called it a rumor and recommended asking the police. RPD said in a press release earlier in the evening that they were investigating reports of an unoccupied vehicle being shot.
RPD says that the roads around the circle are closed while they continue to monitor the situation. We will update the article when we have more details.
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