The Field: The Specter of Political Violence

[0] All right, so it's like kind of rolling hills.

[1] It's pretty.

[2] Okay.

[3] I just heard a gunshot.

[4] That makes you jump.

[5] You've been seeing a lot of first -time gun owners in here?

[6] Yeah, quite a few.

[7] You know, a lot of new first -time shooters, first -time gun owners are coming in, buying guns.

[8] Did you ever think that you'd find yourself in line buying a gun?

[9] No. This would be the last thing I thought I would do.

[10] 48 years old.

[11] Never crossed my mind until the election.

[12] came up and I just started getting nervous just like everybody else did I mean every time you drive by here there's 12 people in line it's got to tell you something will you just describe well hello can you just describe what it looks like okay so we are just in a open grassy field we have a table at the firing line and we're just gonna be setting up for four shooters at a time just take a deep breath that's all just take a deep breath Can you ask you, why do you think there is so many new gun owners?

[13] Um, people are scared.

[14] It feels like a life and death situation, really.

[15] I think if Biden wins, the, you know, the proud boys are going to come out.

[16] If Trump wins, I think that's where we're going to have a massive problem.

[17] It's really all up in the air.

[18] I don't know what's going to happen.

[19] We just don't know who's going to be president and what's going to happen afterwards, you know.

[20] But you're arming yourself just in case.

[21] Yeah.

[22] From the New York Times, this is the field.

[23] I'm Elise Spiegel in North Carolina.

[24] And I'm Andy Mills in Washington State.

[25] How should we start?

[26] Reed, do you want to go through what you have kind of come across?

[27] Yeah, I can talk if you want.

[28] So I have spent the last couple weeks, I guess, however long this started, talking to people who are concerned about really bad things happening around the election.

[29] So a couple weeks ago, Andy and I called up our colleague, Reid Epstein, on the politics desk.

[30] We'd been hearing about concerns swirling around the possibility of violence around this year's presidential election.

[31] And we were all trying to better understand what that was about.

[32] You know, I talked to academics and people at think tanks and corporate security consultants.

[33] So Reed had gotten on the phone with all sorts of different professionals.

[34] People who are in charge of keeping polling places safe and maintaining security at facilities where they're actually going to count the balance.

[35] To sort of check the pulse of all these different people.

[36] People who monitor domestic extremist groups, former State Department and Homeland Security officials.

[37] Whose job it is to think about stuff like this.

[38] And all of them were saying that they're digging extra precautions for this year's election in a way that's different from years before?

[39] Right.

[40] There certainly is more emphasis on security.

[41] A lot of people were very concerned that if there is not a decisive result on election day or the day after election day, and there's weeks of uncertainty that follows, that there could be a problem, or that the losing side mounts some sort of major protest event, there is a concern that something violent could happen.

[42] And a lot of these people that I talk to are either making contingency plans or urging others to make contingency plans to be prepared in case things go hit wire.

[43] And then there was this other thing Reid had been hearing about something much more tangible.

[44] Eight out of the ten biggest weeks for gun sales since the late 90s in the United States have come since March of this year.

[45] Since the start of the COVID lockdowns in the U .S., gun sales had been breaking records.

[46] You know, it's not uncommon for gun sales to go up before a presidential election.

[47] That happened both before and after Barack Obama was first elected in 2008.

[48] But this time around, not only is it conservatives who might be fearful that a new president might take their guns away, but a lot of folks from across the political spectrum who are arming themselves for the first time in this country.

[49] Whoa.

[50] Could you say a collective, whoa?

[51] And so we set out to learn more about this group of people who were all buying guns for the first time.

[52] People on the left.

[53] And people on the right.

[54] Test test.

[55] One, two.

[56] This is Andy Mills in Seattle, Washington.

[57] I am standing today outside of a gun store called Linwood Gun, which is just north of the city proper, alongside a pretty busy highway.

[58] and out in front of the store, there are several people lined up, getting ready to go in, and I'm going to go see if any of them will talk to me. Hello, sir.

[59] I want to ask a couple questions why you wait here?

[60] My name's Andy.

[61] No, but I want to answer questions.

[62] So a couple weeks ago, I spent several days going around to different gun shops on the outskirts of Seattle.

[63] Are you, by chance, newer gun owners?

[64] No. I've had guns since I was 12 years old.

[65] Walking up to people in these long lines.

[66] Have you noticed an uptick at all in newer gun ownership over the past few months?

[67] Yes.

[68] It's 100 -fold.

[69] Everyone is coming to buy a gun.

[70] And right away, I was seeing exactly what Reid had just told us.

[71] Is there, are you a first -time or a new gun owner?

[72] Yeah?

[73] Yeah?

[74] Could ask you a few questions about why?

[75] Sure.

[76] A ton of first -time gun buyers.

[77] I've always believed in the Second Amendment, but I've never really felt the need to have a gun.

[78] And an incredibly diverse group of people.

[79] I'm seeing Indians getting guns.

[80] Have you noticed that?

[81] I've seen Asian people getting guns.

[82] I've seen African people, liberals.

[83] Everybody got guns.

[84] How are you going to live without them?

[85] Do you yourself define yourself as politically left or politically right?

[86] Typically to left or libertarian sometimes.

[87] I would say politically center -leaning to the right.

[88] Some a bit to the left and some a bit to the right.

[89] I'm on the right, but I'm not on the far right.

[90] You know what I mean?

[91] I'm praying Trump gets in.

[92] He's really our only hope.

[93] Some that liked the president.

[94] I'm going to vote for Biden.

[95] Some that did not.

[96] I don't want to vote for an asshole like Trump, but we have a generation to protect our kids.

[97] Some who were not first -time gun owners, but who were thinking about guns very differently in this moment.

[98] I've owned guns for years, but I just recently, for the first time, purchased an AR rifle, partly because of what's going on.

[99] But I came to Seattle to hear from people who were out buying guns specifically because, they were worried about the possibility of violence from the political left.

[100] I think the left, while they talk a lot about freedom and rights and this and that, I think they're more oppressive.

[101] I think they're more closed -minded.

[102] The left claims that the right is intolerant, and the right would say the left is becoming intolerant.

[103] You know, if you have an opposing opinion, then you're somehow racially motivated or you're a right -wing wacko.

[104] What particularly do you point to say this is raising your...

[105] concern.

[106] Riots, urban riots.

[107] If that starts spreading out into the suburbs, I want to be in a position to defend myself and my home and my family.

[108] Here in the Seattle area, a lot of people pointed to what had happened in the region over the summer.

[109] You have a lot of suburbanite people that have seen looting assaults, you know, stopping of people's cars, damage, I mean, burning up of stuff.

[110] Where protests turned into riots and the Seattle City Council moved to defund their police department.

[111] They're there to create anarchy.

[112] And for a time, a group of protesters actually took over a section of the city.

[113] You know, this isn't a bunch of hippies smoking dope and listening to music at Woodstock.

[114] These are armed, dangerous, violent people that are destroying property.

[115] They don't have good intentions.

[116] They're not improving society.

[117] And they said that they saw this as sort of the most flagrant version of the larger trend that was happening.

[118] throughout the country.

[119] The mob mentality, when you see groups of people showing up at politicians' homes or even the chief of police's home, makes some of the average people fear that if their opinions or positions aren't well regarded, that they're going to have a mob outside their home.

[120] What positions or opinions do you feel like are not being allowed right now?

[121] For anybody who speaks positively against Trump, which, for the record, I'm not on board with Trump 100%, but at any rate, if you speak out positively for him, you're demonized, you're basically, it's canceled culture, you know.

[122] People are being fired for what they say here and there.

[123] Like, if you're white, we're evidently privileged, you know, and we're automatically the KKK.

[124] If they don't like your opinion, they'll go after your livelihood, they'll go after your work situation, they'll make your life miserable to get their way.

[125] And that's escalated to the point where it might not just be somebody judging you, but it might be something where you need to defend yourself.

[126] Yeah, absolutely.

[127] Like, if I go to the grocery star, you know, I'm not going to have somebody rip me out of the car, put a gun at my face.

[128] And you've gotten to the point where you're nervous that there are fractions of the left that would do something like that.

[129] I would say so, yeah.

[130] Once you say it's okay to punch a Nazi, and then you paint the other guy as a Nazi, then boom, it's okay to kill a Nazi, you know what I mean?

[131] And then you're a hero.

[132] You know, I don't want it to happen.

[133] Hopefully there are don't have the guts.

[134] You know, hopefully they're all living in mom's basement, you know, but you just don't know.

[135] I think that they are pushing for a contested election so that they can ferment a civil war.

[136] Yeah.

[137] I don't ever want to shoot anybody, man, but, you know, to protect myself and my mom and my dog, man, you know, I guess if someone was trying to get in the harm us, I would.

[138] On my mask, too.

[139] Oh, thank you.

[140] Thanks for doing this.

[141] Oh, yeah.

[142] No, it's a pleasure.

[143] One of those anxious people that I met in one of those lines, actually let me go over to his place.

[144] All right, so where do you keep the gun?

[145] So I keep the gun in a safe.

[146] It's by our bed.

[147] To explain a little bit more about what it was that brought him out to the gun store.

[148] It's a quick combination.

[149] And I've timed it, and I can basically, take it out, load it, and theoretically aim it in 10 seconds so far.

[150] You've gotten a few practices in?

[151] I have.

[152] I got a security consultant to come here, and he's also, you know, one of the trainers at the range.

[153] And so, you know, he was like practice.

[154] He's like even five minutes a day will really add up.

[155] So this is one of the things I practiced.

[156] What kind of gun is it?

[157] So it's an AR -15.

[158] And this one, is sort of a, I would say sort of like a middle -of -the -road price point.

[159] The dealer talked about how, you know, if you spend extra, it will last longer.

[160] And sort of in the mood that I bought, I didn't feel like cost was an object.

[161] It's got your classic iron sights and your optics.

[162] He had just purchased an AR -15, a semi -automatic rifle, what the NRA actually calls America's most popular rifle.

[163] The bolt action is supposedly more durable.

[164] I'm definitely the wrong person to ask about these things, though.

[165] You're still learning?

[166] Very much, very much.

[167] Can you load the gun and show me how it works?

[168] Sure, absolutely.

[169] So, you know, the standard procedure is that you've got the gun in the ready position, which can be either angled slightly upward or slightly downward.

[170] We want upward for loading the gun.

[171] And so I pull back the charging handle, lock it back in.

[172] And so now we're just going to take out the clip.

[173] We're going to insert it, tug to make sure it actually stayed in.

[174] And now press that.

[175] A live round is in the chamber.

[176] Safety's still on.

[177] Wow, that's pretty quick.

[178] Thanks, yeah.

[179] It shows that you've been practicing.

[180] Well, my instructor will be pleased.

[181] I've enjoyed learning about it.

[182] Let me help you pick up these bullets.

[183] He put his gun back into it safe.

[184] Before we move on, I know that you wanted to keep some things private.

[185] What would you be comfortable to tell me about with your education and your professional life?

[186] I thought about this because I didn't want to identify myself too much.

[187] And we walked over to his living room.

[188] I currently, I will say this, I work in tech.

[189] You know, that doesn't narrow it down much in Seattle.

[190] But I think that sort of being identified as having sort of any right -leaning beliefs right now and especially owning a gun, I would be very afraid of losing my job if that became public.

[191] And after explaining that he was nervous about possible consequences of sharing his story, he began to lay out how it is he came to be so anxious about this political moment.

[192] Can we just start at the beginning?

[193] Where did you grow up?

[194] And what was your experience like in your home around politics and specifically around guns?

[195] Yeah, sure.

[196] I grew up in kind of all over the Midwest, but mostly rural South Dakota and rural Minnesota.

[197] My parents are both highly educated, you know, at least sort of very liberal for where we lived at the time.

[198] Now that I live in Seattle, I think about it a little differently, but they were always sort of the Democrats in arguments with the rest of the Republican family at Thanksgiving.

[199] I definitely have some memories of that.

[200] He says that even though he knew lots of conservatives, he and his family were in line with the political left.

[201] You know, gay marriage, you know, that was a very important issue for me. I still believe that sort of there should be a single -payer government option, in health care.

[202] Like, I think that would be a good thing for this country.

[203] Including issues about guns.

[204] My father and my mother and I, like, we all believed in gun control.

[205] And my dad still doesn't own a pistol.

[206] Every gun that he owns is a hunting gun.

[207] My dad loved hunting.

[208] He would take me hunting and fishing as a kid.

[209] And, you know, when we thought about gun control, it's like, well, you know, why do you need, you know, why might you need a pistol?

[210] Or like, why might you need, well, the AR -15 that I own now?

[211] Definitely.

[212] You know, that would have been something that we didn't want.

[213] Walk me through as you got older.

[214] First, like how you saw yourself politically as you kind of came into your own and whether or not guns played any role in that along the way.

[215] Sure, sure.

[216] I definitely identified politically as Democrat.

[217] The first time I was eligible to vote was the 2008 election and I voted for Barack Obama.

[218] I definitely identified as a Democrat.

[219] I mean, really, honestly, until sort of this whole COVID thing came about.

[220] And so up to this point, he's basically been in alignment with all of the big, progressive issues.

[221] But when it came to the handling of the coronavirus, I will say that I think the initial shutdown, there's a really good case to be made for it.

[222] I don't think I would have done it, but we didn't have any masks.

[223] We didn't have any testing.

[224] How else are you going to try to check the spread of the virus.

[225] I think by June, though, we had masks and we had testing, and yet people were still arguing for lockdowns.

[226] And I'm like, you know, can we at least let young people go back to work?

[227] He just disagreed with the conventional thinking.

[228] And he felt that there wasn't really any place for him to give voice to that.

[229] When I would say things like this or when other people would say things like this, the response was always like, you are not an authority that we trust.

[230] And I would say, okay, but there are other authorities, you know, who are saying the things I'm saying.

[231] And they're like, well, we don't trust them either.

[232] And I'm like, okay, so, you know, is being authority really the problem?

[233] Or is it just not saying what you want to hear?

[234] That's the problem.

[235] That's what it felt like.

[236] Okay.

[237] So as the COVID lockdowns are happening, you're finding yourself feeling like you're arguing with people who usually feel more like political allies?

[238] Definitely.

[239] I mean, you know, I have a group of really close friends and the discussion last year was, is Bernie the right candidate?

[240] Are there any other candidates who are good enough for us?

[241] And I'm one of two in the group.

[242] The other who has the same training that I do, we're both questioning the COVID stuff.

[243] And he says that part of all this is that as the locked wore on.

[244] The effect of the lockdown, this thing that he didn't even agree with in the first place, he started to feel it.

[245] I'm a very introverted person.

[246] And so honestly, for the first month or two, you know, I felt great.

[247] I was like, wow, like I don't have to commute to work.

[248] Like, I have all this time.

[249] But I think that the isolation sort of did get to me. It took me longer than most, but it did get to me. And when he started talking about this with one of his friends, I'm like, you know, it's driving me crazy.

[250] And I just feel trapped.

[251] And he said he was going through the same stuff.

[252] He's like, you know, I'm feeling a lot of stress.

[253] He's like, but when I find myself getting caught in it, he's like, I force myself to turn it into action.

[254] This friend suggested that, you know, he finds some way to take back some control of his life.

[255] You know, and that was when I realized.

[256] I'm like, oh, like, I have lost my sense of individual power.

[257] And recommended to him that he consider buying a firearm.

[258] And so I made the decision to buy a gun.

[259] And so that was the plan.

[260] And then George Floyd died.

[261] A protest over the death of George Floyd started peacefully, but has turned very destructive tonight.

[262] Then there were riots in Seattle.

[263] My wife and I got a notification.

[264] The city sent out a mass text that was like there's a curfew in effect.

[265] We're like, what's this about?

[266] Then my wife starts checking her phone, and she's like, there are riots downtown.

[267] Here in Seattle, demonstrators through Molotov, Cocktails at cars and buildings, causing multiple fires, some through fireworks into peaceful crowds and at police.

[268] From his perspective, these protests in Seattle were terrifying.

[269] We looked up where it was, sort of like a half mile from where we used to live, swarms of people.

[270] There's property damage here, there's injuries and clashes with the Seattle Police Department.

[271] They're just like a cough car was like totally trashed and like there were police, but they were taking.

[272] like defensive positions.

[273] They were like afraid to engage this crowd.

[274] Police are not 30 feet away, maybe 60, keeping the line of protesters back as firefighters work on these burning cruisers.

[275] Nobody is intervening as these people enter this business here.

[276] I mean it was, the word that comes to mind is anarchy, just like a total loss of order.

[277] Stand back!

[278] So I realized I'm like, if a riot happens, you are essentially on your own.

[279] We have reports of multiple officers and civilians injured a number of SPDF.

[280] That night, that Saturday night, sort of, you know, after my wife and I were watching this unfold, totally sleepless night.

[281] You know, I lay in bed and I thought about what would happen if, like, someone just, like, blew up the front of our house, like they'd blown up the front of those storefronts and just stormed in.

[282] I just thought about how bad I would feel if that happened and my wife were hurt or killed and I hadn't done anything to prepare for it.

[283] They, I was like, well, I need a gun that can handle a riot.

[284] So first thing in the morning, I just, like, I called the place.

[285] It took me a while to sort of get a human.

[286] They were very busy that day.

[287] And they're like, they're like, look like, you gotta hurry.

[288] We have a big line.

[289] And so I got in the car and I just, you know, drove out to Bellevue.

[290] And that's where I got my gun.

[291] That's where I practice now, and that's where I'm at you.

[292] So at first, he says that he doesn't really think that much about it.

[293] You can't just buy a gun.

[294] There's usually a two -week waiting period while the background checks are run.

[295] So I was like, okay, like, there's really nothing to worry about.

[296] This is probably just going to, like, collect dust, and that's okay.

[297] You know, it's like, now I have it.

[298] I've checked that box, and I can stop worrying.

[299] But it's just after he buys this gun?

[300] This is Seattle's so -called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, several blocks of the city now taken over by protesters.

[301] That's when the protesters take control of that section of Seattle, a section that actually turns out to be just a few miles away from his house.

[302] After several days of violent clashes between police and the protesters, officers retreated from the area to de -escalate the tension, effectively abandoning their station.

[303] And from his perspective, just like many of the other people who had met in these lines in front of gun stores.

[304] This was a step beyond what he thought was even possible in America.

[305] Breaking news in the so -called Capitol Hill organized protest zone.

[306] There's been yet another shooting early this morning.

[307] Protesters...

[308] So eventually, of course, I think at least one person was killed in the autonomous zone.

[309] Horace Lorenzo Anderson.

[310] He was murdered in Seattle's Autonomous Zone on June the 20th.

[311] And so finally sort of the mayor felt obliged to, you know, end it.

[312] and in the police to break it up.

[313] After several weeks.

[314] After several weeks, it took a while.

[315] But there was still talk of defunding the police.

[316] And all of this just left me wondering, like, what is going on?

[317] I've many times wondered if I overreacted.

[318] And I'm still sitting on no. It's definitely possible, but if I've overreacted, I'm not alone.

[319] I mean, I know several people who have told me, like, yeah, when the city council said they were going to defund the police, I went out and got a firearm.

[320] What's keeping you up at night at this point?

[321] just that it could happen again.

[322] Like when the election occurs, it just feels like whatever laden craziness was there, you know, exploded before, could explode again.

[323] When you are practicing shooting your AR, when you are doing these maneuvers in your bedroom where you see how fast you can load it and have it ready, who pops into your mind as being on the other side of that gun?

[324] The thing that I most visualize is I see them coming through the front door, which is maybe kind of dumb.

[325] But I'm picturing a mixed race group.

[326] So like definitely a combination of white and black people.

[327] And after seeing the riots, yeah, I'm worried they're left wing.

[328] That's what I'm seeing.

[329] It really sounds crazy to talk about civil war in this country.

[330] But, you know, it can't happen here.

[331] Famous last words.

[332] I'm so excited about tonight, so.

[333] In early October, I went to visit three women who'd gotten together for dinner and drinks in Durham, North Carolina.

[334] Does anybody want more low?

[335] Their plan was to order Chinese and gossip.

[336] And then they were going to get to bed early because in the morning, they had to get up the crack of dawn to drive way out of town to this day -long training.

[337] Wait, what does this just explain?

[338] This is 38.

[339] It's a revolver.

[340] Who does that belong to?

[341] It belongs to me mom.

[342] She let me borrow it for this class because I didn't buy one yet.

[343] I'm still toiling with the idea of if I really want one.

[344] It just still doesn't, I just still feel like I have spent my whole life saying I would never go buy a gun.

[345] Like, what business do I have with the gun?

[346] So it's like having to get past that.

[347] They were going to a gun training, something none of them ever expected to be doing.

[348] Of the three women, Nikki, was the only one who had any familiarity with guns at all.

[349] She identifies as mixed race and politically independent.

[350] But she grew up in a rural community, and her family, which is mostly white, is extremely conservative and owns guns.

[351] And she told me, the things she's been hearing from them recently really put her on edge.

[352] There's so much fear.

[353] Like, my friends and my loved ones are so afraid because they feel like once the election happens, like there are going to be riots in the street and people are going to just be like breaking down people's doors and their businesses and their reaction to fear sometimes is violence and that's scary to me. Are you afraid of what will happen with the election?

[354] I already know that shit's going to pop off after the election.

[355] Like, I don't know that afraid is the word just because I think everybody's just preparing.

[356] You know, when you see people who are legitimately talking about another civil war, like, and not one or two people, but, like, truly quite a few people.

[357] It's, it weighs heavy on, like, my spirit and, like, my soul.

[358] So, gun training.

[359] What time I'm really even tomorrow to go to this shooting thing?

[360] I can't be hung over shooting a gun.

[361] Well, we all could have a little bit of wine.

[362] Okay.

[363] I had a huge bottle of white mosquito.

[364] Did somebody take my wine?

[365] Nobody took the wine.

[366] It's gone.

[367] We drink it.

[368] The two other women at the party, Ashley and Terrica, were a black couple whose relationship with guns was maybe even more unlikely and fraught, particularly Ashley.

[369] Guns were kind of forbidden in my household.

[370] My mom would never have allowed me to shoot, and she didn't even like for me and my sister to play with water guns.

[371] So I just never, I never really wanted to be in the presence of one or have one.

[372] They gave me anxiety.

[373] In fact, it wasn't until she was 27 that she saw a gun for the first time.

[374] I was working in a venue and the security guard needed to go to the bathroom or outside or something.

[375] And he just unholstered it and put it on a stool next to me and said he would be right back.

[376] and he just left it laying there.

[377] And I just started, you know, my hands were kind of trembling a little bit.

[378] You know, Howard Popitation, I was sweating, like, I know what these things do, and it's just right here, and, like, all these things were going through my mind.

[379] Almost like an irrational fear, like, if this gun is on the table and it could magically go off.

[380] Like, yeah, I never pictured myself, like, wanted to.

[381] to own a gun.

[382] And, you know, that's how things stayed.

[383] All through her 30s, through the Obama administration, and the election of Donald Trump in 2016.

[384] Actually, Ashley says that when Trump was elected, she wasn't really worried.

[385] I didn't really think too much of it at that particular time.

[386] It was just more, I guess, shocking and surprising because, you know, he was the dude from an apprentice and he had the funny hair and said all this stupid, stupid stuff, and it just was, like, shocking that he was elected.

[387] It wasn't like, oh, I got to get a gun because Trump was president.

[388] It wasn't like that.

[389] But then...

[390] You will not...

[391] You will not replace us.

[392] There was Charlottesville.

[393] I just remember those guys with the torches and, like, right by their faces and just kind of marching in unison, and also the image of, you know, the car driving through.

[394] barreling down the street, that's fourth and water street in Charlottesville.

[395] And there was a lot after Charlottesville.

[396] Loved ones of Brianna Taylor grieving and outraged.

[397] We report again tonight on the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.

[398] This case is perhaps a...

[399] George Floyd repeatedly told the officers that he could not breathe.

[400] Amad Aubrey, Brianna Taylor, George Floyd.

[401] For Ashley, it wasn't just the horror of so many black people killed at the hands of police.

[402] But also, the fact that when people took to the streets to play...

[403] protest this injustice.

[404] She saw scenes of them being met by white counter -protesters, people she associated with the right, carrying guns.

[405] We're also learning more tonight about the 17 -year -old from a neighboring state, now accused of opening fire on protesters.

[406] Two were killed.

[407] These people aren't playing around now.

[408] It's more than just sitting online and saying racist stuff in comments on news articles.

[409] These people are now showing up the places and with the intent to cause people harm.

[410] Even when the protests were about COVID, people protesting the lockdowns, Ashley saw the same thing.

[411] One day she turned on her TV.

[412] Police positioned themselves on essentially every corner around downtown Raleigh this morning just to keep the peace.

[413] And saw a group of people.

[414] A bunch of white people pretty much.

[415] Walking the streets of Raleigh, the state capital, with assault rifles.

[416] It felt like a huge threat.

[417] Then finally one day, Ashley saw something she hadn't really seen before.

[418] I think the exact moment I knew I had to buy a gun was watching the NFAC, which is the not -fucking -around coalition, which is a basically an armed black militia.

[419] We're here.

[420] Where to fuck you at?

[421] We in your house.

[422] Let's go.

[423] And they were counter -protesting to the KKK and white supremac groups.

[424] who were trying to rally in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

[425] And so there were, like, thousands of black people with guns, like, marching.

[426] Threat counter -threat, because threats don't mean shit to us.

[427] NFAC, motherfucker.

[428] Black people aren't encouraged to openly carry or to bear arms, and there's lots of reasons for that, and there's consequences to us for doing that that aren't there for white people.

[429] And it was, it was powerful to me. We haven't really seen black people showing up armed and not aggressively, just walking around, just like the white supremacists do, just like you have a right in this country to do.

[430] So finally, after months, Ashley goes online and buys a weapon.

[431] Can you show me your gun?

[432] So it's a canic 9mm.

[433] that holds 14 rounds.

[434] Honestly, I just wanted to get it fast as I could because I was starting to get nervous that it would be harder to get or a longer period to wait.

[435] And so I just bought one to have one with the intention of, you know, going and practicing more with different kinds to find one that I really, really become one with it, you know.

[436] In fact, the gun still feel so alien to Ashley that she practices just holding it in her hands at least twice a week.

[437] Sit on a bed and kind of hold it and, you know, take the clip out and, you know, just stand up and put it from hand to hand and look through the sights.

[438] But Ashley isn't just getting comfortable with the physical feel of the gun.

[439] I was once a type of person who would think, like, I could never shoot somebody.

[440] I could never do anything to defend myself in that type of way because I just was never, I never felt like that type of person, but, like, the odor that I'm getting, like, I don't really feel that way.

[441] Like, if it's me or somebody, like, it is going to be me. Wait, what do you mean when you say that?

[442] If I feel threatened, then.

[443] I want to feel empowered to defend myself, and I've made myself okay with what that may mean.

[444] It definitely wasn't an easy decision, but that's kind of where I am with it.

[445] You have repeatedly criticized the vice president for not specifically calling out Antifa.

[446] I spoke to Ashley shortly after the first presidential debate.

[447] to condemn white supremacists and militia groups.

[448] And it was clear that watching the debate had only given Ashley more reason to believe that her fears of what might happen might actually be realized.

[449] What are you saying?

[450] I'm willing to do anything.

[451] I want to see peace.

[452] Then do it, sir.

[453] Say it.

[454] You know, they asked him about the proud boys and he said to tell the proud boys.

[455] Proud boys, stand back and stand by.

[456] And then a few minutes later, he mentioned something about his supporters, going to the polls.

[457] Will you urge your supporters to stay calm not to engage in any civil unrest?

[458] President Trump, you go first.

[459] I'm urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully because that's what has to happen.

[460] I am urging them to do it.

[461] All that is just encouraging people to be intimidating.

[462] If I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated, I can't go along with that.

[463] And I'll tell you what, from a common sense.

[464] Does that mean you're going to tell your people to take to the screen?

[465] It means you have a fraudulent election.

[466] Like, he used that entire debate to illegitimize the election so that if he does not win, he can rally up his supporters to respond to that.

[467] They cheat.

[468] They cheat.

[469] Hey, they found ballots in a waste paper basket.

[470] They all had the name Trump on them.

[471] That is scary because, like I said, they know how to get guns.

[472] They have access to them.

[473] They have them stockpots.

[474] Like, these are people that have been preparing their whole lives for something to pop off, and they're just waiting for the word.

[475] And he's telling them in so many words, I'm going to give you the word.

[476] And if I don't win this election, you know what to do.

[477] Do you think that the other side is as afraid of you as you are of them?

[478] I don't think the other side.

[479] I think the other side has been kind of conditioned to be afraid of us their whole lives.

[480] So, yeah, yeah, I'm sure they are scared.

[481] But it's not even us.

[482] It's like a figment of their mind.

[483] Right before dinner, Ashley and Nikki sat in the living room comparing guns.

[484] That's nice.

[485] See, is it hard on your thumbs?

[486] Pop that clip out.

[487] No, yours isn't bad at all.

[488] No. Terrica, what are you shooting, love?

[489] I'll shoot it, um, okay.

[490] Um, whatever gun, they give me, but hopefully it's a 45.

[491] I mean, anything else I'm scared on my cry again.

[492] Terrika, Ashley's girlfriend, was worried about the morning.

[493] She and Ashley had actually gone to a shooting range a few months back when they first started thinking about this, and it hadn't gone well.

[494] I thought it was all cute, like, you know, like Charlie Angels, and just like, you know, I was practicing my poses.

[495] Like, you know, the whole ice -ke thing from Friday.

[496] But then, you know, when I shot it, it just got really, real, really quick.

[497] Terika says as soon as the gun kicked back.

[498] Ashley, did I cry like a baby?

[499] She started bawling uncontrollably.

[500] Ugly cry, like, I almost dropped the gun in one on a safety cry.

[501] And I just was shaking.

[502] My whole body was shaking from the top to the bottom.

[503] But even though the first time was a little bit traumatizing, Terika was going to give it another go in the morning.

[504] Is there something specific that you're worried about?

[505] I'm definitely worried about the election.

[506] I'm worried about being black.

[507] I don't want to be a sitting duck.

[508] Before I left for the night, the three women gathered together in the living room for a toast.

[509] Cheers to guns.

[510] We all being very brave going to take this class tomorrow.

[511] Yes.

[512] In the morning, we all meet at an outdoor range.

[513] The class is Ashley, Terrika, Nikki, and five other women.

[514] The training is run by this.

[515] organization called Girls on Fire, which specifically trains women of color, and apparently has a waiting list of 80 people.

[516] All the women mill in chat, as the trainer and her assistant get things organized.

[517] They lay out guns on the table while explaining there's now a massive shortage of bullets.

[518] Ammo is really hard to find.

[519] Yeah, I tried to get some yesterday.

[520] They only had holidays.

[521] Even us with having a class, we almost had to counsel because it was so hard to find it.

[522] It's a beautiful day, and the sun is out, and Ashley seems fine.

[523] But before the training really gets started, I notice her girlfriend, Terrika, is visibly jumping every time a gun goes off.

[524] She seems terrified, and after a few minutes, she breaks away from the group to go to the car, and Ashley follows her.

[525] It's just making her nervous, but she'll be all right.

[526] She just got to calm down.

[527] Terika sits in the car trying to steady herself and eventually gets out and makes her way to the table where the guns are laid out.

[528] How are you doing?

[529] I'm scared from the noise, but I could do it.

[530] I can do this shit.

[531] I'm going to do it.

[532] Terrika gets a gun and positions herself in front of the target, the silhouette of a man. How did it feel?

[533] He's dead.

[534] Once Terica finishes, it's Ashley's turn.

[535] She picks up the gun she got online but has never actually used and stands in front of the target.

[536] Can you just explain what you're doing now?

[537] Oh, just staring at the target, ready at myself, trying to channel this anxious energy.

[538] It's a good anxiety, but still anxious.

[539] All right, ladies, I want you to drop your safety.

[540] All of Ashley's shots land inside the body.

[541] of the silhouette.

[542] There are neat holes dotting the man's chest and abdomen.

[543] But as she lowers her gun, you can see that her hands are shaking.

[544] Look, your hands are trembling.

[545] But I mean, it didn't impact my shooting, clearly.

[546] She goes through another round of shooting and another, and by the last time, you can see her hands barely shake at all.

[547] I was 21 years old and 43 years old.

[548] And see, as a black man in this country, when you see us with a you feel intimidated, and I'm tired of this shit.

[549] I'm an American.

[550] You understand?

[551] I was born here.

[552] I served in the United States Army.

[553] On one of my last days of reporting, this thing happened while I was standing in line talking to people in front of one of these gun shops.

[554] I'm tired of, I'm not a second -rate citizen.

[555] I'm a citizen.

[556] I was talking to this guy in line who was wearing a Black Lives Matter hoodie.

[557] I encourage every brother who can legally carry, get a motherfucking gun.

[558] Get as many guns as you can afford.

[559] Because you know what, the police are here to protect and serve, not to harass an abuse.

[560] This is not a police state at this point.

[561] You understand me?

[562] And as we were standing there, like, you're a white guy.

[563] You probably ain't never been fucking by the police.

[564] Another guy.

[565] Through your mama.

[566] You hit me?

[567] I'm not even talking to you.

[568] See what I'm selling?

[569] Who was white and tall and had a shaved head and a big goatee.

[570] He started shouting at him.

[571] I'm not talking to him, though.

[572] What crap, man, just.

[573] Okay.

[574] The whole line got quiet.

[575] And all the tension was heightened by the fact that both of these guys, and actually most people in this line, were armed.

[576] Do you have something you want to say?

[577] I said it.

[578] Okay.

[579] Eventually I walked over and I asked the guy if he had anything else that he wanted to say.

[580] The movement, the movement is bogus.

[581] He said that Black Lives Matter was bogus, but then he waved me away, didn't want to talk to me anymore, so eventually I just went back over to talk again with the man in the BLM hoodie.

[582] Yeah, your message is, now is a good time to get a firearm.

[583] What I was just saying is, though, we don't, I mean, that's your right.

[584] That's a right.

[585] Your driver license is a privilege.

[586] This is a right.

[587] You understand me?

[588] I think you should exercise your right if you want to.

[589] Some people don't believe in guns.

[590] You know what I'm saying?

[591] I didn't leaving guns.

[592] You know what I'm saying?

[593] To somebody broke into my house and stole my kids stuff and everything.

[594] So I bought a gun.

[595] You know what I'm saying?

[596] I feel you have to protect yourself from criminals.

[597] Everyone in this line was still quiet.

[598] Like they were just standing there looking at us and then looking over at the man with a shaved head.

[599] I just want to make sure we don't escalate tensions too much with this gentleman.

[600] But I also don't want you to be robbed of your point of view.

[601] I appreciate you.

[602] And then that guy who was just so angry seconds ago, he walked up to us.

[603] Everybody, this America, everybody got their opinion.

[604] If he felt a certain way, you know, that's, that's how you feel.

[605] You know what I mean?

[606] Yeah.

[607] And, but I mean, but the thing about it, man, we should talk to each other like human beings, brother.

[608] And you know what I, you know, that's, I apologize.

[609] I, you know, I didn't, I didn't hear what you were even talking about.

[610] I, I saw the thing in the back of your deal, and I get in there.

[611] I just, I, okay?

[612] And I apologize for it.

[613] And he apologized.

[614] I read it.

[615] I get hot -tempered sometimes.

[616] And it wasn't him.

[617] I didn't even hear what he was saying to you.

[618] I just saw the Black Lives Matter thing.

[619] And we don't need this garbage, just contention, we need to talk if there's any problems.

[620] He said that he was just outraged because he saw this guy's Black Lives Matter hoodie, but then he suddenly felt really bad about how he had acted.

[621] and then the two of these men shook hands.

[622] You know how much tension this world was under?

[623] This could have been ugly, but now we're talking.

[624] See, because we're humans, we're civilized.

[625] So we can sit on a talk like, we're talking.

[626] Like this man talking, you see what you're saying?

[627] And that's the only way everything is going to get better.

[628] You know what I came to do today?

[629] You buy some bullet.

[630] All I want to do is take care of my family.

[631] That's all I want.

[632] If somebody was attacking you, I'm going to stand up for you.

[633] You know what, you're my elder, you know what, I respect.

[634] And this brother right here, brother, if I saw somebody attack me, I'm going to attack him.

[635] I'm going to help you.

[636] We're Americans, man. And see what you just did?

[637] You almost called something that wasn't worth it.

[638] Here's what else you need to know.

[639] I've decided that it had to find out of Wednesday the confinement that has stopped the virus.

[640] On Wednesday, the leaders of both France and Germany, announced broad new restrictions on their citizens' movements in order to beat back a deadly second wave of the coronavirus.

[641] France is reimposing a nationwide lockdown that would close most non -essential businesses, including bars and restaurants, severely limit travel outside the home, and ban public and private.

[642] gatherings.

[643] Germany will close all restaurants and bars to customers, require sports teams to play to empty stadiums and shutter gyms and theaters.

[644] With infections rising rapidly across Europe, multiple countries are returning to the kind of sweeping shutdowns that they introduced in the spring to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with infected patients.

[645] That's it for the daily.

[646] I'm Michael Wabarro.

[647] See tomorrow.