I would assume they're just there to protect protesters from police. Generally shooting at cops is a bad idea, but having enough armed protesters around does cause cops to be on their best behavior. Remember that protester a few days ago in LA that was being assaulted by police on horseback? That's the kind of situation where someone would have been fully justified to shoot those officers, an act of simple self defense.

It's rare for cops to actually shoot openly armed people. They're only incredibly trigger-happy against unarmed people. Every cop knows that it doesn't matter if the law is on their side. If a cop starts shooting at someone that is themselves heavily armed, there's a good chance that cop isn't going home tonight. Having armed protesters prevents police from taking lives with impunity.

[–] Rey_McSriff@hexbear.net 22 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Sure, but if I'm in SLC at an unorganized protest (or one that was organized by liberals), my first thought on seeing a rifle isn't "I'm glad the people's vanguard is here protecting us," it's "oh shit, a chud is here to kill the boogeymen he heard about on the internet"

[–] Z_Poster365@hexbear.net 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

you obviously haven't been to Utah much

[–] Rey_McSriff@hexbear.net 5 points 10 hours ago

You're so right, I spend more time up north in Liberal Mountain, Idaho