Gov. Ralph Northam is trying to prevent a repeat of Charlottesville with ban on pro-gun demonstrators

By Mona Austin

The FBI arrested three suspected Neo-Nazi leaders who planned to attend a pro-guns rally at the Virginia state capital in Richmond on MLK Day.

Three members of The Base, a white supremacist group, were taken into custody on Thursday and charged with federal crimes.

On Wednesday, Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency banning guns at the capital from Friday through Tuesday. In anticipation of conflict based on intelligence about expected interference from out-of-state militas and hate g a repeat of Charlottesville.

Law abiding citizens who planned to protest over pending gun control legislation feel their rights are being infringed upon sued to have the rally, but a judge ruled the governor has the authority under state law to to institute the temporary ban for "the safety and welfare" of the state.

The Base is a neo-Nazi group that trains members to fight a race war and encourages the onset of anarchy, according to the Counter Extremism Project.

Reportedly, one of the men who was arrested, Patrik Mathews, 27, was a primary recruiter for the group, the Times reported. Officials say Mathews entered the United States illegally from Canada after being dismissed from the Canadian Army because of ties to white supremacists. Mathews and the other two men, Brian Lemley Jr., 33, of Elkton, Maryland and William Bilbrough,19, of Denton, Marylad., were arrested near Baltimore, CBS News reports. Lemley and Mathews were reportedly living in Newark, Delaware recently.