Nicky Daniels. Jr. of Shreveport, LA told CNN's Chris Cuomo in an interview on Monday night that God would want Blacks to carry guns to protect themselves as a matter of pride. Like many White Americans, Blacks too are now clinging to the Second Amendment. Daniels received national attention last Tuesday as the leader of the Sleep Is for the Rich Gun Club. He and members of the club showed up to protect women who were intimidated at a peaceful protest to remove a confederate statue in late June.
A KTBS-TV News reporter asked Daniels why his group was armed. “Why not? Those guys came on Sunday and they tried to intimidate some innocent women, ladies, unarmed men.” He continued, “We came out here because those guys came out here trying to intimidate those girls and they thought that they were going to have it easy, but one phone call was made and everyone came down here armed.”
A friend had texted him a video from the said protest of a White woman snatching a poster from a Black woman while calling her the n-word, Mr. Daniels explained.
Cuomo had Daniels on to address the response to Blacks openly exercising their Constitutionally granted right to bear arms.
The Lighthouse Ensemble, a performing arts group that also fights for social justice, had met peacefully in front of the 30-foot Confederate monument at the Caddo Parish Court House when a group of armed detractors gathered across the street. The state Supreme Court failed to hear a case for the removal of the statue, dashing hopes that it would be taken down via official means.
African Americans carrying weapons has been associated with militancy and the Black Panther Party in the past. Daniels said their gun club exists to teach Blacks about responsible gun ownership. In light of the recent cop killings of Black men gun ownership among Black has skyrocketed. Despite the stigma of Blacks being more dangerous with weapons than Whites, other gun clubs have been formed to educate Blacks about gun rights such as the the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA), an alternative the highly conservative NRA. Since its 2015 founding in Atlanta, NAAGA has grown to over 100 chapters with 40,000 members,10,000 joining in the past five months.
Louisiana is an open carry state.
WATCH: SLEEP IS FOR THE RICH GUN CLUB EXPLAINS THEIR PURPOSE
WATCH: SLEEP IS FOR THE RICH GUN CLUB EXPLAINS THEIR PURPOSE