Conservative Group Protests Outside Home of Henrico County Manager

Ron Hedlund is not a well-known name in the area but is actions are extremely visible. With a large sign that says “FUCK BIDEN” and custom made wind dancer, Hedlund goes to heavy traffic areas and attempts to get reactions. Those reactions turn into confrontations like on Veteran's Day in 2021, when Hedlund parked his truck with a large sign that caused a veteran attending a service to jump in the bed of the truck to cover the sign. Both Hedlund and the veteran were detained and charged. Hedlund has also had other tackless protests like at the funeral of former Congressman Donald McEachin.

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Hedlund is a conservative activist who has been a part of the Republican party for a while. At one point, Hedlund was the chairman of the 7th Congressional District on the Republican Party of Virginia’s State Central Committee. That time has passed, and he finds himself as outside of the party. He occupies his spare time by holding his small protests, often by himself or with a small number of friends.

One such friend is Shaun Porter who lives up in Maryland and has been nicknamed “the Neighbor from Hell” from his protests against his neighbor. Porter and Hedlund began a friendship that extended into YouTube where they both made videos of interactions with police and people upset with Porters and Hedlunds signs. That changed in last month when Hedlund's YouTube account Ron Benghazi was banned off of YouTube. Prior to being banned, Hedlund had over 10,000 subscribers. Currently Shaun Porter has over 107,000 subscribers.

The popularity of these channels come from a community referred to as First Amendment Auditors, however this community also considers people who build large followings off of being disruptive and confrontational as “frauditors.”

Hedlund began posting his videos from a new account The Benghazi Rabbit, which was jointly shared with William Barthel, who wears a costume of a white rabbit while publicly demonstrating. The account currently sits at over 21,000 subscribers. The account shared a video of Hedlund being served a protective order on May 11th. Later the account uploaded a video of Barthel being served a protective order. Both were taken out by Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas.

https://twitter.com/GoadGatsby/status/1656775050081476610?t=mlyb9-mLbGaR4IDFnFKTCQ&s=19

Hedlund had been singling out the county manager including holding protests outside the home of the county manager. These protests included videos uploaded to YouTube that include the address of the home where Vithoulkas resides.

Hedlund and Barthel are due in court on May 25th to contest the protective order. Hedlund said in a video that he has received legal aid from the Virginia Citizens Defense League and the advice of Philip Van Cleave. With both of them unable to go within 1000 feet of the home of John Vithoulkas, Brandon Howard filled that role.

Howard is the President of Right To Bear Arms Virginia. Howard has had similar protests like when protested outside the home of Virginia House of Delegates member Mark Levine. Howard also held signs by highway overpasses which resulted in his detainment and the settlement with the city of Hopewell.

Following Hedlund receiving a protective order, Howard announced that he would be holding a protest outside the home of Vithoulkas. Hedlund promoted Howard's protest while Hedlund was out of the state. Howard held that protest on Sunday May 14th, Mother's Day. From Howard's own video, it appears as though only 3 people attended, including Howard. However, there were at least 4 Henrico Police officers present.

https://twitter.com/GoadGatsby/status/1657874454175707136?t=Gr9zWcaByuQDPf74IKxs4A&s=19

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