A gun-rights rally in Virginia is expected to draw a mix of militias, firearms advocates and white supremacists to Richmond on Monday as the state's capital remained on high alert Sunday.

Many residents in the city are said to fear a repeat of violence seen in nearby Charlottesville in 2017 after state officials and hate-monitoring groups warned about the potential for violence.

Citing credible threats, Gov. Ralph Northam declared a temporary state of emergency, banning all weapons, including guns, from Capitol Square.

Virginia's solicitor general last week also said law enforcement had identified 'credible evidence' armed out-of-state groups planned to come to Virginia with the possible intention of participating in a 'violent insurrection.'

Online, threats of violence have been 'rampant' among anti-government and far-right groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks white supremacists and other extremists. Conspiracy theories and other misinformation have also proliferated.

And organizers of an annual vigil at the Capitol for the victims of gun violence said Friday they have canceled their event this year because of fears of 'armed insurrectionists.'

Barriers are set up at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond on Saturday. An unprecedented show of force by gun-rights activists is expected on Monday in Virginia. They are angry over the state's plans to enact a slew of gun restrictions

The Virginia state Capitol building is surrounded by fencing on Thursday. Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday announced a state of emergency and banned all weapons from the rally

But several militia leaders with large followings on social media, who attended the Charlottesville rally, said they were coming purely to show their support for those opposed to new, more restrictive gun laws in the state.

'If you think that we're a threat coming into your city, then you don't know who we are, you don't understand what we're about,' said Joshua Shoaff, who has over 542,000 Facebook followers and goes by the pseudonym Ace Baker. 'We're not anarchists - we believe in government.'

So who is expected to turn up to the rally on Monday?

Virginia Citizens Defense League

The rally, aimed at showing gun enthusiasts' disdain for swift moves the newly Democrat-controlled legislature is making to pass stiffer gun laws, has been organized by the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

A pro-gun rights group that annually comes out in force to lobby Virginia's legislature to not pass any new gun laws, they are said to be working closely with police in an effort to pull off a smooth event.

But they have called for tens of thousands of armed citizens to come to the event, hiking tensions.

The VCDL, an influential grassroots gun-rights organization, has donated over $200,000 to state lawmakers since 2002, records show. The group has emphasized the rally is intended to be peaceful and urged members not to bring long guns, saying they would be a 'distraction.'

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, an influential grassroots gun-rights organization with a long record in the state, has been the leading force behind Monday's rally

White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' clash with counter-protesters during the 'Unite the Right' rally August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville

'The eyes of the nation and the world are on Virginia and VCDL right now and we must show them that gun owners are not the problem,'the group wrote in a recent email to its members.

The group's president, Philip Van Cleave, has been in the national spotlight before. In 2018, Van Cleave was duped into participating in Sacha Baron Cohen's ambush chat show, where he advocated for arming children.

Gun Owners of America

The influential pro-gun group Gun Owners of America describes itself as the only 'no-compromise' gun lobby in Washington and enjoys a loyal following.

Founded in 1975 by a California state lawmaker, Gun Owners of America joined the VCDL to seek an injunction against enforcement of Gov. Ralph Northam's executive order banning gun from the Capitol Square.

On its website, the group has urged its members to attend Monday's rally.

The influential pro-gun group Gun Owners of America describes itself as the only 'no-compromise' gun lobby in Washington and enjoys a loyal following

NRA

The National Rifle Association, the country's best known gun-rights organization, has distanced itself from Monday's rally and instead held a lobby day last week.

Hundreds of people attended the event, where the NRA handed out unloaded 30-round gun magazines. A spokeswoman for the group headquartered in northern Virginia said the magazines were meant as a 'morale booster' for the NRA members who showed up to urge lawmakers to reject the gun control measures proposed by Northam and Democratic lawmakers.

Oath Keepers

Former U.S. Army paratrooper Stewart Rhodes formed The Oath Keepers in 2009, and the group has become one of the nation's largest anti-government organizations, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In 2014, Oath Keeper members joined an armed standoff between federal officials and Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy over grazing rights on government land.

The group urged its members in a post on its website to attend Monday's rally

Later that year and in 2015, members patrolled the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, amid protests over the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. They wore camouflage body armor and openly carried rifles.

The group urged its members in a post on its website to attend Monday's rally and said it was sending trainers to Virginia to organize and train 'armed posses and militia.'

'It is NOT just about one day at a rally. It's about organizing and training up Virginians in each town and county to make their Second Amendment Sanctuary Counties truly strong, united, and capable of actually defending their lives, liberty, and property,' the group's website says.

The Oath Keepers has become one of the nation's largest anti-government organizations

An Oath Keeper, brought on to provide security, stands guard during a pro-Donald Trump rally at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in Berkeley, California on April 27, 2017

The Oath Keepers protest proposed local and federal gun control legislation in Minnesota

Three Percenter Movement

The Three Percenters are a loosely organized movement that formed in 2008, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish civil rights organization that tracks extremist groups.

On its website, the right-wing group says it isn't an anti-government militia but 'we will defend ourselves when necessary.'

Members of the AAF III% militia at the Pro-Freedom rally at the Indiana Statehouse during the during the third day of the National Rifle Association convention being held nearby in April

A member of the AAF III% militia folds the American flag after the Pro-Freedom rally at the Indiana Statehouse during the during the third day of the National Rifle Association convention being held nearby in April last year

The Three Percenters derives its name from the belief that just 3% of the colonists rose up to fight the British. They have vowed to resist any government that infringes on the U.S. Constitution.

The Oregon Three Percenters joined an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016. Dozens of people occupied the remote refuge for more than a month to protest federal control of Western lands. The group also took part in a violent right-wing rally in Portland last year.

White supremacists

J.J. MacNab, a fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, said she didn't expect large numbers of white supremacists. But MacNab said she thinks those who do attend will try to capitalize on the large expected crowd for a moment in the limelight.

'It's going to be a big event — they want to be part of it. They're desperate to do Charlottesville 2.0,' she said, referring to the 2017 rally that descended into violence.

Earlier this week, authorities arrested six men they linked to a violent white supremacist group known as The Base. At least three of the men were planning to attend the rally in Richmond according to an official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an active investigation.

The Ku Klux Klan protests on July 8, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The KKK was protesting the planned removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, and calling for the protection of Southern Confederate monuments

Other leaders of well-known militias also vowed they were not seeking confrontations in Richmond. But police warned that among those they know to be attending are known neo-Nazis and other groups who may seek to hijack the gun-rights gathering.

The Virginia Senate late on Thursday passed bills to require background checks on all firearms sales, limit handgun purchases to one a month, and restore local governments' right to ban weapons from public buildings and other venues.

Both Virginia legislative houses are also expected to pass 'red flag' laws that would allow courts and local law enforcement to remove guns from people deemed a risk to communities, among other measures.

The FBI said it arrested three men linked to a violent white supremacist group Thursday who were planning to attend the rally in Richmond, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an active investigation.

Luke Austin, left, Jacob Kaderli, center, and Michael Helterbrand have all been arrested . They have links to a violent white supremacist group, according to police

Barriers are set up at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond on Saturday

'Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia,' Trump wrote in the post, adding: 'That's what happens when you vote for Democrats'

President Donald Trump backed the rally organizers in a Twitter post on Friday in which he said the U.S. Constitution was under attack by recent gun control measures in Virginia, a state that Hilary Clinton won in 2016 and where Democrats took full control of the state legislature for the first time in a generation in November.

'Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia,' Trump wrote in the post, referring to the amendment in the Bill of Rights that gives Americans the right to keep and bear firearms. 'That's what happens when you vote for Democrats, they will take your guns away.'

Todd Gilbert, the Republican leader in Virginia's House of Delegates, said in a statement on Saturday that violence was not welcome during Monday's rally.

'Any group that comes to Richmond to spread white supremacist garbage, or any other form of hate, violence, or civil unrest isn't welcome here,' he said. 'While we and our Democratic colleagues may have differences, we are all Virginians and we will stand united in opposition to any threats of violence or civil unrest from any quarter.'