I'm so in love 'pedes. My wife. She wants me in a militia.
My wife just now: what if the mayor forces the hotels to cancel registrations?
Me: we'll stay in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina if need be.
Me: I bet Trump Hotel wouldn't cancel any reservations
You definitely want to get in at least a day early, and plan on rolling into DC with the dawn's early light to get a good spot. Plan on staying until at least the 8th, when DC area is crowded it is tough to get out if driving.
Don't forget your extra black socks and cans of soda. Or water bottles that are half ice and half water. Worked in the hippy days, and old school enough Pantifa likely won't catch on right away, since the idiots only managed to figure out frozen water bottles and never seem to have figured out socks.
We'll be bringing:
I'd like to bring a handgun per person and a long firearm per person, but I know that's not going to help much, especially the long guns (they would get us arrested). Knives, maybe?
We'll have to be up very early, I figure 4:30am, to get to the capitol before all the fun starts. We'll be... quite a few I think. We might rent a big van to bring us all in. It's a long long drive, but worth. Or we fly. I figure arrive on the 4th, stay through the 9th at least, be prepared to stay longer. Things may not settle before the 8th.
I would avoid guns actually, because you do need permits from the local PD to carry, and the DCPD will be very happy to arrest patriots if they can (and publicize it, while ignoring any armed antifa around). It would be an excellent excuse for them to get ALL your 2A rights removed. Now is NOT the time to get in trouble with the law, plenty of time for that when things get inevitably worse after Jan. 20. That is why I have never ever brought a gun to a protest of any kind.
That's why the socks and things to put in them. You can seriously injure someone that way, and they are NOT "weapons". In fact if you have a strong enough swing, strong enough sock and 1 pound of rocks or ball bearings you can kill someone.
Legal weapons in DC include pepper spray and stun guns. So wear layers for protection against stun guns, have masks/goggles for protection against pepper spray and first aid supplies for dealing with pepper spray if you run into antifa.
If you bring knives, make them legal sized folding knives. And wear double gloves when using, only as a last resort, and abandon knife inside person. Where leg meets groin or slicing across the backs of knees works, but slicing through clothing is really tough.
Make your flagpole stronger than the average flagpole. They make good weapons too. maybe a nice piece of rebar for instance. Or a standard looking flagpole with rebar or other reinforcing inside it.