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'Turn California Red' Rally At Capitol Expected To Draw Big Crowds, Counter-Protests

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Law Enforcement will be on alert at the State Capitol tomorrow looking to prevent violent clashes during a planned political rally.

A conservative organization is holding a rally they're calling "Turn California Red" ahead of the midterm elections on Tuesday. Counter-protesters are expected to attend as well.

CBS13's Marc Thompson spoke with the main organizer of Sunday's conservative rally, Chris Ross, who says he wants to avoid violence and is looking forward to a peaceful event. Ross is the founder of California Conservatives United.

In June 2016 a white supremacist group clashed with counter-protesters from Antifa. The clash resulted in a bloody violent scene where five people were stabbed in the chaos.

"We were not a part of that event," Ross said. "This is a totally different group of people, a totally different group of organizations."

Ross says the event is to get conservatives to vote and draw attention to issues such as taxing out the middle class and preserving the second amendment.

"We want to fight against the sanctuary city policies and we are reiterating the 'America First' agenda," Ross said.

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The ideals Ross outlines are in conflict with groups like Antifa Sacramento who posted on their Facebook page, "How can I help defend against the far right rally?"

While Ross said the organization will have speakers present from various conservative organziations, violence is not part of the plan.

"I myself have been talking a lot about how important it is for us to stay peaceful at this event, I think that getting violent hurts our message, it hurts our movement and it's unnecessary," Ross said.

Sacramento police said they are preparing for the event and allocating extra resources to the Capitol area during the event. Captiol CHP released the following statement saying, "We are aware of the permitted event on November 4th, 2018. Our officers are always vigilant for potential threats, but we do not discuss security measures or changes in security posture."

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Meanwhile, Ross insists he's just looking for peaceful diaglouge, no matter who you are or what you support.

"We want everybody and we welcome everybody because this is about touching hearts and changing minds," Ross said.

Tomorrow's rally is permitted for 500 people. It is set to start at noon and expected to wrap up by 4:30 p.m.

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