Who are these people and what are they trying to accomplish?

There was an “Impeach Trump” march yesterday where I live, and a counter-march.

It was all the usual stuff, and seems like it was barely noticed because it’s become normal. The two groups met at the capitol and yelled at each other a bit while generally trying to let the other know they were there.

But in reading about the marches, there is this photo (story it’s from) and I can’t wrap my mind around much of this. Maybe I’m just not paying attention.

For one second, if we can ignore Trump, ignore the general feelings for either political party, and just think about the people there.

- Who are these people?
– What are they there for? What’s the motivation and what do they hope to achieve?
– What’s with the salutes? The fatigues? The helmets?
– Is a bulletproof vest a fashion accessory here or what?
– Are these guys the crazy fringe, or do they represent a significant population?

This feels completely, 100%, foreign, from another place and time. But it happened in my backyard, literally yesterday.

I’m actually not looking to bash or even debate. If you have some insight here, I’d genuinely like to hear, because it feels like this is a bigger part of the country than I’d previously thought.