I spoke with two armed men present last night at the Alex Pretti vigil/autonomous zone, who agreed to speak on the condition I obscure their eyes.
One, identified as Comrade Loon (the MN state bird), explained the reasoning for their presence and had a message for conservatives:
I don't think being romantic requires a lot of money. I think it requires creativity and thoughtfulness and that's a lot of people's problems they lack creativity.