More Than 20 Arrested In Ferguson; Armed ‘Oath Keepers’ Walk Streets

As demonstrators gathered in Ferguson to continue commemorating the one year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown on Monday, five heavily-armed men belonging to a vigilante group called the Oath Keepers were spotted patrolling the streets.

According to NBC News, the organization is made up of former military, police and first responders who pledge to “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic”.

St. Louis County Police reported that frozen water bottles have been thrown at police as clashes between regulation enforcement officers and protesters intensified.

Members of the group, mostly white males, were seen carrying assault rifles and side arms and wearing bulletproof vests and camouflage. “They carried assault weapons which raised alarm from protesters”.

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Oath Keepers as a “fiercely anti-government, militaristic group”. Not so with the Oath Keepers.

Patricia Bynes, Democratic Committeewoman of Ferguson Township, went to check on the protests early Tuesday and was surprised to find the Oath Keepers amid a heavy police presence.

Missouri state law allows for the display of such weapons “unless the firearm is intentionally displayed in an angry or threatening manner, not in necessary self defense”. The SPLC calls Rhodes’ 2013 announcement that he plans to create local militia units organized along the lines of U.S. military Special Forces teams “frightening”, and the group’s claim of 30,000 members “highly unlikely”.

Bynes said the Oath Keepers’ presence detracted from the real issues at heart: racial inequality.

The Anti-Defamation League – “The “orders” the Oath Keepers refuse reveal their extreme conspiratorial mindset, because the “orders” are not instructions ever likely to be actually handed down by Obama or his officials; instead, they are reflective of the anti-government conspiracy theories embraced by the extreme right”. “If there were black and brown people in this country who showed up in the streets open carrying assault rifles in paramilitary garb would they still be received the same way?” she speculated to NBC News. Members of Oath Keepers, Pacific Patriot Network and 3% of Idaho said they came to Lincoln – the former hometown of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski – at White Hope Mine owner George Kornec’s request. Immediately, police on a loudspeaker told them to move out of traffic. No injuries were reported by police or civilians.