Oath Keepers presence in Ferguson ‘unnecessary and inflammatory’

At least four members of the “Oath Keepers” arrived in Ferguson on early Tuesday and began patrolling the West Florissant Avenue, walking through the crowds of protesters gathered there for a “day of civil disobedience” following the anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown. But that’s exactly what’s happening now that members of the so-called patriot group, the “Oath Keepers” – all of them white – have shown up, provocatively brandishing assault rifles and disingenuously insisting they’re only there to “keep the peace”.

“They nodded and said: “Good on ya, just, if you would, please don’t walk through us”. Texas college football player Christian Taylor became the latest unarmed black man to die at the hands of a white police officer.

Representatives from the Oath Keepers were scheduled to speak at a 2013 rally in Pennsylvania where other “anti-Simite” and anti-government extremist groups were scheduled to appear.

The unidentified member who acted as a figurehead for the group was recorded saying they were there to protect contributors for InfoWars, a conspiracy theory (or “alternative media”, as some call it) website, but the group staunchly corrected news reports stating they were hired by InfoWars for protection.

The lesson is coming from members of the Oath Keepers organization who showed up in the city Tuesday donning protective vests with handguns holstered on their belts and carrying those rifles with 30-round magazines that so frighten leftist gun grabbers, bed wetters and the social Marxist collectivists elites. But Missouri law allows anyone with a concealed carry permit to openly display a firearm anywhere in the state.

The protests in the mainly black suburb of St Louis around the anniversary of Mr Brown’s death have been peaceful apart from an outbreak of looting and gunshot on Sunday that ended with the shooting of Tyrone Harris, another black teenager. It was posted on the Oath Keeper’s website Wednesday.

The scene was markedly different on Monday, after St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger declared a state of emergency, a move that gave Belmar – instead of city police authorities – control of security.

However, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar described their presence as “both unnecessary and inflammatory”.

“A handful of us were visible”, Karriman, a former police officer in Joplin, Mo., who ran unsuccessfully as a Libertarian Party candidate for county sheriff in southwest Missouri. Wearing neither a helmet nor a shield, the St. Louis County police chief strode directly toward demonstrators, telling them to get out of the street and urging calm. Missouri is an open-carry state.

The Oath Keepers organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

Oath Keepers describe themselves as part of a non-partisan association composed of former military and policemen who staunchly defend the U.S. Constitution.