White members of the right-wing militia group the Oath Keepers who patrolled the Ferguson protests in the early hours of Tuesday morning armed with loaded M-15 assault rifles were greeted warmly by police trying to control the racial justice demonstrations, a spokesperson for the organization said.
“We checked in with law enforcement when we got here, we told them what we were doing and who we were with,” said John Karriman, leader of the Missouri Oath Keepers. “We walked up and they (police) came over and we shook hands and smiled. We said we’re here to protecting Info Wars. They nodded and said, ‘Good on ya, just, if you would, please don’t walk through us.’”
White men with guns at a protest #ferguson pic.twitter.com/a8i8oZRTKv
— KayRay (@RE_invent_ED)
August 11, 2015
While the organization of former servicemen claim to defend the U.S. constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” the group is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “fiercely anti-government, militaristic group,” the Guardian reports. Infowars.com is a wesbite run by U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Criminal justice expert, John Jay, explained how the organization tries to provoke violence.
“Their movement is anti-government and they believe they have to stay armed because they have to be ready to overthrow the government. They are as much trying to pick a fight with the police as anyone else,” Jay said.
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St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, who was present during the protests on Monday, denied Karriman’s version of events, calling the claim over their welcome “both unnecessary and inflammatory.”
The police treatment of the white, armed, militiamen during the sporadic disturbances in Ferguson, held in light of the year’s anniversary of the fatal shooting of Black teenager Michael Brown, wildly differs from that of the unarmed Black protesters.
On Monday night, groups of young Black men were arrested, pepper sprayed and placed in wire-cuffs, supposedly for carrying handguns.
Oath Keepers will be out tonight, y'all. #Ferguson
— Ida B. Damn (@GuapoBrown)
August 12, 2015
Demonstrations continued Tuesday night, with protesters fearing that the militia group would return again to heighten tension.
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