Let’s all agree for a moment that the St. Louis area police have proven themselves incompetent. What else are gun-toting, true american’s to do but to form militias and police the streets themselves? That’s exactly what Oath Keepers ?are doing in Ferguson. Atop roofs stand members armed with their own weapons, patrolling the streets and ‘protecting local businesses.’
The Oath Keepers state on their website that they are:
“A non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police, and first responders? who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to ‘defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.'”
Founder Stewart Rhodes, also laid forth ten orders all Oath Keepers must adhere to:
1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.
2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people
3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as ?unlawful enemy combatants? or to subject them to military tribunal.
4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a ?state of emergency? on a state.
5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.
6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to ?keep the peace? or to ?maintain control.?
9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.
10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.
During the aftermath of the Ferguson grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the Oath Keepers began to spring up on rooftops across town. The national organization released a call to arms, recruiting members from Missouri, as well as neighboring states. Members have been in the town, “patrolling and protecting stores” as they claim, all week. However, Saturday morning, local police issued an order for members to cease activities.
The Oath Keepers have vowed to return as protesters, and to continue their operation.
You might remember the name Oath Keepers from a previous news story, when a top leader within the group publicly announced that “God gave them the right to disobey gun laws.” I’m sorry, what was that craziness? Oh yes, because the Christian God laid forth the Second Amendment and therefore all gun laws are against God’s will. How silly of us to not?trust a God with gun safety and regulations.
While the local police and National Guard within Ferguson may not be the best response to protesters; I can promise you that armed private citizens, without accountability, is not the answer. These volunteers may be great ex-military, law enforcement or other first responders, but the last thing the town needs is another person with a gun. There needs to be reason and common sense applied to the response of the protests. The addition of more individuals with weapons will not deescalate the tensions, and it seems like the local police realized that, even if it did take media criticism for them to see.
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