mick silver
11th August 2015, 10:56 AM
'Oath Keepers' Militia Members On Patrol In FergusonPosted: Aug 11, 2015 11:02 AM CDT <em class="wnDate">Tuesday, August 11, 2015 12:02 PM EDT</em> Updated: Aug 11, 2015 11:14 AM CDT <em class="wnDate">Tuesday, August 11, 2015 12:14 PM EDT</em>
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FERGUSON, Missouri - In the midst of a spasm of tension in Ferguson, Missouri, on the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, several heavily armed men carrying assault rifles and flak jackets appeared, and they weren't cops.
Instead, they said they were members of the Oath Keepers, and claimed to have been hired to protect reporters working for InfoWars.com, a website run by radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
One member of the militia-style group described the Oath Keepers as constitutionalists. On their website, they say 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."'
In a statement, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar called their presence "both unnecessary and inflammatory." St. Louis County police and prosecutors told CBS News said they would consult about the legality of openly displaying the weapons during a state of emergency, which had been declared Monday after violence rocked Ferguson during protests the previous evening.
Jones' website is well known for hosting inflammatory conservative rhetoric, and posting items that take an extreme view of current events. One of the headlines produced about the recent Ferguson unrest screams: "PROTESTERS DECLARE THEY ARE READY FOR WAR AS AMERICA'S IMPOVERISHED INNER CITIES THREATEN TO ERUPT."
A separate video claiming to be from an Oath Keepers' award banquet shows one of them imploring members to "assume the worst" and "prepare for economic collapse."
Oath Keepers is a national group best known as supporters of the Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy during a 2014 dispute with the Bureau of Land Management. The Idaho group gets its name from the 3 percent of Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War.
They come from what was a general rise in sometimes-violent anti-government activity in the Inland Northwest. After a lull following the demise of the Idaho-based neo-Nazi Aryan Nations in 2000, anti-government and white supremacist groups and individuals saw a dramatic uptick in activity and organization.
The Oath Keepers appear to still be active in multiple parts of the country. Last week, they were among several similar groups involved in a dispute in Montana over a mining claim.
The groups were there in support of a mine owner who is in contention with the U.S. Forest Service over his claim. 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.
In 2011, a member of the Georgia Oath Keepers, Darren Huff, was convicted in Tennessee on a federal firearms charge in what police said was a plot to take over a Tennessee courthouse and force President Barack Obama out of office. http://www.newson6.com/story/29760220/oath-keepers-militia-members-appear-in-ferguson
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http://kotv.images.worldnow.com/images/8538530_G.jpg
FERGUSON, Missouri - In the midst of a spasm of tension in Ferguson, Missouri, on the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, several heavily armed men carrying assault rifles and flak jackets appeared, and they weren't cops.
Instead, they said they were members of the Oath Keepers, and claimed to have been hired to protect reporters working for InfoWars.com, a website run by radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
One member of the militia-style group described the Oath Keepers as constitutionalists. On their website, they say 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."'
In a statement, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar called their presence "both unnecessary and inflammatory." St. Louis County police and prosecutors told CBS News said they would consult about the legality of openly displaying the weapons during a state of emergency, which had been declared Monday after violence rocked Ferguson during protests the previous evening.
Jones' website is well known for hosting inflammatory conservative rhetoric, and posting items that take an extreme view of current events. One of the headlines produced about the recent Ferguson unrest screams: "PROTESTERS DECLARE THEY ARE READY FOR WAR AS AMERICA'S IMPOVERISHED INNER CITIES THREATEN TO ERUPT."
A separate video claiming to be from an Oath Keepers' award banquet shows one of them imploring members to "assume the worst" and "prepare for economic collapse."
Oath Keepers is a national group best known as supporters of the Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy during a 2014 dispute with the Bureau of Land Management. The Idaho group gets its name from the 3 percent of Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War.
They come from what was a general rise in sometimes-violent anti-government activity in the Inland Northwest. After a lull following the demise of the Idaho-based neo-Nazi Aryan Nations in 2000, anti-government and white supremacist groups and individuals saw a dramatic uptick in activity and organization.
The Oath Keepers appear to still be active in multiple parts of the country. Last week, they were among several similar groups involved in a dispute in Montana over a mining claim.
The groups were there in support of a mine owner who is in contention with the U.S. Forest Service over his claim. 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.
In 2011, a member of the Georgia Oath Keepers, Darren Huff, was convicted in Tennessee on a federal firearms charge in what police said was a plot to take over a Tennessee courthouse and force President Barack Obama out of office. http://www.newson6.com/story/29760220/oath-keepers-militia-members-appear-in-ferguson