Mother Jones
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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 reports, the Oath Keepers said they were on the scene to provide voluntary protection to a journalist working for the site InfoWars, the conspiracy mill run by noted lunatic Alex Jones.
Oath Keepers are on the scene in #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/vaJkqg9JK0
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly)
Protesters trying to drive out Oath Keepers. OKs say “we’ve got your back” https://t.co/w1CBUEBTdz
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine)
Oath Keepers have shown up in Ferguson with assault rifles. Protesters led by @TefPoe telling them to get away. pic.twitter.com/n9PNwkGNBL
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine)
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar called the group’s presence on Monday both “unnecessary and inflammatory.”
Their arrival came amid 23 arrests last night. The police said those arrested in the largely peaceful protests were throwing bottles at law enforcement officials and “unlawfully assembled.”
During the same time last year, Oath Keeper members took it upon themselves to guard the city’s rooftops with assault rifles. Police officials eventually ordered the group to leave, saying their presence was inciting fear and suspicion in an already tense situation. However, no members were arrested.
The mysterious group, who called themselves voluntary “patriots,” primarily consists of heavily armed white men dressed in military uniforms. Many of them are former soldiers and police officials. For more on who they are, read our in-depth investigation, “Oath Keepers and the Age of Treason.”
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