Armed 'Oath Keepers' Arrive In Ferguson As Protests Continue

Another night of unrest in Ferguson was made even more tense with the arrival Monday night of a group of citizens armed with assault rifles who call themselves Oath Keepers.

They arrived in Ferguson, where protesters clashed with police on the second night after one-year anniversary of the shooting death of Michael Brown.

No shots were reported fired, but at least nine were arrested, according to the St. Louis County Police Department.

A State of Emergency was declared in St. Louis County earlier in the day on Monday.

And the presence of white men carrying assault rifles didn’t exactly help to deescelate things.

Missouri state law allows for the display of such weapons ”unless the firearm is intentionally displayed in an angry or threatening manner, not in necessary self defense.”

According to their website, Oath Keepers are a group of current and former military and first responders “who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to ’defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.’”

They show a long list of orders they won’t obey, including those to disarm or conduct warrantless searches.

There were no reports of any violence or injury against them, but their presence wasn’t exactly welcomed.

Democratic Committewoman of the Ferguson Township Patricia Byrnes asked on Twitter, “(if) Black men and women showed up carrying these rifles, what would happen?”

Image via YouTube