Oath Keepers Station Themselves on Ferguson’s Rooftops; Police Order Them to Stop

After the riot that followed the grand jury’s
decision last week not to indict Darren Wilson, members of the
Oath Keepers—a controversial group of current and former military,
police, and public safety officials who have pledged not to obey
unconstitutional orders—arrived in Ferguson, Missouri. Armed with
rifles and fire extinguishers, they stood guard on the rooftops,
ready, they said, to protect local businesses from arsonists and
looters.

Over the weekend, the police told them to stop. The St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
reports:

Following a night of arson fires and
bashed storefronts that hit close to home, Greg Hildebrand stood
naked Tuesday, drying off from a needed shower, when he noticed
somebody on the rooftop.

“I opened the window and said, ‘Hey, can I help you?'” said
Hildebrand, 35, a website developer.

The man said he was security and would be up there at night with
others to protect the pocket of second-story apartments and
lower-level storefronts near the Ferguson Police Department. A day
earlier, rioters had broken out windows below Hildebrand’s
apartment in the 100 block of South Florissant Road and torched a
nearby beauty supply store.

“I am in the middle of a difficult spot,” Hildebrand said. “I feel
a lot better having those guys up on the roof.”…

Police questioned group members early in the week and allowed them
to stay. But Saturday, after media inquiries, St. Louis County
police officers ordered the Oath Keepers to leave the
rooftops.

Threatened with arrest for operating without a license, the
volunteers argued but eventually left their positions early
Saturday, [Oath Keepers founder Stewart] Rhodes said.

It’s not clear how many Oath Keepers were standing guard before
the cops shut them down. (A member told
The New York Times that there were “more than five, less
than 500.” He also said that he had been vetting prospective
volunteers to weed out any racists, and that about 10 percent of
the group’s guards were black.) I’ve seen some worries in the
press that the Oath Keepers’ presence “could
inflame tensions further,” but I have not seen any reports of
violence either by or against the group’s St. Louis patrols. The
locals quoted in the Times and Post-Dispatch
pieces seem to think their presence served as a deterrant.

You can read the rest of Post-Dispatch story
here. One of the Oath Keepers reacts to the police’s order to
come down from the roofs here.
The Oath Keepers’ call for Ferguson volunteers—which also denounces
“egregious violations of the rights of peaceful protesters and
media” during the last big wave of Ferguson protests—is
here. (The Oath Keepers’ basic position on the situation is
that the government has trampled the rights of peaceful protesters
while neglecting their duty to protect lives and property.) Some
thoughts on the Oath Keepers’ activities during those earlier
protests are here.
A feature I wrote about the Oath Keepers four years ago is here.
Radley Balko interviews the group’s founder here.