Mysterious ‘Oath Keepers’ guard rooftops in downtown Ferguson

[VegasPatriot]

Mysterious ‘Oath Keepers’ guard rooftops in downtown Ferguson (http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2014/11/29/mysterious-oath-keepers-guard-rooftops-in-downtown-ferguson/)

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/wp-content/uploads/mysterious-oath-keeepers-on-rooftop-one-499x333.jpg (http://oathkeepers.org/oath/wp-content/uploads/mysterious-oath-keeepers-on-rooftop-one.jpg)
A member of the Oath Keepers (who did not want to be identified) watches the area north of the police station from the rooftop of buildings along South Forissant Road in the early hours of Friday, Nov. 28, 2014, in Ferguson. Photo by Huy Mach, hmach@post-dispatch.com
By Jesse Bogan (http://www.stltoday.com/search/?l=50&sd=desc&s=start_time&f=html&byline=By%20Jesse%20Bogan%0Ajbogan%40post-dispatch.com%20%0A314-340-8255)jbogan@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8255
FERGUSON • 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.”
But he wasn’t clear exactly who “those guys” were or where they came from.
Puzzled and alarmed protesters have wondered, too — some accusing the mysterious guards in military fatigues of being in the Ku Klux Klan.
In fact, they are volunteers affiliated with a 35,000-member national organization called Oath Keepers. Yale Law School graduate and libertarian Stewart Rhodes said by telephone from Montana that he founded the group in 2009 to protect constitutional rights, including those of protesters confronted by what he described as overly militarized police.
But Rhodes, who said he is Mexican-American, was quick to assure that Oath Keepers is not anti-government. He said those pulling rooftop security in Ferguson are current or former government employees and first responders, many who have intense military, police and EMS training.
“We thought they were going to do it right this time,” Rhodes said of government response to the grand jury decision released Monday night in the Darren Wilson case. “But when Monday rolled around and they didn’t park the National Guard at these businesses, that’s when we said we have got to do something.
“Historically, the government almost always fails to protect people,” he added.


READ THE REST HERE (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mysterious-oath-keepers-guard-rooftops-in-downtown-ferguson/article_f90b6edd-acf8-52e3-a020-3a78db286194.html).

Kudos to Jesse Bogan, and Post Dispatch, for good coverage of an outstanding civic action by Oath Keepers. Salute!
Elias Alias, Oath Keeper Editor-in-Chief and Vietnam Marine Veteran

COMMENT BY STEWART RHODES, FOUNDER OF OATH KEEPERS:

That is is a great article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about our unpaid, volunteer security team in Ferguson that has protected four businesses and also apartments this past week. Reporter Jesse Bogan deserves our thanks and gratitude for reporting fairly and accurately, which is, sadly, such a rarity among mainstream media that have covered us.
Despite the still ongoing negligent lack of protection by the Governor and his men for the businesses in Ferguson, our volunteer security team of Oath Keepers members have been able to prevent arsonists from burning these buildings down, saving several small businesses owned by hard-working Ferguson residents, such as Natalie Dubose of Natalie’s Cakes and More (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/donations-roll-in-for-ferguson-bake-shop/article_afd76d1f-7d35-5d97-86bd-21d515277bfe.html), and also saving the occupied apartments on the upper floors, and very likely saving the lives of the residents.

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/wp-content/uploads/nataliedubose11-500x331.jpg (http://oathkeepers.org/oath/wp-content/uploads/nataliedubose11.jpg)

This we will defend: Natalie Dubose, a hard working single-mother of two who got her start selling cakes at a local Flea Market, opened the small bake shop of her dreams just this past summer. She has a right to life, liberty, and property – a right to live her dream and feed her children by doing so – and we are proud to defend her rights, along with the rights of the other good people on her block.

Read full article at OathKeepers.org: http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2014/11/29/mysterious-oath-keepers-guard-rooftops-in-downtown-ferguson/

[donnay]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhhjjMsp3JQ&list=UUvsye7V9psc-APX6wV1twLg

[libertarianinternational]

https://31.media.tumblr.com/d3bf568fd3f624efff17337cc5c925e6/tumblr_ne2e77aNYp1t5gxf0o1_500.gif

[sparebulb]

I am baffled as to why more small business owners didn't defend their properties. I figure that these are the ones that still have faith in the cops and think that it is their duty to protect them.

I've noticed from the very first night of looting that, for the most part, big retailers don't care about defending their properties. They are adequately insured and when you think about it, what store employee would show up to defend their $8/hr employer. For that matter, what manager would show up to defend a low five-figure income and a 60 hour work week. Sweeping up broken glass and putting crap on shelves all pays the same as the everyday grind.

[donnay]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROJDbAvAbCg&list=UUvsye7V9psc-APX6wV1twLg&index=6

[69360]

Oath keepers do a damn good job. The ones I have run across are stand up people.

[XNavyNuke]

I am baffled as to why more small business owners didn't defend their properties. I figure that these are the ones that still have faith in the cops and think that it is their duty to protect them.

There are businesses in the metro area that are taking steps.
. Across the tracks from Ferguson, Clayton enlists private army to brace for trouble (http://fusion.net/story/29330/across-the-tracks-from-ferguson-clayton-enlists-private-army-to-brace-for-trouble/)


. Twelve miles south, in the wealthy suburb of Clayton —home to a cluster of investment banks, upscale restaurants, art galleries, and the grand jury hearing for the Michael Brown case — the preparations are a little more sophisticated and a lot more expensive.

The predominantly white residents of Clayton seem convinced that the protesters will take out their anger there, and are hurrying to insulate themselves from the threat with private security firms.

XNN

[XNavyNuke]

Update: Boys in Blue decide to run off the Oathkeepers.

.Police shut down mysterious 'Oath Keepers' guarding rooftops in downtown Ferguson (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/police-shut-down-mysterious-oath-keepers-guarding-rooftops-in-downtown/article_f90b6edd-acf8-52e3-a020-3a78db286194.html)


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, Rhodes said.

XNN

[VegasPatriot]

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2014/11/29/mysterious-oath-keepers-guard-rooftops-in-downtown-ferguson/

CRITICAL UPDATE:
Calling all Oath Keepers in or near Missouri, we urgently need you to join us in a protest at:
Natalie’s Cakes & More
100 S Florissant Rd
Ferguson, MO 63135

We are protesting an attempt by the St. Louis County PD Chief of Police Belmar to strip Natalie Dubose and her fellow shop owners in the buildings there on S. Florissant Rd (including tenants in apartments) of their protection against arsonists intent on burning them out. The Chief is trying to use a statute meant to regulate PAID security guards to keep our team of unpaid volunteers from protecting these good people.
Read this, and listen to the recorded interview with Ben Swann TV.

http://benswann.com/exclusive-interview-called-domestic-terrorists-by-the-feds-oath-keepers-help-stop-ferguson-from-burning/

And here is what I have to say about this:
So, the Empire Strikes back!
They are trying to shut us down, but we are fighting back. I have been fully briefed by the team on the ground and I will do my best to lay it out for you.

One commenter on the Post-Dispatch article asked:
“It’s okay to protest but not okay to protect against protesters?”

I responded with: Well now, that appears to be the NEW position of the St. Louis County PD Chief Jon Belmar. Even though this strip mall has had multiple, direct arson threats, the Chief is dead set on removing us from the roofs and leaving those buildings totally undefended and exposed to arson.
Funny how, right after we get some positive, accurate, and fair press coverage, Chief Belmar sends his loyal Lt. to tell us that we are now in violation of the state statute regulating Private Security Officers. Funny, just the other day, on Thanksgiving, they told our team they were fine, and good to go, and that there was no problem with them being there, and that they DID NOT violate that statute because our guys are unpaid volunteers, and now they do a 180 and say the statute does apply to us, and we cannot be there without a security license.

And, oddly enough, we are the only volunteer security team in the city this is being done to, so far as we know. The young black men so honorably guarding the Conoco station are not being threatened with arrest. Neither are the friends of the owners of all of the other many businesses in the area that are, out of necessity guarding businesses. And our team has seen unlicensed individuals who desperate shop owners have pulled off the street and hired on the spot to serve as paid security, And to our knowledge, none of them are being harassed. Only us.

Early this morning, round 2 am or so, or so, officers showed up at the buildings our team were guarding and told them that they were unlicensed and could not be there without a license. Our team argued back that they didn’t need a license because they were unpaid volunteers. They argued back and forth for over an hour, with the Lt. also demanding their ID, and our guys telling him that he had no probable cause that they had committed any crime and so they refused to give their ID. Many of the rank and file cops looked clearly uncomfortable with what they were involved in, and some even told our team that they thought it was a bunch of bull, and they wanted us there. In fact, we have an audio recording of an officer telling one of our men “if it were up to me, I’d have your guys on every roof in the city.”

Our guys were fully prepared to go to jail (and frankly, I feel the same way. I’m so tired of Alice-in-Wonderland crap that I’m game for a wrongful arrest lawsuit. I could use the money http://oathkeepers.org/oath/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif ). And I know Sam, the local Team Leader feels the same way, but he also correctly realized that if we forced them to arrest our team, our guys would have been removed completely from the picture and completely unable to provide any assistance to the property owners, possibly all weekend, till they could get before a judge and post bail. And he wanted to have the option of trying to find a way around this obstacle so our guys could be there tonight, so, he made the tactical decision to pack up for the night early in the AM this morning. I have to respect his judgment on that, as the leader on the ground, on the spot. So, I won’t be second guessing it, and he probably did make the right call. I’m just personally done with complying with bullshit, arbitrary, Orwellian nonsense. I’d rather go to jail, but that’s just me.

Our guys did take their sweet time packing up, so the buildings were left unguarded for a shorter time in the dark. And they WILL be back tonight. We are not giving up on these good people and we will do all we can to keep our promise to protect them, one way or another. So, our guys are indeed going back there tonight as protesters, to hold signs and walk the sidewalk in front of the strip mall, calling Chief Belmar an oath breaking ghoul, and a friend of arsonists. Clearly, he wants those buildings unprotected. My sign will say “Chief Belmar “hearts” arsonists.” Or, “the Chief says ‘burn this bitch down!’”

We knew, going in, that they would try to pull some kind of bullshit nonsense or another, and we figured it would be something stupid like this, so we will adapt and overcome. We are working behind the scenes through various channels to put some pressure on the Chief to back off, and we WILL be suing, and I may also file for an injunction or a writ of mandamus, but while we do that, we need your help to try him, and fry him, in the court that really matters – the court of public opinion. So, all Oath Keepers, please come down and help us protest against this injustice, and the absurd spectacle of a Chief of Police, in the middle of a friggin declared emergency, and the worst rioting and arson since the Watts riots back in the 60s, doing all he can to keep us from stopping looters from burning down these buildings, where people live in apartments above the shops. It’s absurd, obscene, and criminal. Imagine the lawsuit if those buildings burn to the ground after the Chief has directly removed their only protection. But we will be there in one form or another. Two can play this game. Let’s see them arrest us for carrying signs outside.

Bottom line is he did not replace our team with his own men. He wants us out (or to be more accurate, the Obama Admin wants us out and he is their tool of oppression they intend to use to do it). And he doesn’t care if the buildings are all burned to the ground.

So, overload the Chief and the Governor with calls, emails, and protest signs, telling them what you think of someone who would remove the most effective example of a secured block of buildings in the city – where we have been completely successful, and abundantly competent, at doing it right, by preventing arson and vandalism while not violating anyone’s rights. That is an example of good, of just, of Constitutional and liberty respecting, sane methodology that “they” just cannot suffer to exist side-by-side with their gross incompetence (at best) and willful, intentional, criminal endangerment and artificial crisis at worst. I consider the Chief to be a terrorist, or at least an accessory and supporter of terrorism since he is aiding and abbetting the arsonists who have ALREADY told our team that they will be back to burn those buildings to the ground.

I am flying there by Monday morning at the latest. If you are an Oath Keeper, I urge you to join me on the sidewalk outside of Natalie’s Cakes and More to support her right, along with the other tenants, to associate with fellow Americans who simply want to help her keep her shop from being burned to the ground by horrible terrorists. And her right to not have to worry about her own Chief of police doing all he can to prevent that protection, with a callous, brutal disregard for her safety and property, or the lives of the tenants who live in the apartments above the shops. What kind of a Chief of police does such a thing? Even Bull Connor, the infamous oppressor of black people during the battle for civil rights, did not conspire to see them burned to death. Let’s fight fire, with fire, and use one of their own favorite tactics against them – ridicule. The Chief makes it easy. He is like a hall monitor telling a kid he needs a hall pass to leave a classroom in the middle of a fire, arguing about it till the burning building collapses around them, all because the devil on his shoulder says so. Burn that bitch down! The devil says. Okeydokey, says the Chief!

Let’s dance with the devil gents. If you can get there, get there ASAP and help us shine light on this cockroach nest of corruption and oath breaking and use it to show the people what it is “they” fear most – people coming together to help protect each other, and the strong standing up to protect the weak. No terrorist, no arsonist, no looter is dangerous to their power, but that simple idea of human decency combined with courage is DEADLY to their power.

Love conquers hate, and the true source of all courage is love – love of the man to the left and the right of you, and love of your fellow Americans that causes you to set aside your concern for yourself, to fight through your fear, and step up, into harms way, for a friend.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 KJV

And that is what they know is our greatest strength and their greatest weakness. All they have is fear, but love conquers all, and they know it. Step through your fear and think of all who came before us, and walk in love – love of your country, love of your family, love of your brothers in arms, and love of liberty.

I’ll see you on Florissant Rd.
Stewart

[Pericles]

Looked too much like a militia - not that there is anything wrong with that.

[r3volution 3.0]

Looked too much like a militia

Assault clothes

Looks scary, should be illegal

:cool:

But, in all seriousness, here's a crazy fact of the day for you:

Camo clothing actually is illegal in several countries (e.g. Jamaica and Barbados).

[donnay]

I am someone on the outside looking in, and I can see that the officials want this situation to escalate.

[XNavyNuke]

That TPTB demand a license fee to be paid to the King for the privilege of volunteering to stand an arson-prevention watch is yet another illustration of the underlying problem.

XNN

[nobody's_hero]

Oh, I found the license:

http://www.constitutionday.com/images/us_constitution/us_constitution_01_small.gif

Cliven Bundy should show up in Ferguson. That would cause a fuss.

[tod evans]

Cliven Bundy should show up in Ferguson. That would cause a fuss.

:D

[donnay]

Feds Enable Arsonists, Target Oath Keepers Protecting Ferguson Businesses
Feds tell police to stop "domestic terrorists" providing free security

by Mikael Thalen | Infowars.com
http://www.infowars.com/feds-enable-arsonists-target-oath-keepers-protecting-ferguson-businesses/

Police in Ferguson, Missouri, have been pressured by the federal government to stop members of Oath Keepers from guarding local homes and businesses targeted by arsonists.

Oath Keepers, an organization consisting of former and current military, police and first responders, dispatched several members to Ferguson the day after the Grand Jury announcement to provide free security to those in need.

Almost immediately after receiving praise in a local paper for protecting vulnerable residents, Oath Keepers standing watch on top of a locally-owned bakery witnessed a three-man sniper team exiting a silver Suburban on the ground below.

The three men were then seen setting up sniper hides in a nearby building before aiming their rifles directly at the group. Across the street, on top of the fire hall, a separate sniper team began setting up as well.

A Missouri Oath Keeper named Sam Andrews, who spoke briefly with Infowars, immediately called Unified Command to find out why snipers had taken up an aggressive position against them.

According to Andrews, local police, a large portion of which have been supportive of the Oath Keepers, were completely unaware of the feds movements.

Shortly after, a St. Louis County police officer appeared on scene and began telling Andrews that business owners wanted them off their roofs.

After calling the store owners, Andrews and his team quickly confirmed that no such request was ever made. That is when the officer admitted that his chief was being pressured by the feds to keep Oath Keepers from protecting buildings.

Further reports revealed that the feds had told police earlier that day that Oath Keepers were “domestic terrorists,” an unsurprising claim given the federal government’s baseless targeting of the group.

The owner of a Chinese restaurant receiving free protection was reportedly confronted by federal agents also and told to kick the Oath Keepers out.

Failing to remove the businesses’ and homes’ much needed protection, other officers began telling Andrews that his group was in violation of state law. Police claimed the group needed to posses security licenses, despite the fact that the law only applies to paid security, not volunteers.

“We’re volunteers. We read the statute. We had three attorneys read the statute,” Andrews told Infowars.

Andrews began speaking with other volunteers not affiliated with the Oath Keepers, including a group of young Ferguson residents protecting a local gas station, and learned that none had been approached or told to obtain licenses by police.

Stewart Rhodes, founder and president of Oath Keepers, told Infowars that the American people are being presented with a false choice by those running the show in Ferguson.

“They want to create a false paradigm… They are presenting a false choice between lawlessness, looting, arson, assault, murder on the one side, unrestrained, or a hyper-militarized police state on the other,” Rhodes said. “They are failing to do the intelligent thing and protect businesses without trampling on rights.”

Rhodes’ remarks cause even more concern in light of comments made by Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who accused President Obama of ordering a National Guard stand down as Ferguson businesses burned to the ground last week.

Ferguson Mayor James Knowles also stated that his request for National Guard help was turned down by Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat ally of the President.

Andrews and the other volunteers, who even spent Thanksgiving pouring water on rooftops in case arsonists and rioters returned, are now shifting tactics in order to continue protecting life, liberty and property in Ferguson.

[phill4paul]

Feds Enable Arsonists, Target Oath Keepers Protecting Ferguson Businesses
Feds tell police to stop "domestic terrorists" providing free security


I wonder which Fed it was that pushed for it...

http://watchdog.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/HarryReid.jpg

[presence]

That TPTB demand a license fee to be paid to the King for the privilege of volunteering to stand an arson-prevention watch is yet another illustration of the underlying problem.

XNN
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.


1776


Molon Labe

[Lucille]

Exclusive: Called “domestic terrorists” by the feds, Oath Keepers help stop Ferguson from burning
http://benswann.com/exclusive-interview-called-domestic-terrorists-by-the-feds-oath-keepers-help-stop-ferguson-from-burning/


In addition to their work keeping businesses safe, and the people living there, the group has also seen some totally bizarre interactions by the federal government and the state highway patrol.

According to Rhodes, “We had an alarming incident that happened last night with our team spotting what looked like a fed three-man sniper team moving into a nearby house on higher ground, and then pointing their rifles at our team of American combat veterans, while our team was guarding the buildings against looters.”

Rhodes said the team even observed the state highway patrol snipers deploy onto the roof of a nearby fire hall and point rifles at them.

“Our team leader called Unified Command to find out what was going on and then local police responded,” he explained.

He said that the local police were unaware of what the federal government were doing and that there was no coordination. “The local police are on our side and expressed gratitude for us being there, but the Feds are trying to run us out.”

The federal government is trying to badmouth this organization of ex-police and ex-military, even called them a “domestic terrorist” group.

“The local cops told the Feds it was crazy to label us terrorists, when all we are doing is guarding against arsonists,” said Rhodes.

Sam, a team leader in Ferguson, told BenSwann.com’s Joshua Cook in an exclusive interview that they aren’t there to protect property. They are protecting the people living in the buildings from firebombs. They are willing to use lethal force to protect lives allowed by state law.

Rhodes told Cook that law enforcement wants to remove their group from the rooftops by citing an obscure state law regarding paid security firms. Rhodes plans to organize a protest if local officials try to remove them.

Sam told Cook, “Buildings to the north are burning every night, buildings to the south are burning every night. Since we have been here no one has thrown a molotov cocktail through the windows or caught the building on fire.”

Listen to the full interview below:

[Brian4Liberty]

Not only are these Oath Keepers competition for the police, they are exposing police incompetence in actually protecting people and property. That can not be allowed.

[phill4paul]

Do the Fedcoats have sniper weapons trained on these guys?


A group of black Ferguson residents armed with high-powered rifles stood outside a white-owned business in the city during recent riots, protecting it from rioters that looted and burned other businesses.

After a grand jury returned no indictment against Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown, protesters took to the streets and the demonstrations quickly turned into rioting. Several buildings were set ablaze, but a group of heavily armed black men stood outside a Conoco gas station.

One of the residents, a 6-foot-8 man named Derrick Johnson, held an AR-15 assault rifle as he stood in a pickup truck near that store’s entrance. Three other black Ferguson residents joined Johnson in front of the store, each of them armed with pistols.

In a city torn apart by racial tensions, the fact that black residents took up arms to defend a white-owned store made headlines.

The men said they felt indebted to the store’s owner, Doug Merello, who employed them over the course of several years.

The men said Merello always treated them with respect.

“He’s a nice dude, he’s helped us a lot,” said a man identified himself as R.J. The 29-year-old R.J. said the group chased away several groups of teenagers who wanted to loot the store, but also nearly got into a brush with soldiers from the Missouri National Guard, who initially mistook them for looters.

The gas station’s owner said the men definitely saved his store.

“We would have been burned to the ground many times over if it weren’t for them,” said Merello, whose father first bought the store in 1984.

While the black Ferguson residents defended the white-owned store, dozens of other businesses were not as lucky. Officials said more than a dozen businesses received “significant” damage as groups of rioters threw bricks, broke windows, and set fires.


Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1638935/black-residents-armed-with-assault-rifles-stand-guard-outside-white-owned-business-during-ferguson-riots/#0Z0s9CIMQQcYZT3m.99

[69360]

Shouldn't have done the media interviews.

Just quietly do what needed to be done.

[phill4paul]

Shouldn't have done the media interviews.

Just quietly do what needed to be done.

The citizens above or the Oath Keepers?

[donnay]

Shouldn't have done the media interviews.

Just quietly do what needed to be done.

Not really a wise decision to keep quiet, IMHO. To be out in the open, CYA. The officials are itching to point the finger at the patriots who do good deeds. After Oklahoma City Bombing militias went underground because it was said that Timothy McVeigh was part of a militia and the officials and media smeared all militias with this broad brush as Anti-American.

[69360]

The citizens above or the Oath Keepers?


I meant oath keepers, but both really. No good will come from bragging to the press, we all know what side they are on.

The oath keepers and the black guys at the gas station should both have just done what needed to be done and not talked to the press.

[jmdrake]

Well that sucks. Of course if the city isn't burned to the ground the feds can't bring in marshal law.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v_Ko1ayu4w


http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2014/11/29/mysterious-oath-keepers-guard-rooftops-in-downtown-ferguson/

CRITICAL UPDATE:
Calling all Oath Keepers in or near Missouri, we urgently need you to join us in a protest at:
Natalie’s Cakes & More
100 S Florissant Rd
Ferguson, MO 63135

We are protesting an attempt by the St. Louis County PD Chief of Police Belmar to strip Natalie Dubose and her fellow shop owners in the buildings there on S. Florissant Rd (including tenants in apartments) of their protection against arsonists intent on burning them out. The Chief is trying to use a statute meant to regulate PAID security guards to keep our team of unpaid volunteers from protecting these good people.
Read this, and listen to the recorded interview with Ben Swann TV.

http://benswann.com/exclusive-interview-called-domestic-terrorists-by-the-feds-oath-keepers-help-stop-ferguson-from-burning/

And here is what I have to say about this:
So, the Empire Strikes back!
They are trying to shut us down, but we are fighting back. I have been fully briefed by the team on the ground and I will do my best to lay it out for you.

One commenter on the Post-Dispatch article asked:
“It’s okay to protest but not okay to protect against protesters?”

I responded with: Well now, that appears to be the NEW position of the St. Louis County PD Chief Jon Belmar. Even though this strip mall has had multiple, direct arson threats, the Chief is dead set on removing us from the roofs and leaving those buildings totally undefended and exposed to arson.
Funny how, right after we get some positive, accurate, and fair press coverage, Chief Belmar sends his loyal Lt. to tell us that we are now in violation of the state statute regulating Private Security Officers. Funny, just the other day, on Thanksgiving, they told our team they were fine, and good to go, and that there was no problem with them being there, and that they DID NOT violate that statute because our guys are unpaid volunteers, and now they do a 180 and say the statute does apply to us, and we cannot be there without a security license.

And, oddly enough, we are the only volunteer security team in the city this is being done to, so far as we know. The young black men so honorably guarding the Conoco station are not being threatened with arrest. Neither are the friends of the owners of all of the other many businesses in the area that are, out of necessity guarding businesses. And our team has seen unlicensed individuals who desperate shop owners have pulled off the street and hired on the spot to serve as paid security, And to our knowledge, none of them are being harassed. Only us.

Early this morning, round 2 am or so, or so, officers showed up at the buildings our team were guarding and told them that they were unlicensed and could not be there without a license. Our team argued back that they didn’t need a license because they were unpaid volunteers. They argued back and forth for over an hour, with the Lt. also demanding their ID, and our guys telling him that he had no probable cause that they had committed any crime and so they refused to give their ID. Many of the rank and file cops looked clearly uncomfortable with what they were involved in, and some even told our team that they thought it was a bunch of bull, and they wanted us there. In fact, we have an audio recording of an officer telling one of our men “if it were up to me, I’d have your guys on every roof in the city.”

Our guys were fully prepared to go to jail (and frankly, I feel the same way. I’m so tired of Alice-in-Wonderland crap that I’m game for a wrongful arrest lawsuit. I could use the money http://oathkeepers.org/oath/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif ). And I know Sam, the local Team Leader feels the same way, but he also correctly realized that if we forced them to arrest our team, our guys would have been removed completely from the picture and completely unable to provide any assistance to the property owners, possibly all weekend, till they could get before a judge and post bail. And he wanted to have the option of trying to find a way around this obstacle so our guys could be there tonight, so, he made the tactical decision to pack up for the night early in the AM this morning. I have to respect his judgment on that, as the leader on the ground, on the spot. So, I won’t be second guessing it, and he probably did make the right call. I’m just personally done with complying with bullshit, arbitrary, Orwellian nonsense. I’d rather go to jail, but that’s just me.

Our guys did take their sweet time packing up, so the buildings were left unguarded for a shorter time in the dark. And they WILL be back tonight. We are not giving up on these good people and we will do all we can to keep our promise to protect them, one way or another. So, our guys are indeed going back there tonight as protesters, to hold signs and walk the sidewalk in front of the strip mall, calling Chief Belmar an oath breaking ghoul, and a friend of arsonists. Clearly, he wants those buildings unprotected. My sign will say “Chief Belmar “hearts” arsonists.” Or, “the Chief says ‘burn this bitch down!’”

We knew, going in, that they would try to pull some kind of bullshit nonsense or another, and we figured it would be something stupid like this, so we will adapt and overcome. We are working behind the scenes through various channels to put some pressure on the Chief to back off, and we WILL be suing, and I may also file for an injunction or a writ of mandamus, but while we do that, we need your help to try him, and fry him, in the court that really matters – the court of public opinion. So, all Oath Keepers, please come down and help us protest against this injustice, and the absurd spectacle of a Chief of Police, in the middle of a friggin declared emergency, and the worst rioting and arson since the Watts riots back in the 60s, doing all he can to keep us from stopping looters from burning down these buildings, where people live in apartments above the shops. It’s absurd, obscene, and criminal. Imagine the lawsuit if those buildings burn to the ground after the Chief has directly removed their only protection. But we will be there in one form or another. Two can play this game. Let’s see them arrest us for carrying signs outside.

Bottom line is he did not replace our team with his own men. He wants us out (or to be more accurate, the Obama Admin wants us out and he is their tool of oppression they intend to use to do it). And he doesn’t care if the buildings are all burned to the ground.

So, overload the Chief and the Governor with calls, emails, and protest signs, telling them what you think of someone who would remove the most effective example of a secured block of buildings in the city – where we have been completely successful, and abundantly competent, at doing it right, by preventing arson and vandalism while not violating anyone’s rights. That is an example of good, of just, of Constitutional and liberty respecting, sane methodology that “they” just cannot suffer to exist side-by-side with their gross incompetence (at best) and willful, intentional, criminal endangerment and artificial crisis at worst. I consider the Chief to be a terrorist, or at least an accessory and supporter of terrorism since he is aiding and abbetting the arsonists who have ALREADY told our team that they will be back to burn those buildings to the ground.

I am flying there by Monday morning at the latest. If you are an Oath Keeper, I urge you to join me on the sidewalk outside of Natalie’s Cakes and More to support her right, along with the other tenants, to associate with fellow Americans who simply want to help her keep her shop from being burned to the ground by horrible terrorists. And her right to not have to worry about her own Chief of police doing all he can to prevent that protection, with a callous, brutal disregard for her safety and property, or the lives of the tenants who live in the apartments above the shops. What kind of a Chief of police does such a thing? Even Bull Connor, the infamous oppressor of black people during the battle for civil rights, did not conspire to see them burned to death. Let’s fight fire, with fire, and use one of their own favorite tactics against them – ridicule. The Chief makes it easy. He is like a hall monitor telling a kid he needs a hall pass to leave a classroom in the middle of a fire, arguing about it till the burning building collapses around them, all because the devil on his shoulder says so. Burn that bitch down! The devil says. Okeydokey, says the Chief!

Let’s dance with the devil gents. If you can get there, get there ASAP and help us shine light on this cockroach nest of corruption and oath breaking and use it to show the people what it is “they” fear most – people coming together to help protect each other, and the strong standing up to protect the weak. No terrorist, no arsonist, no looter is dangerous to their power, but that simple idea of human decency combined with courage is DEADLY to their power.

Love conquers hate, and the true source of all courage is love – love of the man to the left and the right of you, and love of your fellow Americans that causes you to set aside your concern for yourself, to fight through your fear, and step up, into harms way, for a friend.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 KJV

And that is what they know is our greatest strength and their greatest weakness. All they have is fear, but love conquers all, and they know it. Step through your fear and think of all who came before us, and walk in love – love of your country, love of your family, love of your brothers in arms, and love of liberty.

I’ll see you on Florissant Rd.
Stewart

[nobody's_hero]

Shouldn't have done the media interviews.

Just quietly do what needed to be done.

You definitely have to phrase your words carefully when talking to media; but as others have stated, you can't simply keep your mouth shut and let them control the narrative.

[XNavyNuke]

WaPo takes on Oathkeepers - MSM spin cycle

. The Oath Keepers: The militant militia now roaming the streets of Ferguson (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/12/01/the-oath-keepers-the-militant-militia-now-roaming-the-streets-of-ferguson/?tid=hp_mm)


. Andrews, like many Oath Keepers, reportedly has military training. With a reported but unverified membership of 35,000, Oath Keepers came into being after founder Stewart Rhodes wrote a 2008 manifesto calling for men and women to protect a complacent America besieged by what he described as dictatorial leaders.

Military training? Secret membership? Lions, and tigers, and bears. Oh my!

XNN

[donnay]

Most cops have military training too. :rolleyes:

[Dianne]

Not only are these Oath Keepers competition for the police, they are exposing police incompetence in actually protecting people and property. That can not be allowed.

You've got that right. I'll feel more comfortable when we have 1,000,000 Oathkeepers rather than 35,000.

[Spikender]

. The Oath Keepers: The militant militia now roaming the streets of Ferguson (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/12/01/the-oath-keepers-the-militant-militia-now-roaming-the-streets-of-ferguson/?tid=hp_mm)

LOL "roaming the streets of Ferguson".

It's sad that slack-jawed yokels will honestly eat that up. That headline almost sounds like something the Norsefire regime would use to slander V.

[Lucille]

http://reason.com/blog/2014/12/01/oath-keepers-station-themselves-on-fergu


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:


[...] 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. An Oath Keeper 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.

Operating what without a license?

[Suzanimal]

Operating what without a license?

Protecting and serving. Only well trained officers are allowed to do that, someone could get killed.

[VegasPatriot]

You've got that right. I'll feel more comfortable when we have 1,000,000 Oathkeepers rather than 35,000.

Me too, I hope all here that agree with Oath Keepers has signed up as a member... or at least donate to the cause, we need all the help we can get.

PS: you do not have to be prior military or police to join :)

[VegasPatriot]

Here is an example of a "racist" Oath Keeper:

Meet Natalie – Of Natalie’s Cakes In Ferguson (http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2014/11/30/meet-natalie-of-natalies-cakes-in-ferguson/)


http://oathkeepers.org/oath/wp-content/uploads/Natalies-cakes1.jpgNick Nesbitt and Natalie

As you may well be aware, Oath Keepers in Ferguson, MO, are protecting some stores. One of those stores is Natalie’s Cakes & More. Above is a picture of Natalie, thanking one of the Oath Keepers, Nick Nesbitt. Good job Nick, Sam and everyone involved.
She says on her Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Natalies-Cakes-More/274915157402):
“Thank you to the guys and gals like this wonderful man, protecting me and my bakery.”
We at Oath Keepers are pleased to help you, Natalie, and your neighbors. We thank you for being a good community member. Your Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Natalies-Cakes-More/274915157402) tells us you are a fine example of a neighborhood business. Keep up the good work.
And a big thank you to those Oath Keepers who have risked their lives defending those people and stores. You are real Patriots and good citizens.

[Pericles]

http://reason.com/blog/2014/12/01/oath-keepers-station-themselves-on-fergu


Operating what without a license?

Claim by the popo that OK was operating as a private security company - you can bet that existing security companies would love to have the property owners pay them to not protect their property when it got risky.

[VegasPatriot]

Stewart is flying out there today... and he is pissed off. This is going to be interesting, I wish I could be there with him. I might be getting some raw video to edit and upload later today. I will post here if that happens.

[Natural Citizen]

RT’s Ben Swann goes on patrol with one member of "Oath Keepers" to learn more.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVzEAZniQ_c

[Deborah K]

Fox and Friends interviewed MO. Oathkeeper John Kerriman about this today. Fair interview.

[Lucille]

RT’s Ben Swann goes on patrol with one member of "Oath Keepers" to learn more.

OT: Is Ben an anchor at RT now? I did a search there, and he went from independent journalist, to contributor, to RT's Ben Swann (this Nov.). FOX is pretty stupid to not offer him a sweet contract, but I suppose he's too smart and libertarian. He sure is easy on the eyes...

[Deborah K]

That TPTB demand a license fee to be paid to the King for the privilege of volunteering to stand an arson-prevention watch is yet another illustration of the underlying problem.

XNN

My understanding is that the license is required to do business. And since they're volunteers, it doesn't apply. I wonder how they're getting around that.

[VegasPatriot]

My understanding is that the license is required to do business. And since they're volunteers, it doesn't apply. I wonder how they're getting around that.

This is correct, there is no license for volunteers. My guess is that someone (not saying who :rolleyes:) is going to push things to the point of being arrested... then that someone is going to take some people to court. This can not stand, stopping volunteers from helping people in an emergency is criminal.

[nobody's_hero]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXT0D86BvYw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCY3zKJ23KU

[Natural Citizen]

They have two brand new state of the art facilities there. One is a police department and the other a fire department. Does anyone know if those were protected by police/Guard? Obviously these small businesses (btw, people live in the upstairs of some of these) were not but I do wonder about those two facilities. The reason that I ask is because I had mentioned in another thread that both had been built with money that comes from people being fined through excessive traffic citations and similar detainments there. $3.2 million in 2013 alone was derived from that practice which went toward the funding of these state of the art facilities. In fact, there are more warrants for people in that community than there are people living there. There is a much larger discussion to be had here with regard to that phenomenon but for the moment I'm curious if they had subjective....oh.....policing? Is that the word?

[nobody's_hero]

They have two brand new state of the art facilities there. One is a police department and the other a fire department. Does anyone know if those were protected by police/Guard? Obviously these small businesses (btw, people live in the upstairs of some of these) were not but I do wonder about those two facilities. The reason that I ask is because I had mentioned in another thread that both had been built with money that comes from people being fined through excessive traffic citations and similar detainments there. $3.2 million in 2013 alone was derived from that practice which went toward the funding of these state of the art facilities. In fact, there are more warrants for people in that community than there are people living there. There is a much larger discussion to be had here with regard to that phenomenon but for the moment I'm curious if they had subjective....oh.....policing? Is that the word?

When police equip themselves with riot shields, they aren't there to shield the common citizen. They're there to protect the monuments of the state. So that when all of this passes over, they don't give a damn if Natalie's Cake Shop gets to carry on business as if nothing happened, they just want to ensure that the state is able to carry on business as if nothing happened.

[VegasPatriot]

Ben Swann video interview with Oath Keeper Sam Andrews:

Oathkeepers in Ferguson, MO have successfully protected six businesses from burning. So why did local police surround them and demand they leave the roof of one of those buildings or be arrested?

http://youtu.be/VoVa8J3FKBI

[enhanced_deficit]

too much freedom.

https://assets2.vice.com/images/articles/crops/2014/12/01/leader-of-oath-keepers-says-the-group-is-in-ferguson-to-protect-the-weak-1201-1417477871-crop_mobile.jpg

[donnay]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eze7r6E_uoE