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NY Times, Nov. 30 2014
On Rooftops of Ferguson, Volunteers — With Guns
By MANNY FERNANDEZ and ALAN BLINDER
FERGUSON, Mo. — When Sam Andrews awoke on Tuesday morning, he found his
wife watching a television interview with a woman whose bakery had been
vandalized during the violent unrest here on Monday.
“She said, ‘You’ve got to go help her,’ ” Mr. Andrews said in an
interview on Saturday morning.
And so Mr. Andrews, a former Defense Department contractor who is now a
weapons engineer in the St. Louis area, set to work. Under the auspices
of a national group called the Oath Keepers, Mr. Andrews accelerated
plans to recruit and organize private security details for businesses in
Ferguson, which are receiving the services for free. The volunteers, who
are sometimes described as a citizen militia — but do not describe
themselves that way — have taken up armed positions on rooftops here on
recent nights.
“It’s really a broad group of citizens, and I’m sure their motivations
are all different,” said Mr. Andrews, who is in his 50s. “In many of
them, there’s probably a sense of patriotism. But I think in most of
them, there’s probably something that they probably don’t even
recognize: that we have a moral obligation to protect the weakest among
us. When we see these violent people, these arsonists and anarchists,
attacking, it just pokes at you in a deep place.”
Mr. Andrews declined to say how many people were assisting in the
effort, saying only the number was “more than five, less than 500.” He
estimated that men make up about 80 percent of the volunteers. About 80
percent are also white, and 10 percent are black.
But on Saturday, with the county police said to be threatening the Oath
Keepers with arrest, the volunteers decided to abandon their posts and
instead protest against the authorities. Late in the day on Saturday, a
protest was being planned for that night.
That some business owners accepted aid from a group regarded by some as
an antigovernment militia is a testament to the rawness of emotions here
following a riot on Monday night, after a grand jury declined to indict
a white police officer, Darren Wilson, who shot dead Michael Brown, an
unarmed black teenager, on Aug. 9.
Since then, the riot police have tussled on the streets with protesters.
Convoys of National Guard Humvees patrol the streets, and law
enforcement officials have confiscated homemade firebombs, firecrackers
and guns from arrested protesters. Most recently, the Oath Keepers,
equipped with militia-style gear and often clad in camouflage, have
joined the volatile mix.
Their presence is a symbol of the ongoing criticism of Gov. Jay Nixon’s
handling of security before, during and after the grand jury’s decision
became public. In the days before the announcement, Mr. Nixon declared a
state of emergency and sent the Guard to Ferguson. Yet, in the initial
hours following word of the grand jury’s decision, the Guard played only
a limited role. Troops protected a police command post and other
facilities, but they were not posted along the main commercial corridors
where property destruction was rampant.
Some here say that the state’s mixed messages may have been a
consequence of Mr. Nixon trying to perfect a challenging balance after
the government response to the initial unrest in August was criticized
as too militarized.
Leaders of the multiagency Unified Command have defended their approach,
saying there was no way to know precisely what public reaction to the
decision would be.
“I don’t think anybody thought it was going to be this magnitude,” said
Capt. Ronald S. Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
But such arguments have not kept local officials and businesses from
frequently complaining that the National Guard’s deployment strategy was
inadequate, and that its inaction allowed businesses to burn while still
others were looted.
“The governor said himself, I think on TV, that the businesses will be
protected by the National Guard during this situation,” said Reggie
Jones, the mayor of Dellwood, a neighboring city where many businesses
were damaged in Monday’s unrest. “Unfortunately, that did not happen
until Tuesday. But we were expecting it to happen on Monday.”
After the destruction that night, Mr. Nixon ordered hundreds more
soldiers to Ferguson, saying, “We must do better, and we will.”
But for people like Mr. Andrews, the governor’s vow was of little
solace. So while the New Chinese Gourmet restaurant at the end of a
block of South Florissant Road appears to have little in the way of
defense beyond the painted wooden boards that cover its windows, armed
men and women on recent nights have roamed the rooftop it shares with a
dental practice and a law office.
“When they’re here, there’s definitely a weight lifted off of our
shoulders,” said Davis Vo, whose family owns New Chinese Gourmet. “I’d
be lying if I said otherwise.”
On its website, Oath Keepers released a recruiting message to “all
skilled veterans and patriots” and asked them to “grab your gear and
start rolling toward Ferguson.” The post listed nine types of people the
group was seeking, including paramedics, police officers, “private drone
operators” and videographers who could “film any encounters with looters.”
Mr. Andrews said he researched the qualifications of each volunteer, as
well as whether any might have racially based motivations to participate.
“I don’t want any racists in my group,” he said. “I don’t want any
people who want to visit violence on any group. I only want
professionals with real credentials that can be verified and have
experience in dealing with violence.”
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