Our Operation Protect the Protectors has been a phenomenal success nationwide, with many Oath Keepers in every state answering the call, and we have seen other groups and individuals also step up, in true American spirit, to do likewise. The response from the recruiters, from the local police, and the local communities has been overwhelmingly positive. They are grateful and touched by our willingness to take a stand in defense of our current serving military who are not being allowed to arm up in self defense even after the horrific terrorist attack in Chattanooga, TN. By doing so, we are making long overdue connections in our local community that will pay important dividends as we work hard to get our communities better prepared for whatever is to come.
However, there has been a bit of confusion since the DOD memo(s) have come out directing the recruiters to call the local police when armed citizens show up to stand guard, and also some confusion because Army and Marine public affairs officers have issued statements “requesting” that citizens not post guard at recruiting centers and reserve centers. Some have taken that to mean we can no longer guard recruiters, or that the recruiters no longer want us there. Both beliefs are in error.
We WILL continue to guard recruiting and reserve centers.
“But what about the DOD memo?", you may ask. Here are my thoughts on that:
We don’t stop protecting the protectors just because sell-outs in the Pentagon are acting as puppets for Obama and trying to order recruiters to call the cops and report people guarding them or because DOD mouthpieces publish a statement asking us to stand down. If we were to stand down and stop protecting the recruiters, that would just put them back where they were: unarmed and defenseless. And it would put us in the position of doing exactly what our enemies want us to do. They want us to stop guarding the recruiters because it makes Obama and his minions look bad. We should not do what our enemies want. We should do what they DON’T want. And what they don’t want is for us to continue to lead the way by showing the American people what they should do in the face of terrorism – they should step up and provide security to their local community.
And when we guard a local recruiting office, we are providing real protection for those recruiters -and our enemies don’t want them protected. Radical anti-gunners love to see unarmed, defenseless victim zones, where there will be more dead victims of “gun violence” when the inevitable attack comes. They want more dead recruiters to help push restrictions on guns. They can’t wait to dance in the blood of the victims and use it to push their agenda.
Most importantly, the local recruiters across the country love us and know the directive from the brass in DC is bull. And what we have heard from actual recruiters is “hey, I can’t ask for your help but you are free to do as you think best”, WINK... -and they let us know they are NOT calling the cops. They just roll their eyes and laugh at that. So why bend to Obama’s will? We won’t.
And this is not putting the recruiters in a position of having to buck their chain of command. All they have to do is what they are already doing – just go about their day. The DOD did not direct the recruiters to “turn us away” because they can’t do that. The recruiters cannot tell us to leave a public sidewalk or parking lot (and wouldn’t even if they could – they LOVE us being there) and that is why the DOD did not order them to tell us to go away. Nor did the DOD try to directly tell us to go away either. They cannot order us veterans around. All they can do is “ask” us to stop protecting the recruiters – a request we are declining to grant. They did tell the recruiters to notify the police and to fill out a threat report, but that is it. And the recruiters we have talked to are ignoring that, on their own.
Until and unless we have rank and file local recruiters telling you THEY personally don’t want you there, we need to be there. So long as we have volunteers willing to post guard we need to be there.
We are not under UCMJ and thankfully not under Obama’s thumb or the thumb of politically poisoned sell-out generals – the perfumed princes in the Pentagon. As Obama purges the officer ranks we will see more crap like this. There will be an increasing divide between the patriotic Rank and File and and the brass weenies who have sold their soul. Just a fact. If the brass doesn’t like it, THEY need to fix that, not us. It is not our job to smooth over that friction between the brass and the rank and file.
Guarding the recruiters, especially after Obama and his puppets in DOD try to stop us, is the very best time to be doing this. This is THE BEST Outreach we can ever do. We will be there till the recruiters tell us to leave and they really don’t want us there, or until we run out of volunteers.
Stewart Rhodes
Founder and National President of Oath Keepers
