Groups such as Disrupt J20 have promised to disrupt the inauguration in order to delegitimize Donald Trump’s presidency. Opposing such efforts will be groups like Bikers for Trump and the Oathkeepers, who have promised to help maintain security at the event in the event they are needed. The founder of Oathkeepers, Stewart Rhodes writes that the group will “help defend free speech from violent thugs at inauguration.”
We DO NOT expect the radical leftists to be successful in their rather ambitious and absurd plans to disrupt or even stop the Inauguration. We expect them to fail. But we are very concerned about the safety of the patriotic good people who will be there to enjoy the Inauguration, whom the leftists are threatening to assault and attack with violence. Those threats are now so well documented, and of such a clear a present danger, that we are honor bound to act in defense of the peaceable attendees. That is, after-all, what we do. It’s in our blood, in our training, and in our very purpose in life, to be the protectors.
Therefore, we call on those of you who are able-bodied and know how to handle yourselves well, and especially military and police veterans with applicable training and experience, who can remain calm under pressure, to come to Washington DC during the Inauguration and surrounding events (any days you can from Jan 18-20) to protect peaceable American patriots who are now being threatened with assault and other acts of violence by radical leftist groups, as well as to act as additional eyes and ears to “back the blue” and help keep watch on the violent leftists (and to also watch for jihadist terrorists) and spot and report to law enforcement.
This operation needs to be carried out in a low-key and even covert manner, as we did with our Operation Sabot on election day, since that keeps the bad-guys guessing where you are, how many of you are out there, wondering if they are under direct observation, and wondering if they will be caught and interdicted if they attempt to assault a vulnerable potential victim they have targeted.
Many of our members were already planning on attending the Inauguration, but recent events have compelled us to call on more of you to go to DC to help protect the attendees, if you are able and qualified to do so, if you are within reasonable travel distance from Washington DC, and if you feel called to this mission. This is strictly voluntary, for those who are willing. Those who choose to stay home to secure their local areas instead, against the very real possibility of terrorist attack by ISIS (which has promised to make January 20 “Bloody Friday” across the United States) or against the possibility of nation-wide civil unrest in the event things go badly in DC, have our respect. Let your conscience and your best judgment of where you are needed be your guide. But please also respect the choice of those who, like us, feel compelled by a sense of duty to go to DC. This is rightly an individual decision for each to make, like any volunteer mission we have undertaken, be it Bundy Ranch, Ferguson, Missouri, or any of the many others.
We know other patriotic groups, such as Bikers for Trump, and some Three Percenter groups, will also be in attendance in strong numbers in DC, and we will do our best to coordinate with them, but the main focus of this effort will be to have widely dispersed, low-key patriot buddy teams, four-man, and eight-man teams working to spot possible violent criminal activity and to interdict bad guys and protect victims of assault until the police can come to their aid. If you need to reach us, please email us at: defendj20@oathkeepers.org
Read more here.
