Oath Keepers Plan to 'Do What Police Will Not Do' and Protect Trump Supporters From 'Antifa'
On 10/12/19 at 8:51 AM EDT
The far-right Oath Keepers group is set "do what police will not do" and be out in force for President Donald Trump's rally in Dallas next week, having made a similar move at the Trump rally in Minneapolis.
The group has said it will be providing escorts to and from the rally for Trump supporters who they fear may come under attack from "Antifa or another radical leftists."
Speaking to The Dallas Morning News, one of the group's leaders Stewart Rhodes explained: "We're running escorts to and from the rally.
"Our biggest focus is when [rally attendees] leave at night. That's when they're most in danger of being attacked."
The group, whose motto is "not on my watch," state that it "pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to 'defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.'"
However, the Southern Poverty Law Center defines the organisation as an extremist group, although Rhodes told the Morning News he viewed that description as "slander" and claimed instead that the Oath Keepers were the "right-wing version of the ACLU."
Rhodes also suggested that some of the people who volunteer with the group and hold a license to carry weapons may do so.
On the group's webpage, there have been several callouts for volunteers to attend Trump rallies to protect the president's supporters.
"We are providing escorts to and from the rally. Please support our vetted volunteers by donating to help us cover their expenses. We will also be at the Trump rally in Dallas, Texas next week," one of the alerts, sent before the president's recent rally in Minneapolis and highlighting the group's planned presence in Dallas.
"We are there to do what the police will not do which is to provide escorts back to vehicles for Trump supporters. That is when Antifa or another radical leftists like to attack.," it added.
Putting the call out for volunteers for the previous Minneapolis rally, the group said it expected "trouble" from the same radical leftists who had assaulted Trump supporters in 2016.
"The violent communists of Antifa have issued a national call to action for Antifa and other radical, America hating leftists to converge on the upcoming Trump rally in Minneapolis on Oct 10 to "disrupt" the Trump rally with an Antifa black block "America is Canceled" protest against capitalism," the group said on its website.
