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PARAMILITARY vigilantes took to the streets of the US city of Ferguson on Tuesday as protests against police violence began to wind down.
Right-wing libertarian militia the Oath Keepers patrolled the streets of the racially divided city for a second night in a row, even as police outnumbered peaceful protesters.
The group, which purports to protect the US constitution, was first seen in the small hours of Tuesday on West Florissant Avenue, the centre of protests on the anniversary of the police shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.
St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar criticised the arrival of the militia, whose members openly carried assault rifles and handguns, as “both unnecessary and inflammatory.”
But Missouri Oath Keeper leader John Karriman said that police had approved their presence.
“We checked in with law enforcement when we got here, we told them what we were doing and who we were with,” said Mr Karriman.
“We walked up and they came over and we shook hands and smiled. We said we’re here to protect Info Wars,” referring to far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s website.
“They nodded and said: ‘Good on ya, just, if you would, please don’t walk through us’.”
The Oath Keepers returned on Tuesday night, apparently without their rifles, and vowed to maintain their presence until the end of the week.
The protests in the mainly black suburb of St Louis around the anniversary of Mr Brown’s death have been peaceful apart from an outbreak of looting and gunshot on Sunday that ended with the shooting of Tyrone Harris, another black teenager.
Police released a blurry 13-second clip of CCTV footage on Tuesday apparently showing Mr Harris running with a pistol in his hand, minutes before he allegedly shot at a police van.
- Police in Texas have sacked the trainee officer who shot unarmed black university student Christian Taylor last week.
Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson said that officer Brad Miller had made mistakes when he shot Mr Taylor four times after his field training officer had already used his Taser on the student.
