A heavily armed group of white civilians were spotted patrolling Ferguson, Missouri streets over the last few days as protests commemoration of the one-year anniversary of black teenager Michel Brown's death began to turn violent.
The mysterious group, identifying themselves as members of "Oath Keepers," rested their hand on assault rifles, maintaining ground-eye vigilance of mostly peaceful crowds. Similar protests turned chaotic Sunday and Monday as multiple shootings - including a close call of a man in a white T-shirt sprinting towards police waving what appeared to be a handgun - and hundreds of arrests prompted St. Louis County to declare a state of emergency.
The suspect, later identified as 18-year-old Tyrone Harris, is hospitalized in critical condition and faces a slew of charges should he survive.
Local police didn't report any arrest for Tuesday night but the right-wing vigilantes still made their presence felt. "We're just keeping an eye on activities down here," their leader, John, said in speaking with MSNBC. "We're just keeping an eye on them, making sure they stay safe."
According to the news network, the Oath Keepers' arrival was met with anger and confusion. Some were concerned about the four Caucasians' aura of authority in the predominately black neighborhood; one which has seen racial tension build since former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson was cleared of wrongdoing in Brown's death.
Others questioned whether second amendment rights the Oath Keepers visibly touted would be as accepted if a black man did the same.
"If they were going to shoot someone, it would have been really bad because people would have thought it was the National Guard coming in, and not the hillbilly militia," protestor John Knowles said. "If an African-American were to show up with legal open-carry weapon, he would be arrested immediately."
Oath Keepers describe themselves as part of a non-partisan association composed of former military and policemen who staunchly defend the U.S. Constitution. Their website goes on to say that Oath Keepers "will not obey unconstitutional orders, such as orders to disarm the American people, to conduct warrantless searches, or to detain Americans as 'enemy combatants."
Its roots go back to 2009 when Yale law school graduate Stewart Rhodes - who claims to be Mexican-American - founded the patriot group in an effort to call attention to every American's right to bear arms. A 2010 Mother Jones article details how conservatives and pro-gun, anti-government establishments have come to embrace Rhodes' teachings, though he adamantly denies advocating violence of an overthrow of the government.
"You need to be alert and aware to the reality of how close we are to having our constitutional republic destroyed," Rhodes said. "Every dictatorship in history of mankind, whether it is fascist, communist, or whatever, has always set aside normal procedures of due process under times of emergency...We can't let that happen here. We need to wake up!"
While the Southern Poverty Law Center does not consider them a hate group, Oath Keepers in Ferguson still raise concerns over their intimidating weaponry and Caucasian makeup. For their part, they say there are African-Americans among their 35,000 members.
Protesters during last summer's Ferguson riots confronted members about their military fatigues, which many people though were affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. Police intervened and asked that they stay off building rooftops citing that they didn't have a license to operate.
Missouri Oath Keeper Larry Kirk said the group's goal isn't to create violence or enliven protestors. Their objective is to ensure government is playing their part in keeping the peace.
"To the far right, the people think we're trying to overthrow the government. On the far left, people think that we're some Klan organization or white supremacist group, and they don't really see what our true message is," Kirk told MSNBC. "We take an oath to the Constitution."