The Oath Keepers planned a protest outside of the congressional office of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) on Monday. She complained and told her supporters not to engage with them.
The group did not show up, but her supporters did. They burned an American flag and chanted “black power” in their counter protest.
Police officers went to the scene in order to ensure security, but those in contact with Oath Keepers said the group “decided not to come in order to ensure peace.”
That did not stop her supporters. From The Los Angeles Times:
“We’re here to defend our community and the members of our union against the hostile threat of this violent organization that’s coming into our neighborhood with an agenda that is opposed to our interests,” said union organizer Cliff Smith. He said he and his group would not be “baited into confrontations.”A number of protesters remained near the intersection of 102nd Street and Broadway long after police announced the Oath Keepers were no-shows. For much of this time, the mood remained festive, although it was punctuated with moments of tension.At one point, counterprotesters pulled a small American flag off of a pickup, doused it in lighter fluid and set it ablaze. The crowd then began chanting, cursing the government and saying, “America was never great.”
Other people screamed “Black power” and held “Resist!” signs.
Pastor Cue Jnmarie attended the protest. He told the LA Times he wouldn’t have chosen to burn the flag, “but people should be able to choose how they express themselves.”
As much as I hate burning flags I also believe in free speech and if you want to burn the flag then go ahead. I’ll know not to associate with you.
Jnmarie stepped in and helped break up “scuffles between counterprotesters and those suspected of supporting Trump.” He said he knew the Oath Keepers wanted “to intimidate and to bully” others. Of course he blamed Trump and claimed the president “clearly called for violence during his campaign.”
Jnmarie seems to forget that only last month “Auntie Maxine,” the nickname given to her by her constituents, encouraged her supporters that if you see anyone in Trump’s administration out in public “you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
Waters also went on MSNBC and went more in depth about her message:
I have no sympathy for these people that are in this administration who know it’s wrong for what they’re doing on so many fronts. They tend to not want to confront this president or even leave, but they know what they’re doing is wrong. I want to tell you, these members of his cabinet who remain and try to defend him, they won’t be able to go to a restaurant, they won’t be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store. The people are going to turn on them.They’re going to protest. They’re absolutely going to harass them until they decide that they’re going to tell the president, ‘No, I can’t hang with you.’ This is wrong. This is unconscionable. We can’t keep doing this to children.
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