dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

A group of far-right protesters who planned to demonstrate outside Rep. Maxine Waters’ district office in South Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon failed to show up, but dozens of counterprotesters did.

The Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government group that purports to have many veterans as members, said they would protest outside the Los Angeles Democrat’s office on Thursday afternoon.

Waters, who is one of President Trump’s most outspoken critics, angered the group and others by calling on the public to “push back” on administration officials they spot in public.

Calling Waters a “protest terrorist inciter,” the Oath Keepers, publicized the planned gathering on Twitter and said they intended to “stand against terrorism, stand for freedom of speech and association, in support of ICE/Border Patrol as they enforce constitutional immigration laws.”

But at 1 p.m., police at the protest site said authorities had been in contact with the group, and it had decided not to come in order to ensure peace.

He said the Captain had been in communication with the group. “The concern was we wanted to make sure this remains peaceful.”

Police are now leaving, they just announced pic.twitter.com/Vgf4s4k0aO

— Benjamin Oreskes🦅 (@boreskes) July 19, 2018

For her part, Waters urged counterprotesters to stay away. She noted that the organization, which at various points over the last decade has formed militias across the country, also has a history of attempting to provoke violence.

“The Oath Keepers would like nothing more than to inflame racial tensions and create an explosive conflict in our community,” Waters said in a statement.

That didn’t stop around 50 counterprotesters from arriving outside her office by 12:40 p.m., some from the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local No. 36.

”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, counter-protesters pulled a small American flag off of a pickup truck, doused it in lighter fluid and set it ablaze. The crowd then began chanting, cursing the government and saying, “America was never great.”

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-maxine-waters-protest-20180719-story.html