The Oath Keepers have now left their rooftop posts but will remain in Ferguson to protest

Police struggled to contain violence following grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson

Oath Keepers have since been threatened with arrest for operating without a licence

The group offered protection for private businesses against looters and arsonists


A 'mysterious' militia group that appeared on rooftop patrols in Ferguson pledging to protect private property has been ordered to stand down.

Oath Keepers, a vigilante organization consisting of former and current military, police and firefighters, abandoned their posts on Saturday night after being threatened with arrest.

Equipped with militia-style clothing and firearms, the Oath Keepers had been offering free security for businesses at risk of looting and arson in Ferguson.

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John Karriman, a volunteer from vigilante organization Oath Keepers, stands guard on the rooftop of a business in Ferguson, Missouri

Nick Nesbitt watches from a snowy rooftop near the Ferguson Police Department. He and a group of volunteers watch and protect local businesses from getting vandalized as protesters gather in the neighborhood

They took up positions on rooftops after the St Louis suburb erupted in an orgy of violence and destruction following the grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot dead 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Police questioned group members early last week and initially allowed them to stay.

But as tensions remained high in Ferguson over the weekend, St. Louis County police officers ordered the Oath Keepers to leave the rooftops, threatening them with arrest for operating without a licence.

'When we hear information that someone, or a group, is providing security without a license, our department has to investigate the issue,' police spokesman, Shawn McGuire, told the New York Times in an email.

The group took up positions on rooftops after the St Louis suburb erupted in an orgy of violence and destruction following the grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot dead 18-year-old Michael Brown

Nick Nesbitt watches from a snowy rooftop near the Ferguson Police Department. The Oath Keepers focused their efforts on a strip of South Florissant Road that includes a Chinese restaurant, dentist office, bakery and number of apartments

Since being shut down, the group have now turned their efforts to conducting their own protests.

More than a dozen local businesses were razed to the ground last Monday, while many more were looted in a night of arson, random gunfire and pitched battles, with heavily armed riot police unable to cope with the scale of the mayhem.

By Tuesday, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon had sent more than 2,200 National Guard members to the Ferguson area to support local law enforcement.

The Oath Keepers focused their efforts on a strip of South Florissant Road that includes a Chinese restaurant, dentist office, bakery and number of apartments.

St. Louis County police officers have ordered Oath Keepers to leave the rooftops, threatening them with arrest for operating without a licence

Victor Clark, a dentist at Ferguson Dental on South Florissant Road, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was happy to have the Oath Keepers' free assistance.

On Monday, rioters shattered the business' front door and window, and stole dental needles and anesthetic.

Mr Clark said that when the Oath Keepers turned up they gave them their keys. 'We didn't know that much about them, but we got a feeling of trust,' he told the local paper. 'You have to do something to protect our building.'

Equipped with militia-style clothing and firearms, the Oath Keepers offered free security for businesses at risk of looting and arson in Ferguson

Nick Nesbitt patrols a snowy rooftop. Oath Keepers leader Sam Andrews declined to say how many people were assisting in the effort, saying only that the number was 'more than five, less than 500'

'When they're here, there's definitely a weight lifted off of our shoulders,' Davis Vo, whose family owns New Chinese Gourmet on the street, told the New York Times. 'I'd be lying if I said otherwise.'

Oath Keepers leader Sam Andrews declined to say how many people were assisting in the effort, saying only that the number was 'more than five, less than 500'.

'It's really a broad group of citizens, and I'm sure their motivations are all different,' Mr Andrews told the newspaper. 'In many of them, there's probably a sense of patriotism.

'But I think in most of them, there's probably something that they probably don't even recognize: that we have a moral obligation to protect the weakest among us.'

John Karriman patrols the rooftop of a business. The Oath Keepers have now left their rooftop posts but will remain in Ferguson to protest