A group of black Ferguson residents armed with AR-15s and other weapons stood guard around a Conoco station, owned by a white man, and saved it from being burned after looters began wreaking havoc on November 24.

Because of the armed citizens, the Conoco was not only spared, but the owner did not even have to board up the station’s windows.

According to Reuters, one of the men guarding the station was 37-year-old “Derrick Jordan–‘Stretch,’ as his friends call him.” He arrived in front of the Conoco, pulled out an AR-15, and stood guard at the store’s entrance. He was joined by three other black residents on November 25–all of whom had “pistols tucked into their waistbands” and all of whom took up positions around the Conoco.

Other armed black men joined Jordan and the others from time to time to help keep guard. They protected not only the building, but also citizens who pulled up to get gas.

Store owner Doug Merello said, “We would have been burned to the ground many times over if it weren’t for them.”

Jordan and the others said they did not get paid to stand guard. Rather, they did it because Merello had “employed many of them over the years and treats them with respect.”

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