Politics

Oath Keepers Said They’d Protest Maxine Waters’ Office. When They Didn’t Show, Counterprotesters Burned The Flag Anyway

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Evie Fordham Politics and Health Care Reporter
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Far-right group the Oath Keepers backed out of a protest they had planned outside of California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters’ office in Los Angeles Thursday, but counterprotesters still showed up and burned an American flag.

Around 50 demonstrators who identified themselves as activists, union workers and church leaders rallied outside Waters’ office at noon, reported the Los Angles Times. They were there to show support for Waters, chanting, “Black power” and reportedly chanting, “F**k the government, America was never great,” according to CBS News.

When a pickup truck drove by the counterprotesters, they took an American flag off of a pole in the bed of the truck. They then stepped on the flag and lit it on fire.

“This is not the American flag, this is their flag,” said a counterprotester, reported CBS News.

No one was injured or arrested at the counterprotest, reported Fox News.

It is unknown whether any of the people in the pickup with the American flag were connected to the Oath Keepers. The group describes itself on its website as a “non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police, and first responders, who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to ‘defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.'”

The Oath Keepers had issued a “call to action” via Twitter to “protest terrorist inciter Maxine Waters” on Tuesday. (RELATED: Maxine Waters: Trump Doesn’t Know How To Spell Melania’s Name)

She responded on Twitter Wednesday, saying that the Oath Keepers wanted to “create an explosive conflict in our community.”

Waters had told a group at a rally on June 23 that God would be on their side if they harassed people connected to President Donald Trump’s administration.

“If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,” Waters said. “And you push back on them. Tell them they’re not welcome any more, anywhere!”

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