Some Armed Activists Retreat From Tennessee Military Recruiting Centers

Some armed activists in Tennessee are heeding the military’s request that they leave store-front recruiting centers. A dozen or more locations have been patrolled by citizen security guards since the shootings in Chattanooga.
Army veteran Lawrence Kinzie spent several days outside a recruiting office in Columbia. He’s the Tennessee vice president of a national group called Oath Keepers. He says they consider themselves “professionals” who don’t want to do any harm.

“We went ahead and stepped down because we don’t want to become part of the problem,” he said.

Kinzie says it wasn’t just the Pentagon’s directive on Friday. Recruiters, themselves, told the armed men they should leave.

But others volunteers remain committed. Brandon Curran of Murfreesboro has spent part of every day in the last week standing outside a recruiting office with a military-style rifle. He says he means no disrespect.

“We feel it’s an obligation as American citizens to unfortunately ignore what DoD and the Pentagon has said and protect our men and women in uniform who can’t protect themselves,” he said.

Curran says he and others won’t leave until recruiters are allowed to arm themselves on the job. While service members have been told not to engage with the self-appointed sentinels, Curran says he gets the sense they appreciate the protection.