Anti-government open-carry group the Oath Keepers announced that they will stand as an armed guard for Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis. The group said they will protect Davis should she get jailed again for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Oath Keepers founder, Stewart Rhodes, announced on the group’s official website the he’d contacted Davis’ legal defense team at the Liberty Counsel to offer protective services. Rhodes attested that it had nothing to do with gay marriage, but rather a tyrannical government imposing its will on American citizens.
According to Rhodes’ statement:
We believe Federal District Court Judge David Bunning grossly overstepped his bounds and violated Mrs. Davis’ due process rights, and, in particular, her right to a jury trial. This judge has assumed unto himself not just the powers of all three branches of government, but has also taken on the powers of judge, jury, and “executioner.”
What matters to us is not whether you agree with her position on gay marriage or her decision to not issue marriage licenses. What matters is that the judge is violating the Constitution in his anger and desire to punish her for going against his will.
Rhodes believes that the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office should have prevented Davis’ detainment and stated that if the sheriff’s office isn’t going to “do their job” to protect Davis, they will. “If the sheriff, who should be interceding, is not going to do his job and the governor is not going to do the governor’s job of interceding, then we’ll do it,” said Rhodes.
Former Kentucky Sheriff Denny Peyman, of Jackson County, has spoken with Rhodes and with the Oath Keepers. Peyman said he should meet with the Rowan County sheriff to “educate him” on his supposed duty to protect Davis.
Rhodes compared Davis’ detainment to the sort of injustice that England thrust upon the early American settlers.
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