James Clark

Task and Purpose

A group of military veterans have bolstered the ranks of protesters in Portland, Oregon by creating a “Wall of Vets.”

The demonstrators told New York Times’ Mike Baker that they were there to ensure federal law enforcement officers didn’t infringe on the rights of other protesters.

“Our veterans are here specifically to support the rights of the protesters to protest,” Duston Obermeyer, a Marine Corps veteran, said in one of more than a dozen videos that Baker posted to Twitter on Saturday.

Protesters in Portland previously banded together to create a Wall of Moms and a Wall of Dads, respectively, to stand between federal law enforcement agents and fellow demonstrators.

The Wall of Vets, which formed near the city’s federal courthouse, comes just a week after a video showing Navy veteran Christopher James David went viral.

In the video, David can be seen casually shrugging off baton blows and pepper spray before walking away and flipping federal agents off.

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