What – An Oath Keepers muster. Oath Keepers and friends will muster and march to the home of Mrs. Vanessa Guerena for a ceremony of memoriam for her late husband Jose Guerena, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq war.
When – 8:00 a.m. sharp Monday morning Memorial Day, May 30, 2011
Where - The intersection of West Valencia Road and South Wade Road. Take I-10 to I-19 South and exit West Valencia Road to South Wade Road, Tucson, Arizona. See below.
Who - Oath Keepers is calling for all veterans, National Guardsmen, active duty military, current-serving peace officers, firefighters, retired public servants, gun owners, veterans organizations, civic organizations, church groups, student groups, and other patriotic Americans.
Why – To stand with Oath Keepers at a memorial service for Jose Guerena, a war veteran who was killed by law-enforcement gunfire in his home on May 05, 2011.
Press contact – Arizona Oath Keepers state chapter President Ray Epps: 480-586-5145.
The public is cordially invited to march and stand with Oath Keepers for this ceremony.
What we need from Tucson: Oath Keepers is seeking locally a volunteer drummer for this march, and a bugler for the ceremony. Oath Keepers would love to have a color guard from Tucson or Arizona. If anyone wishes to volunteer to drum for this march, or play taps on the bugle at the ceremony, please send us your message by going here –
http://oathkeepers.org/oath/contact/ or call our Arizona Oath Keepers chapter President Ray Epps at 480-586-5145.
Oath Keepers will muster at 8:00 a.m. on the morning of Memorial Day, May 30, 2011, and will march at 8:30 a.m. to the home of Vanessa Guerena, the widow of Jose Guerena. Our procession will not permit late-comers to join after we begin the march, so make sure to be on time. Come early. Our march will begin at our rally point which is less than one mile from the Guerena home.
Our muster will be at the intersection of West Valencia Road and South Wade Road. Out of town marchers can find West Valencia Road by exiting Interstate I-19 just south of Interstate I-10 at the exit for West Valencia Road.
Upon arrival at the intersection of West Valencia Road and South Wade Road, please park on the South side of Valencia. We would like to ask all drivers to park by backing in, instead of parallel parking, so as to reduce the length of parked cars. Thank you for remembering to do that.
Oath Keepers will not permit the carrying or displaying of signs during our march and memorial service.
Flags may be carried and displayed. Those who have Oath Keepers gear are invited to wear Oath Keeper shirts and hats, patches and pins. We are planning a somber and reverent march, respectful of the departed young former Marine and war veteran, with sincere sympathy for his wife and children. There shall be another time and place for political expression.
Oath Keepers will conduct a brief ceremony on the lawn outside Mrs. Guerena’s house and extend our sympathies to Mrs. Guerena, and then march back to our muster area.
Other activities will be announced when we return to our muster area. There each marcher will be given hand-out fliers with our afternoon schedule, which Oath Keepers will distribute to all who march with us.
Note - It is important that all who wish to participate with Oath Keepers on Memorial Day be present at 8:00 a.m. sharp, for that is how everyone will receive our announcements regarding the afternoon’s activities.
There will be afternoon speakers, including Stewart Rhodes, founder and President of Oath Keepers, and Sheriff Richard Mack, former Sheriff from Arizona, among others. A number of Oath Keepers officers will be arriving from out of State.
The afternoon events will carry a political nature as Oath Keepers officially denounces the practice of deploying militarized SWAT teams to serve warrants on military veterans and gun owners who, like Jose Guerena, have no prior criminal record. Oath Keepers salutes our finest, our peace officers and our soldiers, with sincere gratitude for their service, but Oath Keepers stands against the Policy of using militarized SWAT units for routine law enforcement procedures.
We must take a stand against the use of SWAT or other militarized units against gun owners and veterans who have no violent crime history, and that stand needs to be a firm one. Come make a stand with us. Veterans, here is a place to stand for a righteous cause – bring your veteran groups and friends.
Therefore, Oath Keepers is going to rally to honor this young Marine’s military service in war in the morning hours, and then move into other locations to express our opposition to the destruction of our liberty, and our opposition to this policy of using SWAT teams to serve mere search warrants on gun owners and veterans who have no violent criminal record.
Here is a closing word from Stewart Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers –
“What better way to honor our war dead and veterans this Memorial Day than to defend our Constitution and our God given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which is what they all fought, bled, and died for? This policy of using SWAT to serve search warrants on veterans and gun owners simply because they are armed, and where there is no long history of violent crime, has got to stop. I think taking a stand over the use of SWAT against this young Marine in Tucson is a good place to start.” – Stewart Rhodes
