“How does one hop in their vehicle in Nebraska, with a rifle, gain access to a rooftop (at a workplace owned by someone they don’t know 500 miles away) and be able to lawfully defend said business?
It must require a very detailed knowledge of the law.”
Very easily. It is done on private property with the permission of the property owner.
Anyone can volunteer to help another person without being paid.
Transporting firearms across state lines is protected by federal law.
Freedom of speech and association are protected by the first amendment.
The police violated numerous rights in this case, and deserve a lawsuit and bad publicity.
They are saying, in effect, we cannot protect you and we will not let anyone else help you protect yourself.
The police are profoundly illegitimate in their actions in this case.
That would be my only question in this matter. I'm guessing that MO, like virtually every other state licenses and regulates the private security industry. While the merits of doing so can be debated, if that is the case, and if any of these oathkeepers took any kind of compensation to stand guard over a certain structure or business, then they would in fact, be undercutting every other private security company in the state that complied with all the red tape and licensing.
My understanding is they were all volunteers, and if so, I agree with everything else in your post. If I want to go stand guard in my neighborhood after a hurricane, and I'm on my neighbor's property at their invitation, no license should be necessary.