WASHINGTON – If you ride the Metro, you may have seen some controversial new signs strategically posted at the Pentagon station.
“Snowden Honored His Oath. Honor Yours! Stop Big Brother!” reads one sign, referring to accused NSA-leaker Edward Snowden.
A coalition of current and former military members, police and other public officials, calling themselves Oath Keepers, is taking credit for the signs, which call on staff of government institutions like the CIA and the military to uphold their oaths to the U.S. Constitution.
Mark Eichler, of Arlington, says the sign at the Pentagon station caught his attention, calling it “striking.”
“It made me think, is that the cost of living in an open society?” Eichler says.
And it makes him want to read George Orwell’s “1984” to compare “what we’re living thorough with those predictions of 50 years ago now.”
Not everyone agrees with the signs’ message.
“They definitely shouldn’t be in the Metro station,” says Amber Smith of Arlington. “I don’t think anybody should be pro-Snowden because of what he did.”
Oath Keepers plans to post more signs and billboards throughout the U.S., including in Maryland near the National Security Agency headquarters.
The group has also posted signs near military installations at Fort Hood and Fort Benning among others.
“The sign makes it clear that by exposing the NSA spying on Americans, Snowden honored his oath,” the coalition says in a statement.
ABC 7 gathered more reaction to the signs:
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WTOP’s Kathy Stewart contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter.
