Pentagon asks armed volunteers to stand down

The Department of Defense is asking those standing guard outside military recruiting centers to stand down.

“We take the safety of our service members, our DoD civilians, and the families who support them very seriously, and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is currently reviewing recommendations from the services for making our installations and facilities safer – including our recruiting stations,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in the statement released late Friday.

“While we greatly appreciate the outpouring of support for our recruiters from the American public, we ask that individuals not stand guard at recruiting offices as it could adversely impact our mission, and potentially create unintended security risks. We continue to partner with and rely on first responders for the safety of the communities where our service members live and work.”

Reports surfaced earlier this week that the Army instructed its recruiters to treat the armed civilians as a “security threat.”

In Ohio, one armed civilian accidentally fired his rifle while guarding a military recruitment center Thursday according to the Columbus Dispatch. The man fired his AR-15 into the pavement outside the center. No one was injured, but the armed civilians were ordered off the property.