Armed civilians stand guard outside Spanaway Army recruiting office

SPANAWAY, Wash. — Armed civilians are standing guard outside an Army recruiting office in Spanaway.

The men were armed with semi-automatic rifles and handguns, and said the soldiers working inside are unarmed and easy targets for a terrorist attack.

“They’re sitting ducks,” said a man who identified himself only as Zack. “Soft targets with absolutely no way of being protected, no way to stay safe.”

All of the men,  who asked that we only use their first names,  say they came to the office in response to the July 16th shootings in Chattanooga, Tennessee that left four Marine recruiters and a U-S Navy sailor at an operational support center dead.

Recruiters inside the office told KIRO 7 they were not allowed to comment on the record about the men guarding their office. One said privately he was grateful.

Nearly a week ago, authorities said Kuwait-born Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, of Hixson, Tennessee, unleashed a barrage of fire at a recruiting center in Chattanooga, then drove several miles away to a Navy and Marine reserve center, where he shot and killed the Marines, and wounded the sailor, who later died. Abdulazeez was shot to death by police.

Abdulazeez’s uncle has been in custody in Jordan since a day after the attacks, according to a lawyer on Tuesday.

Military guidelines prohibit soldiers, sailors and Marines in recruiting centers from carrying firearms.

The general tapped to be the next Army chief of staff said that if legal issues could be resolved he thinks it would be appropriate, in some cases, to arm soldiers manning recruiting stations.

In Spanaway, the men said they were inspired by other citizens around the country who came to recruiting offices near them to help keep the soldiers safe.

“After the attack a couple of days ago we saw a need to protect the people that protect us,” said one of the men, also named Zach.

“I have these freedoms and these liberties because of the men and women in uniform so I owe them a debt. This is my way of repaying it.”

KIRO