Armed protesters. We usually call that a coup or at least a takeover.
Oh. Defenders of their land, then.A group of armed protesters have taken over a building in a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, accusing officials of unfairly punishing ranchers who refused to sell their land, a spokesman for the group told CNN.
CNN
Oh. Criminals, then. (Is that five years the original sentence or the appellate decision?)The protesters occupied part of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns after a march supporting Dwight and Steven Hammond, two ranchers who are convicted of arson [and scheduled to go to prison for a second time - after an appellate judge said they should serve more time - tomorrow].
Prosecutors said the Hammonds set the fire, which burned about 130 acres in 2001, to cover up poaching. The father and son were sentenced to five years in prison.
Oh. Controlled, prtotective/preventive practitioners. (Wait. Is it their land or federal property?)The Hammonds said they lit the fire to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.
Gee. I hope we aren't seeing another Waco fiasco. Maybe the feds will back down like they did with that armed Nevada rancher. What was his name?After the march Saturday, the armed protesters broke into the refuge's unoccupied building and refused to leave.
Bundy?"We will be here as long as it takes," said Ammon Bundy, a spokesman for the group. "We have no intentions of using force upon anyone, (but) if force is used against us, we would defend ourselves."
Yeah! Bundy.Bundy is the 40-year-old son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who drew national attention last year after staging a standoff with federal authorities over a Bureau of Land Management dispute.
Can't be. They're white.Ammon Bundy said the group in Oregon was armed, but said he would not describe it as a militia. Bundy declined to say how many people were occupying the building.
"We are not terrorists," he said.
Oh boy. Sounds like the Bundys are forming "armed protests" for other people now. That could be a considered a challenge by the feds. They've even got a Twitter post up "calling all freedom loving people" to join them in Oregon.When asked what it would take for the armed protesters to leave, Bundy did not offer specifics.
"We are using the wildlife refuge as a place for individuals across the United States to come and assist in helping the people of Harney County claim back their lands and resources," he said.
"The people will need to be able to use the land and resources without fear as free men and women. We know it will take some time."
Ball's in the feds' court, and these are not a lone, odd family (Ruby Ridge), religious culters (Waco) or American Indians (Pine Ridge).
That was such a confusing story.
As reported at Vox:
Hoooo doggies. And they were successful in Nevada. Are the feds sorry they let them? Were they hoping for a better logistical fight? I'm pretty sure they didn't figure it would end there.A militia protesting the "tyranny" of the federal government seized the headquarters of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon on Saturday and in a video posted to Facebook, called on "patriots" from all over the country to come to the refuge with their guns to join their fight.
[...]
[T]he men involved in the takeover — including Ammon Bundy, Ammon's brother Ryan, Jon Ritzheimer, Blaine Cooper, and Ryan Payne — are not locals. Rather, they are a small group of individuals who travel around the country attaching themselves to various local fights against the federal government, usually over land rights.
[...]
On the surface, this is about a father and son from Oregon who were ordered by the court to return to prison to serve additional time for a 2012 arson on federal land. But, as with Cliven Bundy's standoff, the anti-government militiamen who are driving this crisis believe it's about standing up to a tyrannical federal government.
Vox
Yeah. Supply lines, dudes. Supply lines.Bundy and his fellow militiamen have seized the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge — located in a remote area some 50 miles southeast of the city of Burns — in hopes of creating a "base" where "patriots" like themselves can come — with their guns — to live and make their stand against the "tyrannical" federal government.
The feds can be pretty persuasive.At first, according to the Oregonian, the Hammonds "accepted the militia's offer of help to avoid prison." But they "changed their minds after being warned by federal prosecutors to stop communicating with the militia" and have now "professed through their attorneys that they had no interest in ignoring the order to report for prison."
Ammon also tried to recruit residents from the surrounding area, reportedly meeting with 10 or so locals, but they all turned him down.
And its likelihood of being killed or imprisoned for life, no doubt.The Oregonian interviewed some locals who expressed sympathy for the Hammonds and for the militia's "constitutional arguments," but ultimately rejected the militia for its extremism.
Not nearly enough for a standoff with the feds Although, they are white.It is unclear, as of the time of this writing, exactly how many militia members are inside the occupied building and what kind of weapons they may have.
Here's a video from an ex-Marine and father of two who's gone up there expecting to die. It may not be available long.
Who radicalized him? The "oppressive, tyrannical government" he talks about?
The local sheriff calls them "outside militants".
Yeah. No. I don't think it's going to be "years".The Bundy family of Nevada joined with hard-core militiamen Saturday to take over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, vowing to occupy the remote federal outpost 30 miles southeast of Burns for years.
Oregon Live
It doesn't say how many of the marchers joined the "occupiers", but reports are that the militia claim about 100.The occupation came shortly after an estimated 300 marchers — militia and local citizens both — paraded through Burns to protest the prosecution of two Harney County ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, who are to report to prison on Monday.
Yeah. And the local authorities and feds are going to just let them pass? Not much of a strategic plan, Ammon. I think you may have not thought this through.Ammon Bundy posted a video on his Facebook page calling on patriots from across the country to report to the refuge – with their weapons.
Oh, and...
Most of these "militias" aren't eager to die.Brandon Curtiss, a militia leader from Idaho, told The Oregonian/OregonLive he knew nothing about the occupation. He helped organize Saturday's protest and was at the Harney County Fairgrounds with dozens of other militia for a post-parade function. Another militia leader, BJ Soper, took to Facebook to denounce the occupation.
And he's not in prison? Why? Because he's white?Among those joining Bundy in the occupation are Ryan Payne, U.S. Army veteran, and Blaine Cooper. Payne has claimed to have helped organize militia snipers to target federal agents in a standoff last year in Nevada. He told one news organization the federal agents would have been killed had they made the wrong move.
Another report noted about a dozen cars. Maybe a well-armed militia, but not much of one.The militiamen told OregonLive there were about 150 of them, but a couple who delivered food to the refuge HQ estimated that there were just 15.
RT
Supporters of the Hammonds believe they were treated unconstitutionally because the two were convicted of arson under a provision of an expansive federal law punishing terrorism.
Oh. White terrorists.
The controversial case demonstrates a problem with a 1996 law, which was introduced to punish domestic terrorists, according to Barry Bushue, the longtime president of the Oregon Farm Bureau.
“I find it incredible that the government would want to try these ranchers as terrorists,” Bushue told The Pete Santilli Show. “Now is where the rubber meets the road. Right now is when the public should absolutely be incensed. And the public, I think, should be fearful.”
Agreed. Except for one thing. If any of these guys really is "prepared" and "willing" to die, when they run out of food and water, somebody's going to start shooting.
