"Now Is The Time To Stand Up": Armed Activists, Militiamen Seize Federal Wildlife Refuge Office In Oregon
On Saturday, militants seized a remote government outpost following a protest by hundreds of angry citizens.
That could very easily be the opening line for a story about a Mid-East country beset by civil war. Instead, it’s a description of what happened in Oregon yesterday.
It all started back in 2001 when Dwight Hammond and his son Steven set fire to leased government land in what they said was an effort to beat back invasive plant species and - ironically - prevent wildfires. They set more fires in 2006 and were later convicted of arson.
(the elder Hammond)
Both men served time in prison but a judge eventually determined that their sentences were too light and ordered them back to jail.
Some folks were displeased with the ruling and staged a protest that saw some 300 people march through Burns, a city of around 3,000. The procession made a stop by the Hammond residence and proceeded to make an appearance at the local sheriff's office as well.
"As marchers reached the courthouse, they tossed hundreds of pennies at the locked door. Their message: civilians were buying back their government," AP recounts. "A few blocks away, Hammond and his wife, Susan, greeted marchers, who planted flower bouquets in the snow [after which they] sang some songs, Hammond said a few words, and the protesters marched back to their cars."
Enter Ammon Bundy.
Ammon is the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy who famously clashed with the government last year after his cattle were kidnapped by the Feds. Around 400 of Cliven's cows were busy grazing on land Bundy said he owned when the Bureau of Land Managment began to round them up and ship them off to a bovine internment camp at Bunkerville.
The government says the cattle were grazing on public rangeland, which is legal as long as the owner pays a fee. Bundy allegedly racked up some $1 million in such fees and so, the government decided to seize the cows, which the Nevada Bureau of Land Management accused of "trespassing."
Evenutally, the cavalry arrived (literally) as cowboys rode in and broke the cows out of jail. No, really.
Fast forward to November and Bundy's son Ammon was busy trying to come up with a way to keep Dwight Hammond and his son from going back to jail. "Ammon Bundy met with Dwight Hammond and his wife in November, seeking a way to keep the elderly rancher from having to surrender for prison," The Oregonian writes, adding that "the Hammonds professed through their attorneys that they had no interest in ignoring the order to report for prison."
But while the Hammonds have apparently come to terms with their fate, Bundy hasn't and in a brazen move, he and an unspecified number of "outside militants" seized control of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge headquarters, which is a short drive from Burns (where the protest took place).
The federal outpost fell to the militants without a fight presumably because it was deserted for the holidays. Here's more from the Oregonian:
"The facility has been the tool to do all the tyranny that has been placed upon the Hammonds," Ammon Bundy said.
"We're planning on staying here for years, absolutely," he added. "This is not a decision we've made at the last minute."
"The best possible outcome is that the ranchers that have been kicked out of the area, then they will come back and reclaim their land, and the wildlife refuge will be shut down forever and the federal government will relinquish such control," he said. "What we're doing is not rebellious. What we're doing is in accordance with the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land."
"After the peaceful rally was completed today, a group of outside militants drove to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, where they seized and occupied the refuge headquarters. A collective effort from multiple agencies is currently working on a solution. For the time being please stay away from that area. More information will be provided as it becomes available. Please maintain a peaceful and united front and allow us to work through this situation," Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said, in a statement. The elder Bundy weighed in as well, noting that the occuption isn't “exactly what [he] thought should happen." "But I didn’t know what to do,” he added. “You know, if the Hammonds wouldn’t stand, if the sheriff didn’t stand, then, you know, the people had to do something. And I guess this is what they did decide to do. I wasn’t in on that.”
Ammon Bundy explained the rationale for the occupation as follows:
Got that? This wildlife refuge office will become "a base place where patriots from all over the country will live and be housed." Although from the looks of it, space is limited so reserve your spots now:
The Guardian apparently stopped by the refuge for a visit:
The occupation appears to have begun at about 2pm. Two hours later, the Guardian approached the refuge, which lies about 60 miles south of the town of Burns and is only accessible via a lakeside road slick with ice and banked with snow.
There were no law enforcement agents visible in the area around the refuge. A man with a goatee beard and wraparound sunglasses stood guard, armed with an AR-15-style rifle, and refused entry to the federally owned facility.
He declined to give his name or affiliation, citing “operational security”. He did confirm, however, that the men – several of whom were openly carrying assault weapons – would be camping on the site. “This public land belongs to ‘we the people’,” he said. “We’ll be here enjoying the snow and the scenery.”
This is as close as I was allowed to get to the armed militia occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge HQ. #burnsoregon pic.twitter.com/DPztu0VsVU
— Jason Wilson (@jason_a_w) January 3, 2016
The Guardian was allowed to take a few photographs, and then it was strongly advised to leave the scene. Within hours, police had descended on the remote corner of Harney county, blocking roads and urging members of the public to stay away.
Ammon Bundy, whose father became a folk hero among rightwing constitutionalists after his previous confrontation with federal authorities in Nevada, appeared to be a key figure.
He called for other likeminded US citizens to travel to the refuge in solidarity and to support what he said would be a symbolic showdown between impoverished farmers and overzealous federal authorities.
“We’re out here because the people have been abused long enough,” he said in a video interview posted on his Facebook page on Saturday night.
It isn't entirely clear how these "patriots" plan to last "years" in the small building without supplies but that's probably irrelevant because it's difficult to imagine the oppressors in Washington will let this go on for very long. On that note, we'll close with two quotes, one from The Oregonian and one from US Army veteran Ryan Payne who is among the occupiers.
From The Oregonian: "In phone interviews from inside the occupied building Saturday night, Ammon Bundy and his brother, Ryan Bundy, said they are not looking to hurt anyone. But they would not rule out violence if police tried to remove them, they said."
From Payne: "When local and federal authorities arrive whatever else is going to happen will happen”.
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It probably is a honeypot Lorca, but I really don't give a shit if .gov has me on a list of those unwilling to submit to their tyranny. Fuck Em'
If you're on this website, you're already on several lists.
(come get me, mofo's)
That is very true.
Just as long as they deploy a platoon with armored support when they come for me. Gonna be a little 'boom, boom, shake, shake the room'.
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do I really need to add a sarc/ tag?
No.
No sarc tag is ever needed. If they cannot figure it out then that is THEIR PROBLEM.
And if you are not on a Government list by now then you have not been doing your part in the struggle against Tyranny.
Oh...ya...If you do not vatch yer vays vee vill puts ya on zee list...Do you have zee paperz. Vee needz to see ya paperz...Ya...
LOL.
Yup. The Justice Dept. (ho ho) is very concerned about your opinion.
Yes. They are much more concerned than you give them credit as they set up honeypots to gather the names of people to be placed on Watch Lists.
If they were not concerned then those lists would not exist in the first place.
Right TT. If they didn't care they would not hire so many trolls.
I can say this about the NSA. They do capture more than they can process. They do improve their algos all the time, but they're always collecting more, faster. So it's a sort of race. But they never, ever throw anything away.
Realname, I wanted to see your link, but when I click on it, all I get is a blank page.
Check and see if you downloaded the pdf.
@ Hepphaestus,
Sounds like a Fruadulent Case in their Criminal Admarality Courts of "Double Jeporedy." But now, the Crimjnal Psychopaths are moving the goal posts & charging them with the same Crime but this time as "Terrorists."
Because, you know, in their , sick, twisted, Psychopathic minds, we're all "Terrorist's now.
Anybody that makes a PUBLIC display of defiance will be made a lesson to the rest of the general public. Famous examples are Peter Schiff's Dad, Dr. Kervorkian and if they could get his hands on him Snowden. Of course you could name many, many more. This helps to cow the general public into submission via fear and intimidation. Stalin did the same thing except by making people disappear. Same thing in Argentina. In the US its done "legally". Yeah, we've passed enough laws so the exact same result can be achieved "legally" which is to put the fear of Uncle Fraud in you to comply and obey.
But remember, this is the land of the free and our military is fighting for our freedom. So forget about the facts and just keep on pretending that we don't have tyranny. Maybe you won't be put on a list.
And then the boomerang comes back. It will be glorious
Your point would be made more effectively if you dropped Kervorkian as some sort of anti-establishment hero.
Not everything that old Jack K. did was wrong, but IMHO he was one pretty disturbed individual. Most pathologists are fairly laid-back types, but about 5% are damn weird people, who go into that line of work because they find it more attractive to work with chunks of human flesh, rather than with living human beings. FWIW I know a lot of pathologists because I am one.
Not to mention no malpractice insurance.
"Even more msessed up is that they did call and get permission for the burn. They did inform the govt that they were doing it. One guy has already served 1 yr and 1 day in prison for this!"
Sorry to say, their first mistake is to lease gov't land in the first place. How could they think that something bad wouldn't happen.
I see this blowing up, with further gun control, more dometic checkpoint and further increases to the police state. This is pretty much the excuse the Federal gov't needs to esculate the police state. The gov't controls the media and is going to spin this into domestic terriorism originated by while males. Oregon is already a hammer and sickle state. No way a few ranchers will end up on the winning side, when the majority of Oregonens are state-loving enviro-communists.
I so can't wait for the big 9.2 to take the coast -----
Native Americans in our area have done controlled burns for centuries. Typically after they harvested acorns, they lit the brush on fire insuring the oaks would be preserved from devastating firestorms. Our ludicrous government stopped them from doing so and now we are faced with terrible fires in SoCal on a regular basis. The Cedar Fire , the largest in cali history burned 300k acres and killed 15 people. This is criminal negligence. Those in power were warned, yet they did nothing. And none of them died in the resulting fire.
Common sense would dictate you consult the locals who have lived succesfully In a region for long for advice on land stewardship.
The issue is not with controlled burns, it is purely a power mad government determined to exert a stranglehold on its citizens and cow them into submission. We must stand with these people or we all will fall under the approaching Stalinesque regime.
Molon Labe
Miffed
A quote from Matt Bracken, author and former Navy Seal (from Mike in Ga's link below):
"This is how I read this situation: A federal provocateur is leading a band of lunatics, trying to nudge them into a situation where one of the loons will snipe a LEO or FLEA. Then the MSM will brand every patriot, RKBA advocate, threeper etc as a "militia murderer." Please don't fall for this transparent charade. Don't be a fool or a patsy."
This is EXACTLY what this is, and the timing is impeccable given OBoy's fondness for taking our guns. This is a CREATED situation, meant to lure the nuts into a civil war and get all militias branded as 'terrorists". As Matt says, DO NOT FALL FOR THIS. This is divide and conquer, plain and simple.
EDIT: Brandon Smith wrote an article on the standoff: http://alt-market.com/articles/2775-oregon-standoff-a-terrible-plan-that...
So where do you draw the line? Clearly the feds can plant a provocateur on a dimes notice anywhere, anytime. When do we just play calm & take it up the ass before WE draw a line in the sand?
These bastids know money & power.
Max Igan came up with, IMO, a pretty good idea.
If folks coordinated this well for a coupla weeks, did not spend a single red cent nor show up at the gulag & disconnected everthing possible...that would get some attention.
Then who could be provoked?
Not enough man power to hit that kind of diversity.
Read Brandon's article above, and Mike in GA's link below.
Absolutely the right idea. But there is a proper time and place, and this is not it.
@ IV- thanks for the links. Great reads & helps clarify. Appreciated greatly.
So the Bundy kids are now working for the Feds...
That sounds perfectly sane, right?
Read the article I linked. The Bundys have been railroaded by government provocateurs into this stupid showdown. They may have righteous intentions and moral standing, but what they are doing plays right into the government's hands, and the government gets to literally kill several birds with one stone if they take out this group of idiots: branding all militias as 'terrorists'; re-writing people's sympathetic opinions of what happened in the Bundy standoff last year; a chance for the government to double down on gun control; and potentially a spark that can be used to pickup dissidents and start a civil war resulting in martial law. This is the perfect setup, as far as the government is concerned.
Fucking IDIOTS. The best thing they can do now is pack up and leave. If they stay there and wind up like those in Waco, we will ALL pay the price.
They have already branded militias as terrorists years ago with the Oklahoma City FF. They don't need to do it again. It just makes them look silly. IV, you're not really Brandon are you?
Wrong, this shit has got to stop. If oboy wants to take my gun he can come for them. Refusing to roll over for the billionth time does not make one a patsy and shooting a cop in self defense is just like shooting a thug in self defense. If there is a civil war our tyrants started one and asked for one. There arent enough uniformed military in the entire DOD to take 200 million firearms. No this will end with a few patriots getting respect from an out of control government. No one will die and the Hammonds will likely be left alone, just like the Bundys.
@ Miffed
Good Reply.
East Coast Florida welcomes Mrs. & Mr. Miffed if you both want to move.
The mentality here is that the government is ran by Jews, blacks, and extreme liberals and that is what you all fear and hate. The advantage of white privilege is understandable but knowledge is power and the best leaders are well balanced.
Ah, get fucked.
When humanity is outlawed, only outlaws will be humans. Yikes!
p.s. hope none of these guys do anything stupid.
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2016/01/perfect-timing-for-re...
This whole thing stinks like a wholly orchestrated setup by the feds.
"Executive orders" are directives to federal employees, ordering them to enforce existing law. The president has no power over the people. Note to gun sellers - you are under no obligation to do background checks. You can wipe your collective asses with Obama's illegal action. He is the criminal.
Say the Feds swoop in and kill a lot of ranchers. This is how a rebellion begins.
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. – Albert Camus
"Say the Feds swoop in and kill a lot of ranchers."
The ONLY thing keeping the feds from swooping in and killing the ranchers is the threat of resistence by armed citizens.
the only thing keeping the feds from swooping in and killing the ranchers is the threat of insurrection by armed citizens--there-fixed it for ya.
For you newbies...
Janis Joplin said it best.
"Nothing Left to Lose"
Commit or GTFO.
"Executive orders" are directives to federal employees, ordering them to enforce existing law. The president has no power over the people.
Yes, but.
The EO directs the "ATF to implement such procedures and regulations to implement the gun control directives as contained in this executive order" or similar lawyer/weasel language.
Told ya.
http://freebeacon.com/issues/obama-executive-order-may-require-those-sel...
Mike:
The Oregon Farm Bureau has been a good source of information for me about this case.
http://www.oregonfb.org/2015/10/05/sign-petition-savethehammonds/
These good people are the victims of extreme and violent terrorist acts by the Feds. Ofcourse the Feds are just copying their "bosses" who have terrorized and destroyed entire Nations. What an enraging story this is. Could this be "the spark"?
Like Waco 1 and Waco 2?
Sadly supposed freedom loving Texans are more in love with their Trayvon thug ballers and watching stupid college and pro ball like little girls.
At least a few men in America are not total cowards and traitors.
Wow what an evil looking crew. Ive never seen such a terror inducing family
https://theconservativetreehouse.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/burns-3.jpg?w=640
A picture of REAL people. I had to look closely to make sure it wasn't CGI. A normal human being is a rare bird in this world.
Shortest iPhone line I've ever seen. And judging by their straightforward demeanor these will be their first ones. Good for them!
What a terrifying-looking crew. I mean, they're......(shakes in boots)...white!
Reminds me of what a friend told me about the bikers' pictures from that fake standoff in Texas, he's never seen such an indescribably ugly bunch of misfits in his life. Almost like they were hand-picked for their roles, based on scary looks. Funny I haven't heard anything about that one for a while, about 2 days after it happened actually. Or didn't happen.
I don't like the looks of that kid with the hat.
He's itching for a fight.
Timing is again just magnificent, hamster meets with AG tomorrow to formalize his gun control edicts.. Taking a fixed emplacement could there be a stupider move for these guys, seriously??