"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 also means commerce, which is the wholesale trade of merchanise, BETWEEN STATES!. It does not mean retail, it soes not mean within a state, it does not mean manufacturaing, wages, education, health care etc. etc. Every fucking fed on that land is damn felon.
This is what happens when all right, and given consent is removed by people who uphold themselves to a higher moral standard than those who stand in opposite judgement, by the force of UN-governable law.
This is what happens when the justice is just that. If the 'People' decide the law is unjust, and stop it fair and square, it proves those that believe they stand on the side of 'Law', are indeed themselves breaking it, because the 'People' removed the 'Given' 'Consent' to be governed, by a law that was not 'Consented' to.
In all effect, the people do not agree to be told what to do on the land that is rightfully theirs by the Dog given rights, upheld in natural, common law, of man, that cannot ever be taken by the written word of some cunt in a lawyers office.
You come in with nothing, and as Dogs my witness, you will leave with just the same. This cannot be argued, it is not up for discussion, it is truth.
Cos some cunt wrote the fucker down and said you will abide by it doesnt work, it never did, you better fucking ask first, eh?
These good men deserve the backing of all of us, they are correct, and just.
:-)
I agree.
Oregon And Other Patriot Groups Not Linked To Malheur Wildlife Refuge Siege
http://thenewsdoctors.com/oregon-and-other-patriot-groups-not-linked-to-malheur-wildlife-refuge-siege/
Nothing says False Flag event like Obama coming back from a billion dollar vacation with a briefcase full of Gun Confiscation Executive Orders!!!
If you *think* FED JACKBOOTS are spead thin overseas, you should *know* how thin they are spread in DAS HOMELAND.
This should be an easy one to quietly resolve for the government. Just close the gates and allow people to leave but not re-enter. I would be surprised if the current occupants had more than a month's worth of food, and winter is just starting.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. These people will be very lucky to not be made a bloody example of. They are NOT going to win. Direct defiance gets you nothing but dead or behind bars. If you wanna resist in any effective way it needs to be under the radar.
If these men end up dead...and I hope they don't...but if it does happen it will be the Federal Govt that will be the loser...
And it's not just them...it's us...
The thing about a tyrannical govt is that it seems like they can never be defeated....right up to the point where they seem like they can...and they crumble almost instantly....
If they do keep their word and return fire, they'll end up dead. If they don't, they'll end up in prison and the rest of the country will pick up the TV remote and commence the paused chow down.
This isn't at all analogous to historical revolutions. Two things:
1) The technological gap between the hardware available to the armed forces and the populace has never been greater. The only way you win is if the military stays out of it and I promise it won't. The usual counter is that guerillas in the Mideast have had some luck, but there are a lot of differences there too... I'll elaborate if you want.
2) The populace is utterly dependent on jit deliveries for life necessities and you'll never stage an armed revolution without disrupting commerce. Which means that your revolution causes mass starvation which means the media is very successful at turning you into the bad guy. Unless you have a lan to keep everybody fed you're fucked.
These guys are committing a tremendous tactical blunder. Wanna stand n opposition to the deep state? Fine. But make your resistance clandestine and underground and accept that we probably will not succeed in our lifetimes.
Why is .gov so concerned about people having firearms? Based on your logic; there is no valid reason, but regardless of your logic there is no valid gun-restrictions for the majority...the people who run the government, not the three "branches", the ones who paid them off are concerned.
Idiot troll
Why? Because we disagree? That's pathetic. Prove me wrong. Tell me how fat, untrained cubical drones with hunting rifles are going to take on the armed might of the US armed forces.
Who said it, if there is nothing worth dying for, there is nothing worth living for?
'I will only keep the things of this world for a very short time, may whoever take them from me keep them forever'
Pumpkin
You sell yourself dearly, and only in a situation in which it might do some good. This isn't one of those times, because it's going to make shit worse. This is a great excuse to make a flagrant example if a few idiot rednecks, and as soon as people see it most of them will drop right into line.
They have already won in a sense; we will have to wait to see how it all plays out. The government henchmen would be very foolish to slaughter these people. The government folks may act foolishly; time will tell.
Just like it did at Bundy ranch? I don't expect this to turn out well but your comment simply flies in the face of recent history.
We should, all, stand up but we, all, want someone else to do it. You can say that's not true but, until we stand up, it is true.
And not just Americans...this fight is for everyone who understands, believes in...and cherishes liberty...
I hope Ron Paul sees the opportunity here and seizes it...and I believe he will...
Let's not forget that the two right-wing radicals that ambushed two policemen and shot a good Samaritan in Las Vegas in 2014 were in Bundy militia in Nevada.
The man and woman said to have shot and killed two police officers and a third person in Las Vegas Sunday bragged that they had been involved in the recent standoff with the federal government at Cliven Bundy’s Nevada ranch, neighbors of the pair have told local Nevada papers.
Seems as I recall, those two were run off the Bundy Ranch.
They were kicked off the ranch you useless waste of space.
That's because they were hot heads who could not be controlled. That's not to say that the rest were any different, other than they could be better controlled.
Now look at how these people communicate with each other and gather up, then tell me that this not the same how ISIS was created? But double talking liers like you will claim that USA, Saudi and Israel created ISIS. Who created Bundy and the other militas made up of constitutional nitwits, the FBI?
When the ISIS types created by the likes of the US, Israel, & Saudi's come to a country near you; it will be the rancher types that will have the capacity to survive; not your type...you be in the corner sucking your thumb and wetting your bed at camp FEMA.
"That's because they were hot heads who could not be controlled. That's not to say that the rest were any different, other than they could be better controlled".
If the rest were such "hot heads"...why did no shots get fired?
"But double talking liers like you will claim that USA, Saudi and Israel created ISIS".
Tell me...How was ISIS created?
The rest of your statement is just incoherent dribble.
He is a fed minimum wage troll.
Also Gay and a member of Daesh.
And what has shooting cops accomplished? Absolutely nothing. Harming cops and politicians accomplishes nothing. Think this through.
When they circumcised your ass they threw away the better parts.
You are a liar. They did show up at the Bundy ranch and were tossed out.
Could they have done this a bit later? Obama's going to try and test whether he can take people's guns away. Asides, one thing I've learned by reading fantasy is that in the arms of tyranny, the rebellion has to start somewhere. It can even be ethnically and paradoxically bashful, if people kick it up a few notches. Fuck the Feds, the establishment, and the NWO. Fuck the article on Drudge today. May God be with them on their march.
THINK this through. Harming cops and politicians has, never, solved anything. THINK it through.
i seem to recall there was a nation built on that platform.
good thing the founding fathers didn't think it through. we would still be paying taxes to Britain.
WHY do you think they are doing it NOW?
It's a set-up, man.
Well, I remember not that long ago this woman who was being beaten by her husband shot a couple rounds in the air and ended up who knows how many decades in gaol because of that. Yeah, I remember because the Bundies were also supporting her taking over federal offices. Oh wait, no. I remember because there weren't no Bundies supporting her. Because she was black, and a woman. Oh dem Bundies and their concepts on liberty and rights...
Just cant help but race bait this situation can you? You are a 2 faced racist pos and should be beaten about the head and shoulders until some brains get in. In other words FVK YOU Nig
The day I see the Bundyites actually defending minorities for social justice, it will be the day you'll be right in what you said about me. Til that day comes, if ever, everytime I see the Bundies tearing their hair and clothing in supposed defense of freedom and rights, while ignoring REAL struggles for freedom and rights, I'll be watching a bunch of idiots at best, hypcrites at worst.
You believe in AGW, so why would your opinion count for anything?
You deny science. Why does your opinion actually matter then?
No one who disagrees with the AGW hysteria denies science. Scence, of course, has nothing to say one way or the other about the question since it is a method. Application of the method denies any validity of the theory of AGW you funcking idiot.
The applied scientific method is what's telling us that according to the science of today, human activity causing warming is over 90% sure. That's THE method, not what you'd like it to be. If you disagree with todays consensus you could just go and present a research of your own to be checked by the community. That's the method. Throwing around half baked theories straight outta Goddard or Anthony Watts ain't no substitute for the scientific method.
Even more. The biggest deniers of them all, you know, those companies who have some of the biggest market caps in the world, the oil industry; while in their PR campaign they minimize or straight out deny/falsify research, when they have to get technical (as in building a pipeline or an oil extracting sea platform), whose numbers and research you think they take into account? Anthony Watts and Goddard or IPCC?
Ive visited this place many times rockhounding. The ranchers and their cows fuck up the wetlands in this area. malheur lake and its wetlands are a migratory bird haven. Fuck these assholes. The fee is legetamate because the cows fuck up the ground and ruin the area. It has to be reclaimed after they trample it. This isint a issue of freedom, or gun liberry its about the GREED of a bunch of redneck hicks that live in eastern oregon that have the audacity to pillage whatever they can on public land but more importantly a wildlife refuge.
And learn to use spell check ffs
There isn't a native spellchecker in these text forms. You have to manually check it for yourself. Some people, including myself, can be too lazy to give a shit at times.
I use firefox and the last button on top right with an abc over the arrow is a spell check.
If the American Bison had not had its numbers decimated, they would have inflicted far more "damage" on the "wildlife refuge", you dolt.
For thousands of years they roamed and inflicted "damage" to such areas, while, in turn, leaving behind much needed fertilzer to support ther ecosystem.
Cattle serve the same purpose- your argument is null and void.
Native ruminants differ from European ones. I wouldn't be so sure the consequences of bisons and cows on a specific ecosystem would be always the same.
i guess you missed the part of the story sbout the memo from .gov that stated private land,i.e., the hammond ranch, had more wildlife including migratory fowl, than the .gov managed land.