"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”.
(51 votes)
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After years of watching House of Cards and reading ZH et al., the little guys/sheeple aren't quite as dumb as they used to be.
People never believe it when you tell them until your tonsils bleed that ALL so-called ANTI-TERRORISM LAWS that give "Extraordinary powers" to government, will eventually be used against EVERYONE.
we salute you boys, good luck!
Change cannot come to the Empire through elections or within the system. That system is rigged beyond redemption. Change must be imposed on the Empire from the outside, by massive civil disobedience and by starving the beast. Time will tell if enough Americans are left who value their liberty above their bread and circuses. I give them full marks for courage...............
Might this be the spark on top of the heaping pile of long-dried kindle? I will say this.... If they get "Waco'ed" then God help us all because all hell will break loose.
Not if the Feds control the narrative it won't.
I did not learn a great many truths about Waco until years after it happened.
I was thinking about Waco and its relation to this event. The internet was not ubiquitous as it is today, and even with the blogs and New Media that did exist, it was sparsely trusted. Now with so many blogs and New Media sites trusted above and beyond the Old Media, I think the situation is different.
Remember, people in herds act very much like sheep. That is why we call them sheep. Therefore, you do not need a majority to believe the truth. What you need is a critical mass. The Pareto Effect, so to speak.
There is simply no way that they'll be able to lie like they did in Waco and get away with it. If this is not the spark for the kindle pile, then it could sure as hell be one hell of a load of fresh, dried kindle added to the pile.
Social media such as Twitter will guarantee that the truth comes out, one way or another. Don't be concerned about the majority. They're idiots and drones that will bend with the prevailing wind. Be concerned about critical mass.
Suppose this does turn violent, and they get Waco'd. One of two things could happen. First, a few THOUSAND militia show up and now .cesear.rome.gov has a REAL problem on their hands, or .4threich.gov backs down. Either one is not good for the Luciferians.
Hopefully this is not a false flag attempting to gain support for Obummer's citizen disarmament executive orders...
Even if it isn't, you can sure as hell count on the Obama-dicksucking MSM to try and present it that way. And you bet if Trump comments on this, they'll try their hardest to paint him with the same agenda-tainted brush...
Never let a crisis go to waste...
Trump had better be real careful if commenting on this...
Lots of folks in other forums are already calling him out because he has NOT commented.
911's the litmus test for me. Ron Paul was disappointing on it, so I didn't vote for him. Same with Randi. As for Trump, no chance of him supporting these guys. Trump wants Snowden killed. Think about it. He's promising a police state if elected. Listen to what he says. He wants police militarized.
Has he even said anything about the child molesting, granny groping TSA and their radioactive, nekked scanners?
Any real candidate will be calling for a new investigation into 911. Until then, voting seems pretty pointless.
He absolutely should comment on this. "The people runing our government are so stupid. They mess up everything they touch. THe states are pefectly capable of managing the land within their borders. And besides, we have real terrorists to worry about - not some ranchers who might have let a fire get a little out of control. It isn't like the blew a dam in Colorado and killed a whole river. When the federal government calls people terrorsts and puts them in prison for doing less than federal employees do we have a problem."
Perhaps we can get Putin to provide several helicopter air drops of guns, ammunition and samsonite suitcase nukes so they can even this kerfuffle up.
You can bet on the Feds (FBI) moving in to quell the upstart patriots.
Vlad, they need you. The American people need you.
$100 (or 69 cents Canadian, take your pick) says that Putin and Co. have in their dirty tricks book a military plan for future contingency to arm separatists in the US. I read a lot of RT.com and other Russian news sites (to see both sides, and what they are up to) and one thing is common among them: To stir up as much discontent among their US reading crowd as possible.
Which, given the shitty government that we now live under is not at all that difficult. Easier than a pyromaniac trying to start a blaze in a refinery with only a lighter and a road flare in his hip pocket.
If they were in Russia, Putin would be planting daises now? Now seriously when will the cops use their power of 'civil forfeiture' laws. They could levy million dollars fines on these 'land thieves', confiscate all their property and evict them. If this is how they treat other Americans whose only crime is that they get a traffic ticket or can't pay court fines, why doesn't the same law apply to white law breakers?
These kooks are confusing freedom with anarchy. Like spoiled toddlers, their true aim is to do whatever they want, whenever they want.
You are somewhat right. When the government treads on me and mine...no one gave a shit....no one come to our aid.
What it is is the attitude of the federal government. Here in Utah where I live, the US Forest Service has put huge gates on former little unpaved public access roads with locks, denying you access by vehicle to your own property which may be in the form of mining claims. About 5 years ago an old man went through a gate to see his patented mining claims claiming the gate wasn't locked. The feds arrested him for trespass and a federal judge almost sentenced him to prison. I can't remember what his fine was but it obviously scared the crap out of him. Now he has to walk to his property but he is scared of doing that in case he walks on federal ground.
You know Vlad, I really think you are simply afraid of what's to come. Your simple lifestyle is coming to an end and you will need to make a choice about who you will back when the shooting starts. You know as well as I do that this has nothing to do with ranching and resources. This has been long overdue since the federal government has destroyed our economy, stolen our hard earned income, protected their big business buddies, let in millions of foreigners, destroyed countless middle eastern countries and created ISIS as their private proxy army to use around the world.
You're almost right but it's not the government, it's the corporations that call the shots, the government is the crony and the puppet. The corporations are the ones that ultimately benefit from the racket that is war, then they break off a peice for their revolving door politician goons. Nobody forces the corporations to make risky loans, ship jobs overseas, cook their books, hire illegal aliens, evade taxes, buybacks instead of growth, etc. They do all this because it's their obligation to maximize profit. A government by and for the people is the only antidote to this, not anarchy sorry.
A government by and for the People has obviously failed. What next?
I did up vote you as for the most part you are correct.
Great post John! Good summary of out traitorous government and its leaders. They've done and continue to do many things again our interests. Time for them to go.
",,,confusing freedom with anarchy. "
Dude. Anarchy *is* freedom.
War is peace.
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength.
Anarchy is chaos.
The government has had 200 years to learn there is so many diverse groups in this country that resistance is impossible. Do you think the 52% with government cushy jobs are going to come forward and risk their positions? Do you think black lives matter is going to show up to help? What a hoot that would be. Do you think the welfare queens will show up? Do you think the illegal aliens will show up? What about the new Muslims just imported? Maybe some of the big pharma group employees will show up with sandwich ad signs of course touting the latest cure all.
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2016/01/wolf-messing-predicts-collapse-of-u...
Maybe the time to stand up has long since passed while the citizens slept.
All you need is for 5% of the people to stand up.
EDIT: In America, make that .1%. I would like to see them defeat a 400k-strong, armed-to-the-teeth militia. Not going to happen. To paraphrase a Japanese general, the beautiful thing about the USA is there's an assault rifle behind every blade of grass.
Go AMERICA! FUCK THESE BOUGHT GOVERNMENT ASSHOLES! 1 for us 52,000 for them. Go shoot them up UNCLE SHAM and see how much more popular you become!
hopefully there isnt a 'hospital' om the premises
maybe they have done this in order to be the only newsworthy story of people in revolt, when the king returns from hawaii and signs some eggregious executive order concerning gun control. then the press, the slumbering majority and the outrage of the citizens will have a handy cause to support.
Maybe the Hammonds should claim 'affuenza' as their defense next time?
Aren't the Bundys millionaires like all the other ranchers living off farm subsidies? Back in 1980s, Americans held Farm Aid to help out indebted farmers. When was the time a farmer helped anyone? As Jimmy Rogers says " they are all driving Lamborghini's now."
flyso..., do I read the envy of a gummint clerk?
Where was the militia during Occupy Wall Street? Counting their money they got stashed in a bank, all thanks to Wall Street commodity manipulation. When these gun-trotting jackasses start supporting anyone other than themselves and their privileged lifestyles, maybe I will reconsider my position.
...illegal citizen occupiers are a problem ...undocumented citizen guests get free housing and meds
...illegal citizen occupiers are a problem
How true! Expecially when they occupy the White House. High treason by the Indonesian and high treason by Congress and the Supreme Court for not vetting and dealing with the guy.
And once again, thanks to RT for bringing us a news story that the American media didn't think was worth bringing to anyone's attention.
I have read a few other websites abot this. The disinfo machine is in FULL force, calling it white priveledge, how these guys should be killed and they are terrorists...fucking amazing.
The Feds will cut the power, water and gas. Use a generator and they will turn the power back on to fry the generator. They will road-block the area so no supplies get in. Nice try but it won't work. Occupy more than one building. Occupy a super-market, Utility centers and Courthouses (Judges think they are very special and will demand action). But that takes a sh!tload of more people and would probably involve kidnapping or false imprisonment. More logistics than just occupying an office when it's closed.
"Use a generator and they will turn the power back on to fry the generator. " Are you seriously that easy to beat? Pull the meter ya dunce..
Poorly planned yes, taking a fixed emplacement against the Feds is stupid.
Well, martyrdom gets people fired up, too.
BIG guns, BIG trucks, BIG ideas, Small penis, & No brains!
What is American, Alex?
It’s better to have a small penis than to spend your public-assisted existence trolling the internet between masturbation sessions.
I am a Christian, and do not masturbate, or collect 'public assistance', but I can be accused of being a troll, Sparehead.
Does that mean you're not the best you ever had?
- "I am a Christian, and do not masturbate" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA GOOD ONE
I thought you would like that one, Rusty Shorts.
:)
If this situation gets waco'ed then we all have to ask ourselves some hard questions and decide if it's time to put down the pen.
They'll do the internet kill-switch thingy if we get to that point. The "hard questions" will be asked and answered all in the same day.
Here's another article about what is going on. Seems pro Hammond family, but give's more details than the mainstream media is telling and may be closer to the truth. http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/01/03/full-story-on-whats-going...
Great article I would clearly say OVERREACH.