"It's Time For You To Leave": Oregon Sheriff Demands Militiamen "Peacefully" Depart
Despite Ammon Bundy’s best efforts to explain the motives of the militiamen who over the weekend seized control of a remote federal building in Oregon, it’s still not entirely clear why several dozen US citizens decided to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
WaPo is probably correct to say that there "are gun rights issues, religious overtones, broad strains of anti-government sentiment and even the tactics of the Occupy Wall Street movement" at play, but like the Occupy movement, those holed up in the snowy government outpost have yet to articulate a coherent set of grievances to justify their cause.
As we outlined on Sunday, Ammon Bundy is the son of Cliven Bundy, a kind of folk hero at the heart of a 2014 standoff with the government that ended with what some say was a victory for individual and state’s rights.
As I said on @CNN this morning, I love my wife & family. I have no plans nor desire to die. We are peaceful people. #OccupyMalheur
— Ammon Bundy (@Ammon_Bundy) January 4, 2016
Apparently, the younger Bundy is attempting to engineer another direct conflict with federal authorities by rallying around the “cause” of Dwight Hammond and his son Steven, who were sent back to jail on Monday for arson.
Bundy and the rest of the militiamen (who say they're "in it for the long haul" and who have named themselves the "Citizens for Constitutional Freedom") camped out at Malheur have indicated they’re prepared to fight should the government move to forcibly remove them from the wildlife refuge and at least one American is calling for “shoot to kill” orders for the National Guard.
In what may perhaps mark the beginning of open hostilities between authorities and the militia, Harney County Sheriff David Ward politely told the group that “it’s time to leave” on Monday.
"You said you were here to help the citizens of Harney County. It is time for you to leave our community, go home to your families, and end this peacefully,” Ward said, on behalf of himself and county Judge Steven Grasty.
As Reuters explains, “the Oregon occupation marks the latest skirmish in the so-called sagebrush rebellion, a decades-old conflict over federal control of millions of acres of land and natural resources in the West.”
Bundy insists the militiamen are “patriots,” but Wendy Bull, a teacher in Burns whose husband, a social worker, operates a local clinic run by the U.S. Veteran Affairs Department, says the men are “domestic terrorists.” As Reuters goes on to note, “the takeover in Oregon [has drawn] criticism on social media, with some users asking if the occupiers would have been treated differently if they had been black or Muslim.”
BBC got an inside look at life inside the compound. “When we arrived in darkness all was calm and quiet,” columnist James Cook begins. “We were greeted courteously by men carrying copies of the US constitution, who told us they were unarmed.” Here’s more:
They had draped the US flag over a sign at the entrance to the wildlife refuge and they offered us a cup of coffee.
The guards told us that the armed men inside were not taking visitors at present but would be happy to come out and meet the media face to face in the morning.
One of the men tried to give me a small US Fish and Wildlife Service sign from the building "as a souvenir".
"It's mine," he said, "I paid for it," making a reference to his taxes.
Some people in the community around the town of Burns say while they do not approve of the methods, they are in tune with the sentiment.
Back at the bird reserve, the mood changed slightly as the day dawned, the birds started singing and the winter sun struggled to pierce the hazy clouds.
The media were now at the gate in force and the men there were more reluctant to talk.
"We need to stick to the narrative," one told us as he explained why we needed to wait for their leader Ammon Bundy.
Down a slight hill, we could now see the headquarters clearly, the red roofs of the sheds standing out against the snow.
Several dark-clad figures moved around in the complex.
When Mr Bundy emerged to speak to the media he refused to tell me how many people were inside the bird sanctuary or how many were armed but, after the news conference, camera crews were given a limited tour of the site.
We were told we would not be shown anything relating to "operational security" or anything that would "put lives at risk" and, indeed, we were kept away from any weapons on the site.
A number of US government vehicles sat in the car park, covered in snow.
We were not allowed into most of the buildings and saw no more than a dozen men and one woman inside.
We were taken into a building where one of the protestors said he had been sleeping. It appeared to be a gym for the federal employees who usually manage this land.
There were cans of chicken noodle soup, oranges, apples and other food.
Through a glass window we could see a man and a woman cooking food in a kitchen. The site appeared to be in good condition.
Yes, the "site appears to be in good condition" - for now.
Three administration officials who spoke to Reuters said federal authorities are "following U.S. policy guidelines instituted to prevent standoffs from turning violent in the wake of deadly clashes at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas in the early 1990s."
It's unclear how long that protocol will last, but rest assured, there's only so long the government is going to allow this sideshow to persist. After all, if one bird sanctuary falls to "militants", what's to keep another from falling tomorrow? Before long, there may be no federally administered bird sanctuaries left.
All sarcasm aside, the question here is clearly this: how long will it be before the government abandons the new "policy guidelines" and reverts to the pre-Waco strategy that would see the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge turned into a bad day in Fallujah?
(17 votes)
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Armed insurrectionists?
Sounds like the founding fathers to me.
Ward, having no cojones of his own, is surely being threatened by the brown shirts: a patsy to make their multi-million dollar operation, run from a control room in the district of criminals, appear local.
Good lord these idiots are simpletons. Look at this quote from Susan Hammond the wife of one of the ranchers headed to jail.
“I don’t really know the purpose of the guys who are out there,” said Susan Hammond. “I don’t even know what ‘occupying the refuge’ means. I can’t judge what’s going on out there because I don’t know what it is,” she said.
These "patriots" don't even have the support of the wife of one of the main characters in this mess. That about says it all...
Why there's even a fed facility that far out in the boonies is beyond me.
Hundreds of thousands of people are given unfair court sentences every year (or just killed by cops without a trail). Protesting injustice is great but you kooks think this will somehow bring down the Federal government LOL.
Comment to an article about one of the people involved in the standofff:
"
BINGO!
This guy is associated with Rita Katz and Pam Geller!
He is a major participant in this affair in Burns!He is a guard for Ammon Bundy!
Jon Ritzheimer, a prolific creator of online propaganda against Islam, has joined crew of militiamen who claim to be guardians of US constitution
A prolific creator of online propaganda against Islam, Ritzheimer came to the attention of the FBI in December after he reportedly posted a video of himself holding a gun and threatening to drive to Hancock, New York, to confront journalists at a Muslim publication that had criticised him. The FBI, after initially dissuading him from the confrontation, notified state police of his potential arrival, according to reports."
NUFF SAID
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/04/oregon-malheur-wildlife-reserve-militia-occupation-anti-islam-activist-john-ritzheimer
Just turn on the klieg lights and pump some rap music 24/7 and they will leave.
They should be throwing around quips from Blazing Saddles.
http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/no-heroes-in-the-west-fire-feds-and-freeloaders/?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoku63BZKXonjHpfsX87eQtUaKg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YIGSsB0aPyQAgobGp5I5FEBS7TYRKtst6cMUw%3D%3D
Rural Americans do not live in the real world, but they think they do. Frankly, the real world is about to knock on all their doors at the same time, and the message delivered will be understood by all as soon as they start dropping like flies after they are collectively sprayed with hollow point bullets from Federally issued automatic weapons. In brief, Uncle Sam is a tyrant loaded for bear with itchy trigger fingers, a bad attitude, and taxpayer supplied weaponry, and paycheques that never stop being delivered.
Wilf Brimley was just a TV actor, and not a real character, America.
Get a fucking life, and turn the TV off, eh.
EXACTLY AS I HAVE BEEN TELLING EVERYONE OVER AND OVER!
1) There is NO mainstream support for these "patriots" from hard working Americans.
2) A large number of these online "patriots" aren't even real Americans. They are cyber douche agents for Russia, Syria and Iran POSING as real Americans! They say things like:
"I'd love to be out there helping you boys defend the cosntitution, but I'm home here in Iowa looking for a job since Obama took mine. Don't let the government thugs steal our land and our guns! Time to take action! I'm there with you in spirit brothers!"
The problem is these assholes are in Moscow!!!!!!! The faux American (Vladimir Dipshchitsky) probably couldn't find Iowa on a map unless there was a vodka distillery there...
Think I'm wrong? Look at what one of these "patriots" just said.
----
Captain Moroni said he participated in the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff, and he was disappointed that more protesters did not arrive.
“I feel quite betrayed. It’s been on Facebook that everyone is going to come. And we show up, and everyone just craps out,” he said. “You come up here, ready to get killed if we have to and these people are just on Facebook about it.
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OF COURSE THEY DON'T SHOW UP MORONI! ITS A LONG HAUL FROM MOSCOW/TEHRAN/DAMASCUS VIA FACEBOOK...
Morons. Complete morons played over and over by foreign agents. Incredible...
alphaHammer ... no doubt. Plenty of foreign trolls all over the blogs, and probably a few spies.
FACEBOOK is living proof that Apathy and Lies reign supreme in the world today. Tons of people throwing away their entire lives on FaceBook. Incredible.
They should agree to leave as soon as Montel Williams and Mayor Bloomberg are thrown into wood chippers.
I always enjoyed shooting all the cattle that I encountered while hiking on "public" lands, regardless of the land designation, creating coyote & buzzard food.
This is the 21st century, not the 17th century, almost everything natural has been developed or destroyed, and we need to preserve nature a lot more than we need to provide grazing to a handful of living fossil cowboy wanna-be's locked into a long gone era.
If you look at the economics of grazing - the BLM is actually a very generous organization. Typical fees charged by the BLM are only about 10-15% of the cost of using private land. If you own some cows and you want to graze them on private land - it will cost you a fortune compared to BLM land. So really, folks like the Bundy's and the Hammonds are getting a very good deal with these grazing rights. It's not possible for America to go back to the days of the Wild West ... there is no free land any more. My personal impression of old man Bundy is that the guy was a freeloader who pushed things way over the edge. There are plenty of ranchers in the West who buy BLM rights and behave like responsible people. Bundy whipped up a lot of public opinion, but he was abusing the grazing rights.
The Hammonds were a little different. They paid for the land (grazing fees). The Government says that when the first fire occurred, the Hammonds had poached deer and they lit the fire to cover the evidence. But the fire got out of control. OK - that is a real problem. And the Hammonds did jail time for that. But the second fire was a backburn ... the real fire was started by lightning. Plenty of ranchers use backburns if their property is endangered. The enforcement against the Hammonds looks pretty severe, especially against an old man in his 70's. They are self-reliant ranchers, but not terrorists. I really think that Washington DC is way out of touch with people in the West. It's a whole different world that they do not understand.
I've got no idea what's going on with the militants who seized the wildlife refuge. I'm not sure that anyone knows what they believe. But they are advocating "armed insurrection". It ain't gonna' work. and they should know that. The US Government does not bargain with armed militants. There is no point in the Bundy's making demands. I'm not a consitutional lawyer - but it's possible that the Government has the option to use military force. It only takes one or two tanks ... and it's all over. If the Government decides to clamp down ... it's Game Over.
I tell again
The thing american govt fears most is radiation.
So get hold of some nuclear material , strap it to explosives
when they threaten to come for you
tell them that it will be blown
let the govt cringe
POSTED on AP News by a Reader today ...
From JAYNE (Oregon Rancher): "I've been a cattle rancher for 50 years here in Oregon. Federal land is NOT my land. It is YOUR land. I have watched family farms disolve into corporations that use and abuse Federal land for grazing. Bundy's need to go to jail, not the Hammonds. The Hammonds need to stop poaching. The cattle are being removed from public lands for some very serious and good reasons. The plant base is declining, which means there is not enough food to sustain the millions of cattle alongside the human induced irrupted numbers of elk and deer raised for the fun and State profits of killing them. Millions of dollars are made every year from just the tag sales! Wild horses are also being removed for the same reasons. Sadly however, they are also removing the apex predator guild of the cougar, the wolf and the bear which for millions of years controlled the ungulate (elk, deer, and now the invasive species cattle) populations from harming the soil and plant base. The Northwest's plant and soil base was not designed to sustain the millions of irrupted numbers of ungulates, and it is declining fast. Soil cannot hold moisture because it has become compressed, stream channels are being destroyed and fish are dying in record numbers because the water has become too hot due to the plant base (and tree) loss from the ungulates. Soil is blowing away. Native plants are going extinct. So are some of the wildlife. Diversity, soil, plants and native wildlife are being expunged from the ecosystem in favor of cattle. Don't eat Bundy's beef. It is killing us and the planet. Bundy owes us one million dollars. And about six million in Government expenses rendered from his cattle operation on our Public Lands!! Unlike tourist dollars that gain $5.00 for every dollar spent by the public on Federal lands, cattle ranching costs our Government $6.00 for every dollar they take in from the ranchers grazing fees. So the real cost of your steak is higher taxes. "
They should threaten tax referendums for private nature reserves, who owns this reserve?
Who has the title?