Pizza And Assault Rifles: Inside The Occupied Oregon Wildlife Refuge

Tyler Durden's picture




 

When last we checked in on Ammon Bundy and his band of “patriots”, Harney County Sheriff David Ward was getting fed up with the group’s occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

“It is time for you to leave our community, go home to your families, and end this peacefully,” Ward said on Tuesday.

But Ammon Bundy and the handful of armed militiamen holed up at the remote, snowy federal outpost have no such plans. The “Citizens for Constitutional Freedom” (as they now call themselves) are in it for the long haul and have pledged, at various times since “seizing” the office last Saturday, to remain in the building “for years.”

While it’s not entirely clear what Bundy wants, the group’s professed goal is to “"restore the rights to people so they can use the land and resources.” Here’s a bit of helpful color from Terry Andersen, the William A. Dunn Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center and the John and Jean DeNault Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (from a New York Times op-ed):

Their goal harkens back the “Sagebrush Rebellion” of the 1970s, though their tactics are more draconian. Then the rebels called for more local control of federal lands, if not outright transfer of title to those lands to the states, and such solutions are still worth considering.

 

The impetus for the Oregon occupation is the imprisonment of a father and son for setting fire to federal lands to control invasive species moving to private lands and to help prevent wildfires, a huge land management problem in the West.

 

Living in the mountains south of Bozeman, Mont., I feel their pain because every summer I fight spotted knapweed, an invasive plant spread from my national forest neighbors, and I fear that wildfire will spread from the unmanaged federal land.

 

The second cause is “multiple conflicts over multiple uses.” At the time of the Sagebrush Rebellion the list of multiple uses that federal land agencies were to manage was huge. It is growing exponentially.

 

Western ranchers, loggers, farmers and, yes, even government bureaucrats with their feet on the ground could provide the stewardship sought by the rebels in Oregon. Now that armed confrontation has brought attention to their cause, we need to consider policies that will devolve management to lower levels of government and get the incentives right for encouraging environmental and fiscal responsibility

And here's a bit more from Salon:

The Bundys have been up in arms about where their cattle can and can’t roam, and their father, Cliven, owes more than $1 million in grazing fees. And the Hammonds are being punished for setting fire to public land. If you live in some other part of the country—in, say, a bustling East Coast city—what do ranching restrictions and arson have to do with you? The short answer: The land use regulations that the occupiers of the Malheur Refuge are fighting go far beyond where cattle can roam. How we use our land determines what comes out of it in the form of extracted resources, which then affects so much else, from what kind of air we breathe to how many earthquakes we experience–not to mention our changing climate. It would not be a stretch to say that caring about land use means caring about the fate of our planet.

 

In his “Wilderness Letter,” Wallace Stegner wrote that we need to preserve wilderness “even if we never once in ten years set foot in it.” Wild lands, according to Stegner, are important “simply as an idea.” But land use is about much more than what land we preserve as wilderness, or even what land we set aside for recreation and enjoyment. While wilderness is indeed valuable, there is plenty of non-wilderness public land whose fate matters just as much.

 

The Sagebrush Rebels argue that this federal land should’ve belonged to the states to begin with, according to a clause under the Doctrine of the Equality of States, which says new states enter the union “on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever.” Several Western states were required to disclaim their sovereignty over unappropriated lands when they became states, and the Sagebrush Rebels have never gotten over it. This is why they continue to demand the “return” of federal land to the states—though that would necessitate the land once having belonged to the states, and it never really did.

Ok, so Bundy, like his father, has become something of a folk hero among states' rights advocates and he's essentially hijacked the Hammond brush fire case and transformed it into a justification for the armed occupation of a federal building. 

Of course it's probably occurred to Bundy - if not to every member of the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom - that the US government couldn't legislate its way out of a wet paper bag let alone fruitfully revisit a grand debate on land use and state's rights. That is, Washington is mired in partisan bickering that's created the worst Congressional gridlock in recent memory which means that even if someone cared to address Bundy's concerns, they couldn't. 

But Bundy is apparently ready to wait around in the woods until something happens. "There is a time to go home. We recognize that. We don't feel it's quite time yet," he said on Wednesday. "We feel like we need to make sure that the Hammonds are out of prison, or well on their way. We need to make sure that there is some teeth in these land transfers, and also that those who have committed crimes ... those are exposed as well."

In the meantime, Reuters got an inside look at life inside occupied bird sanctuary. Here are some excerpts from their account:

The doorknob rattled. Two of the men occupying a federal biologist's office in a stand-off over land rights hopped from their chairs and swung rifles toward the locked door.

 

There was no knock - the established procedure for gaining entry to the nerve center of the siege mounted by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy at this eastern Oregon nature center.

 

The Bundys’ body guard stood in silent alert but heard no voices from the snowy darkness outside.

 

"Should we approach the door or not?" Ryan asked, creeping toward a window.

 

On Tuesday, for the first time, they allowed two reporters to join them inside their refuge for a night marked by long discussions and moments of hair-trigger tension.

 

As the two Reuters’ reporters arrived just after nightfall, the occupiers were moving into a state of high alert. The groups’ head of security, a man known as Buddha, had been out of touch since driving off-site hours earlier. Amid efforts to locate him, the Bundys talked at length about what had brought them into this wilderness--and what it would take for them to leave.

 

"When we can say, 'OK, now we can go home,' would be when the people of Harney County are secure enough and confident enough that they can continue to manage their own land and their own rights and resources without our aid, " Ryan Bundy said. "And we intend to turn this facility into a facility that will aid that process."

 

The brothers have taken over the cozy and cluttered office of Linda Sue Beck, a biologist and civil servant they have come to view as a symbol the federal government. They said they would allow Beck to come to gather her personal belongings. But they don’t want her to return to work.

 

“She’s not here working for the people,” declared Ryan Bundy, the more outspoken of the brothers. “She’s not benefitting America. She’s part of what’s destroying America.”

Yes, Linda is "part of what's destroying America." Behold, the face of government oppression:

And while we doubt that Linda will be stopping by to "gather her personal belongings," Bundy says the group is expecting visitors soon. On Tuesday Bundy said that based on information he received from an unnamed source, the FBI has obtained five arrest warrants, and is "gathering their equipment and their goons" at a local high school. "They were planning on coming in and raiding the refuge," he added. 

As Reuters goes on to note, there are times when the group questions themselves. “When is it enough to put yourself and other people’s lives on the line? Is it justified? Maybe in the end we’ll look at each other and say, ‘What are we doing?’” 

Yes, "maybe." But until then, many of the men suggest that if push comes to shove, they're prepared to die for Bundy and his cause. On that note, we'll close with a quote from Wes Kjar, a 31-year-old oil rig worker who's convinced the FBI is set to storm the building:

“I’m not saying I want to die. I want to surrender. But I want to surrender on the right terms.”

 

 

 

The full clip is below:

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Thu, 01/07/2016 - 17:20 | 7013739 yellensNIRPles
yellensNIRPles's picture

There it is! I was just wondering why we haven't heard a peep about this since the markets started to tank. Good looking out.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 17:24 | 7013765 MrNosey
MrNosey's picture

Never give up your guns, this is what happens when you are unarmed and have to try and defend yourself against this......

 

http://beforeitsnews.com/global-unrest/2016/01/1000-depraved-migrants-ra...

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 17:25 | 7013781 kerfuffled
kerfuffled's picture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_14ZIcUQBIw Köln Rapefugees im Einsatz

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 17:40 | 7013846 LowerSlowerDela...
LowerSlowerDelaware_LSD's picture

OCCUPY BIG GOVERNMENT!!!

More dangerous that Wall Street yet the "news" has no flood of sympathy stories for their plight.  Who'd of thought?...

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 17:45 | 7013883 Vlad the Inhaler
Vlad the Inhaler's picture

SEND SNACKS!!!

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:02 | 7013978 COSMOS
COSMOS's picture

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/01/malhe...

Sheriffs can end up on boards of mining companies after their term in office.  Just look at that story, the two guys in the picture one of them is ...

Andrew Bentz and Andy Gaudielle of Calico Resources USA stand atop an estimated 425,000 ounces of gold in the bowels of Grassy Mountain south of Vale.

later down the article....Mineral-bearing rock would be milled for microscopic gold in a closed chemical process that wouldn't include the bird-attracting open settling ponds of diluted cyanide that worried Newmont's opponents, said Bentz, a retired Malheur County sheriff.....Calico Resources would take a dramatically different approach, said Andrew Bentz of Ontario, spokesman for Calico. The company proposes to sink an 850-foot underground shaft or tunnel to remove 1,000 tons of ore per day from Grassy Mountain

Maybe this sheriff now in office trying to get Bundy off the land will get a job on the board of the mining company.  Watch out Bundy the local sheriff may be gunning for you.

The west has seen its fair share of crooked sheriffs.  I remember this one episode in Bonanza where a crooked local sheriff was looking to take some rancher's land by framing them for a murder and ended up killing the rancher's wife.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:04 | 7014006 Ms No
Ms No's picture

Good point.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:39 | 7014164 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Listening to KHNC 1360 out of Johnstown CO right now. A guy is speaking who was at the peaceful gathering Saturday. These guys who took over the Fed building broke away and did this on their own. It was not planned and is not supported by the larger group. He said he suspects two in Ammon Bundy's group are probably agents provocateurs.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:47 | 7014205 TruxtonSpangler
TruxtonSpangler's picture

Ryan Payne and Cooper are FBI plants

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:01 | 7014265 beemasters
beemasters's picture

Linda is a carp???
Carps are considered pests and noxious fish. Good to take her out to stop her from breeding.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:03 | 7014279 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Stop your carping......

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:15 | 7014324 Stainless Steel Rat
Stainless Steel Rat's picture

Shhhhh! Ranger Payne is talking!

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 20:08 | 7014575 tenpanhandle
tenpanhandle's picture

The building is occupied by ideologues...no different from previous, just different flavor.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:08 | 7014015 Eirik Magnus Larssen
Eirik Magnus Larssen's picture

Your "champions of liberty" certainly look like classy, sophisticated people.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:19 | 7014074 STP
STP's picture

The terms classy and sophisticated don't apply here, as those type of people are usually trying to impress other people, versus really doing something of value.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:39 | 7014466 Stainless Steel Rat
Stainless Steel Rat's picture

"The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle."

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:38 | 7014159 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Your champions are raping innocent women.  Put that white baby down, you can't eat it.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:40 | 7014162 McMolotov
McMolotov's picture

Well they're certainly not as "classy" and "sophisticated" as you, Eirik, since that apparently entails believing governments should imprison citizens for expressing "wrong" viewpoints. I'm going to remind everyone of that tidbit everytime you start in on one of your sanctimonious lectures.

Of all the hypocrites on ZH — and there are a lot of them — you're by far the most obnoxious. And stop up-voting yourself. It's pathetic.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 20:16 | 7014603 slyhill
slyhill's picture

jc, Quasimodo at the end there looks like he just needs a hug.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:53 | 7016695 my_nym
my_nym's picture

If they were gay white cowboys then the anti-white degenerates and sex in the city vote would want to make a movie about them.  Run along, go get an African pygmy to fuck you.  (Or consider your task here of trying to incite white men to tribal consciousness over.) 

The only question remaining here as the genocide of Europeans sought by "the elites" plays out back in Europe is how much diversity is in the intelligence agencies (and Jews) of the federal government.  And whether or not Europeans still back in Europe will rebel against Jewish supremacy.  

If these "white racist cowboy men" were Jews then they could be celebrating burning toddlers to death with nary a peep from the cosmopolitan, degenerate class that the wealth the ethnic spine of the country supports in the cities and its multicultural, international Empire.   Indeed, the Multicultural Empire would be funding and arming them.  "Arson."  "Terrorism."

Your "champions of multiculturalism" certainly look like classy people.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:23 | 7014092 OhNo
OhNo's picture

You gutless yanks heres your chance to stand up for your freedums useless pricks.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:29 | 7014405 franzpick
franzpick's picture

'America's Crooked Sheriffs', AMZN, $94 paperback, $622 hardback: 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964278014?keywords=Americas%20crooked%...

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 17:48 | 7013902 freewolf7
freewolf7's picture

This is just sad to watch.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:19 | 7014072 Bangin7GramRocks
Bangin7GramRocks's picture

The Hungry Man Militia needs a collective limp dick smack! I support individual rights and I certainly feel for the two guys in prison. But this Bundy boob is just looking for fame and attention. Please stop giving it to him!

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:24 | 7014100 STP
STP's picture

Wrong.  Ammon is a strong supporter of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  He's not 'looking for fame and attention', but what he has done, is at least bring the subject of Federal Control over State lands to the forefront.  Even if he loses the battle, he'll have advanced the front.  I've met them and they are not 'glory seekers' by any means.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:35 | 7014145 Still Losing Money
Still Losing Money's picture

you can support the constitution and still be an IDIOT and he's an IDIOT

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 21:13 | 7014912 Econolingus
Econolingus's picture

"Ammon Bundy is a strong supporter of his deeply-flawed understanding of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights."  There, fixed it for ya.    

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:13 | 7014318 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

If he is, I pity him.

The constant free drinks ,and ever willing groupies got tiresome after a few years.

Just kidding.

 

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:54 | 7016712 my_nym
my_nym's picture

Any leader or group of leaders that emerge will have to have fame and attention.

That's what being a leader is.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:11 | 7014037 Quasi
Quasi's picture

Jesus H...  do you really need to spam this link on every thread for the entire week? And why, for the love of God would you use a B4N link? It's not like this is some hidden secret that no one is reporting. It's been on every website your average ZHer frequents on a daily basis.  Quit acting like you're Alex Jones with some sooper sekrit news that no one else has!

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 20:07 | 7014568 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Who you talkin' to?

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 21:49 | 7015074 Implied Violins
Implied Violins's picture

Tip: take your cursor, place it at the top left corner of the text box you are looking at, then scroll straight up until you hit another text box (not the side of one). That is how to find who someone is replying to. Revelation: it took me a year to figure that out.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 21:52 | 7015090 FredFlintstone
FredFlintstone's picture

What's a cursor?

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 22:08 | 7015153 Al Tinfoil
Al Tinfoil's picture

Is it a person who uses swear words?

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 17:44 | 7013773 Hitlery_4_Dictator
Hitlery_4_Dictator's picture

.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 17:45 | 7013858 zorba THE GREEK
zorba THE GREEK's picture

If the government were smart, they would just let them stay there as long as they wanted.

Even let them get pizza delivered. But who said the government was smart.

I hope they have a big shootout with Fed agents and start the revolution...someone has to.

GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC !!!!!

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:13 | 7014049 lincolnsteffens
lincolnsteffens's picture

You sound like an armchair warrior. You may think an armed revoultion is what is needed. You don't need to start shooting. In fact the gov. is more than prepared to tamp down a few significant uprisings. They need your compliance and they need you to keep funding and voting for them. So just fucking stop doing that.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:27 | 7014115 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

I'm not so sure that this is "the cause," under which anybody should start a rebellion.  Where in the Const. does it say the Feds can't own land? 

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:41 | 7014172 nscholten
nscholten's picture

Do you read anything?  This is a typical poisoned brain dead American citizen response.  Don't be such a fucktard.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:21 | 7014351 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

Yeah - I actually can read pretty well.  How about you?

The condensed version:  You've got the Bundy's who knew thew would be charged for grazing cattle on public/federal land, and then they didn't pay.  They went to court and lost.  Now two of the clan have been charged with arson for setting brush fires on said public/federal land, and Ammon has responded by taking over the BLM office.

FYI - see the excerpts/cases below.  Seem pretty much on-point.  

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 00:56 | 7015671 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

See Art IV, Sec. 3 below, as well as the Light and Camfield cases below.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:53 | 7014236 Bossmech
Bossmech's picture

Article 1, Section 8> To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 18:59 | 7014258 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

Yet Art. IV, Sec. 3 says:

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular state.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:20 | 7014350 New England Patriot
New England Patriot's picture

In which case Article 4, Sec. 3 is subject to Article 1, Sec. 8. 

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:23 | 7014368 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

I'm not so sure that's how it works.  See below.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:27 | 7014378 New England Patriot
New England Patriot's picture

That's exactly how it works. See above.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:34 | 7014438 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

I don't see a citation above stating that earlier Articles are superior to any of the following Articles. . . 

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:36 | 7014449 New England Patriot
New England Patriot's picture

There isn't one. All articles are subject to one another. 

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 19:39 | 7014469 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

That's a different argument.  Now we're talking about how to reconcile apparent inconsistencies.

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