Armed militia continues to occupy forest reserve in Oregon
Armed militia continues to occupy forest reserve in Oregon – YouTube
A group of armed militants continued to occupy a federal wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon on Sunday, in an attempt to keep two local ranchers from going to prison. The group seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, located around 50 miles (80km) from Burns on Saturday
Feds Arrive in Oregon to “Take Control of the Situation”
KOIN 6 News in Portland, Oregon reports federal officials flew into the state on Sunday “to take control of the situation in Burns where around 20 armed militants seized control of a building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.”
The FBI is reportedly now working with local law enforcement to end the occupation. The FBI will be “the lead agency in dealing with the armed militants.”
“These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives to attempt to over throw the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States,” said the Harney County Sheriff Dave Warda in a statement released on Sunday.
“We are currently working jointly with several organizations to make sure the citizens of Harney County are safe and this issue is resolved as quickly and peaceful as possible. At this time we do not have any information that any other areas in Harney County are in immediate danger.
“We ask that people stay away from the refuge for their safety. We also ask that if anyone sees any of these individuals in the area to please contact law enforcement and do not confront the individuals themselves…”
Though
the FBI, the Harney County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon State Police
are all aware of the takeover, they have not detailed a plan to remove
the militants from the Malheur Wildlife Refuge headquarters, which is in
a remote area about 30 miles southeast of Burns.
lack of strident response “has, naturally, led to accusations of
terrorism by those online who see Bundy’s actions as unlawful, to put it
mildly. Those people also believe it is groups like blacks and Muslims
who are typically and often unfairly associated with the word. Outrage
grew over both a lack of response from the National Guard, as well as
the mainstream media’s avoidance of issuing labels where white people
are normally concerned.”
writing for Gawker, called the thus far non-violent occupation
a “domestic terror situation” and said while “#OregonUnderAttack was
trending for most of the day on Sunday, another tag soon followed as a
way to combat the reluctance to call a bunch of white men waving around
guns at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge terrorists: #YallQaeda. The
tag is dumb, yes, but so are these people.”
Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2016/01/armed-militia-continues-to-occupy.html
I believe you can defuse the Hammond/Bundy Malhuer problem if you follow U.S. Sen. John Thune’s lead and publicly hold the BLM accountable for their own inability to control the wildfires they started. With this very sound negotiating point you will be able move attention away from “an armed standoff” to a middle ground that gives both sides an “out”. The attention needs to be directed to the BLM’s long history of setting fires that have burned out of control consuming thousands of acres of private and public property. The millions of dollars in damage to structures, land, burned and maimed native animals, livestock, and duress placed on families and communities is unacceptable.
Charging the Hammond’s as terrorists is hypocritical when you take into account what the BLM has done. The BLM needs to be held accountable for their “terrorist” crimes against the public. Years after ranchers have been burned out the BLM has made no effort to compensate for the damages.
Watch this video of U.S. Sen. John Thune Challenging the BLM for what they have done in his state.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=3qsU-nhFFZc