The protesters and armed militia members who have occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon say they don’t want violence.
But as the occupation extends to its fourth day, some law enforcement experts are worried that bloodshed may be inevitable.
Law enforcement analyst Art Roderick told CNN that a confrontation with a large law enforcement force is what the protesters, who are concerned about the use of public lands in the West, are “looking for.”
And in interviews this week, protest leader Ammon Bundy (son of rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a 2014 Nevada standoff with the government over grazing rights) said that if a raid were to occur, the men and women occupying the refuge would defend themselves.
Bundy has said the protesters have enough food and supplies to last for months, if needed.
So far, the remote location of the refuge has allowed federal and local officials to hang back and see how the situation plays out. Schools were canceled this week in the small town of Burns, near where the refuge is located, but by and large there is no immediate danger to the public.
But the takeover puts federal officials in a delicate position of deciding whether to confront the occupiers, risking bloodshed, or stand back and possibly embolden others to directly confront the government. Right now, an estimated two dozen protesters, many armed, are occupying the refuge. But experts are warning that if the numbers swell and reach a critical mass, law enforcement officials may feel compelled to act.
And growing the number of protesters seems to be what Bundy has in mind. In a post to the Bundy Ranch Facebook page early this morning, Ammon Bundy encouraged more people to join the occupation of the refuge.
“We need more good men and women to come and participate in the work,” Bundy wrote. “We have good facilities and regular meals. Come and be part of assisting the people in claiming & using their lands and resources. There are no road block, just navigate to the refuge and look for the media trucks.”
The activists seized the refuge about 300 miles from Portland on Saturday night. The armed group said it wants an inquiry into whether the government is forcing ranchers off their land after Dwight Hammond and his son, Steven, reported back to prison Monday.
The Hammonds were convicted of arson three years ago for fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006, one of which was set to cover up deer poaching, according to prosecutors. The men served no more than a year until an appeals court judge ruled the terms fell short of minimum sentences that require them to serve about four more years.
President Barack Obama said Monday federal authorities were monitoring the situation, but agents made no apparent moves to surround the property or confront the group — an approach that reflected lessons learned from bloody standoffs at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas, in the early 1990s. That prompted complaints from many observers who suggested the government’s response would have been swifter and more severe had the occupants been Muslim or other minorities.
“There seems to be somewhat of a reluctance to think white people are as dangerous as people of color,” said Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
Beirich said the group was emboldened by the government’s failure to hold Cliven Bundy or his supporters accountable in 2014 after hundreds of armed anti-government activists rallied to his defense when federal authorities started seizing his cattle over more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees.
Michael Barkun, an emeritus professor at Syracuse University who has studied extremist groups, said not confronting the Oregon group could embolden others.
“You can say, well, a negotiated settlement emboldens them,” he said. “But by the same token it deprives them of a confrontation that some of them want.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
tony newbill says
Why the Hammonds?
“The story is like an onion, you just keep peeling back the layers,”
Maupin said.
In an effort to stave off what they feared was a pending
Clinton/Babbitt monument designation in 2000, a group of ranchers on the scenic
Steens Mountain worked with Oregon Representative Greg Walden, a Republican, to
draft and enact the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Act
that would prevent such a deed. The ranchers agreed to work with special
interest “environmental” groups like the aggressive Oregon Natural Desert
Association and others to protect the higher-than 10,000-foot peak.
A number of ranchers at the top of the mountain traded their BLM
permits and private property for land on the valley floor, allowing Congress to
create a 170,000 acre wilderness in 2000, with almost 100,000 acres being
“cow-free.”
“The last holdouts on that cow-free wilderness are the Hammonds,” said
Maupin. Though some still have BLM grazing permits, the Hammonds are the last
private landowners in the area.
In the Hammonds’ plea agreement in the 2012 trial, the BLM obtained the
first right of refusal should the family have to sell their private
land, Maupin added.
“It’s become more and more obvious over the years that the BLM and the
wildlife refuge want that ranch. It would tie in with what they have,” said
Rusty Inglis, an area rancher and retired U.S. Forest Service employee.
Read more here , http://www.tsln.com/news/18837869-113/where-theres-smoke
Oregon Farm Bureau President Barry Bushue’s response: http://www.tsln.com/news/18551282-113/story.html
“BLM accused the Hammonds of endangering lives, but a jury found they did not. Saying they ‘intentionally’ set fire to public land or threatened lives is not what the jury concluded. Federal attorney Billy Williams is wrong in his overblown statements in court yesterday. But he has helped frame the debate as we start to look at BLM’s own actions. If Williams’ rhetoric is the standard, BLM will have a lot of explaining to do, far beyond what they’ve done in this case,” said OFB President Barry Bushue.
–Oregon Farm Bureau
This Guy says he was an ambassador but what he says about the Hammonds is shocking …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6DCk_MkuIs
http://drwilliammount.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2016-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2017-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=5
unbelievable about the hammonds and the US DA that prosecuted them ……
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/01/04/unbelievable-update-oregon-bundy-militia-standoff-the-federal-prosecutor-at-the-heart-of-the-hammond-family-problem/
I Love the Oregon Cattlemens Association !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://orcattle.com/2016/01/04/burns-the-hammonds-and-oregon-cattlemens-association/
There is a rancher thats went to the wildlife center and is talking about his ranch being put out of business by the antiquities act that Obama is getting ready to enact on Jan 16
Check this out Bundy talking to this rancher about whats going on today !!!!!!!! https://www.facebook.com/bundyranch/videos/939148952828580/
heres another rancher at the wildlife refuge talking about the Canyons Monument act
https://www.facebook.com/bundyranch/videos/939409412802534/
mesaman says
I hope you can allow disagreement with your opinionated, media-influenced conclusions. Violence, as an option, is most likely in the minds of the liberal-socialist-communist camp allow known as the democrat party. It is most likely read by the average American in the biased, slanted articles (ergo,opinons) of the leftist news media. It was and is the intent of the American rancher to have the federal government step back and cede some of its instrusive power which it has gained over the decades. Common sense and a rational regard for this earth has been vacated by laws and rules and decisions made by those furthest away from the age-old agrarian society of the last century. My life would be much more pleasant without our government’s help.
Marlene Langert says
I find myself hoping that the government tries to get the National GUard to fight theranchers at the wildlife center and they refuse. It would be even better if the National Guard, the police and the military all decide to fight Obama’s government. THose of us who just want our liberties back should fight for them.
johnny roberts says
Amen “
Edmond X. Ramirez Sr. says
The Hammond family was raped again and again by the Federal government and the miscreant U.S prosecutors and Judges – without a doubt – if every American who reads what the government did to these people isn’t ready to bear arms against the government I would be surprised. The militiamen who are there are might have to fight, but you better understand that they are fighting for your freedom and mine. We better support the men and this family on this issue because it could be you or me next … and that’s a fact! I’m 80 and a vet and I would be on the frontlines if I could and those of you who are able should consider going or helping in some way, these people are willing to fight for us all. Also, call your Congressmen and Senators (I’m doing that next) and demand that the Hammond men be released from prison, given all their land and rights back and punitive damages commensurate with the crime by the Government. Don’t just sit there, do something, do it to protect your rights under the Constitution!
Kathy says
Absolutely! Well said Edmond. Unfortunately, most of the men in this country are more interested in their Sunday afternoon football, and their women are content to serve them beer and buffalo wings, and then sit around gossiping about the latest Hollywood fashions with the other wives… Americans will believe whatever they’re told to believe, and will sit back feeling nice and safe just knowing that these dangerous American patriots are behind bars. We were given a show of force, people, as a medium message to the American people that “we the people” have no rights. Better wake up America, because these armored vehicles that picked up the protesters (not criminals) will be coming for you next.
Marc Lizotte says
Believe me, the reason that its taking soooo long for action on the Government`s part is that the lawyers are making sure that their action is COMPLETELY viable and legal in every sense of the word! They are probably on their last chapter about now and we should be seeing response to the trespassing , breaking and entering and unauthorized use of Government buildings and utilities not to mention armed weapons on or in a Government property and facility(ies), soon ? The other side I hope have lawyers going through their books also! Should be, interesting?
John G. says
How can the government own property that isn’t actually ours. We paid for it, they use our money to buy every thing they think they own. I think its time for the government to receive a rude awakening. If not now, people need to get educated and get their head out of the sand. Tgis government has become way to large and to powerful, and defy the Constitution.
tony newbill says
CONFIRMED: School Commandeered By Government In Burns Oregon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJznfE8t-58
Don says
Law Enforcement does not have to do anything, just stand down and let the protesters alone.
Rio Garcia says
Amen
..this land is OUR land!!!! Stop trying to take away what belongs to citizens of the USA. More importantly…the land actually belongs to the animals!!!!
Don says
“many observers who suggested the government’s response would have been swifter and more severe had the occupants been Muslim or other minorities.”
some BS by progressives, if they were muslims this administration would let them have the land.
” “There seems to be somewhat of a reluctance to think white people are as dangerous as people of color,” said Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.”
More BS from the Southern Poverty Law Center (an anti-Christian conservative group). This administration has been promoting the idea that people of color are subject to harassment by police.
kt says
exactly what I was thinking..if they had been Muslims, it would not even be in the news..
Irene says
My thoughts exactly on the point of being muslim or minorities. I pray we get a conservative president who will reverse all king obama has done.
Mike says
We will if people will get out and vote!
jack cole says
its not king any more its cry baby Obama,PUTIN says he a wimp
bob onit says
they would give them money to build a mosque this crap has been out of hand for years just like forcing the oyster farms to close in nor-cal same-same more commie over reach by us-gov
Kathy says
Wait a minute… What’s with you guys? This story has absolutely nothing to do with Muslims!
David L. says
Tired of King Obama always over-stepping his authority!! I am for the armed militia and am happy to see them stand their ground. Will be very glad to see him go and hopefully disappear from our sight.
Justin W says
Sometimes you have to pick your battles. I’m having trouble seeing how this government is overstepping its holding people responsible who willfully destroyed government property. Do you think if someone went onto the Hammond’s land and set it on fire they would demand punishment of the arsonists or at least monetary compensation for the damages to their property? The fact the government is the landowner shouldn’t change the fact that these people damaged someone else’s property.
I’ve always had a problem understanding why the Bundy family thought it should be able to use taxpayer owned resources for free. Some people grow crops on the land the federal government owns near my home, but they pay the government for the privilege. The government hasn’t given me several hundred acres of land to use free of charge. Why should the Bundy family be allowed to farm government land free of charge?
Mike Harmon says
They did not destroy the land. They practised a controlled burn which helps land become more fertile. Use google.
They should have paid the grazing rights money IF they did agree to it AND did not find that the charge was un constitutional as well as illegal . Please refer to what is happening to people in the Red River area of Texas with the BLM and Uncle Osama.
As for the white privalage crap once again mentioned here…………………. what about the muslim training camps in Texas….??? Remember Branch Devidians? They were white. Google mulsim training camps in texas….
tony newbill says
heres what its about , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpkm6iSd–c#t=30
John Hasse says
Government land????? You mean the people’s land, which has been stolen by the unelected officials of the BLM. etc.
tanana says
Exactly, the Government has no right to take any land unless they have the permission of the state in which that land exists and they pay for it to the legal owner. Just as they have no right to turn over our National Parks to the UN as ‘World Heritage Sites’.
Also controlled burns to restore the nutrients to the soil thus providing better browse for wildlife as well as ranching stock is as old as this nation if not older. The native Americans used to set fires to such lands as well in order to assist the browse of elk, deer, antelope, buffalo plus the myriad of other wild animals and birds that benefit from the new healthier grasses and nourishing plants that the fires promote. Also controlled burns are done by the government themselves for the same purposes so they can do it but we can’t. Ranchers in the west have been using controlled burns ever since settlement west of the Rockies.
And when it comes to lies the government can really whip up some whoppers. My son was caught in a storm in his skiff in Southeast Alaska as he was traveling to one of the islands open for deer season. His boat swamped, he made it to shore and after the storm passed he swam out to the boat and dived to get out his rifle and survival goods. He was on that island for six days before a forest service boat accidentally found him. One day after returning home the government cited him with hunting on restricted land. The FS officer at his hearing lied through his teeth and the only way we won the case was to take a float plane out to the site and get pictures of his destroyed skiff still in the water as well as meteorological data for the weather conditions on the day he was marooned. He could have lost his right to hunt, his rifle and paid a huge fine had he lost.
Linda says
Mr. Hasse,
You are 100% correct. The government land belongs to the people. There are not mysterious people who own the land and call themselves the government. The land belongs to “We the People” and that means all US citizens. The people of the United States paid for it. Everyone needs to wake up and smell the coffee in regards to all these subtle changes that are happening. Just like what Hitler did in Germany. Slow steady takeovers and changes that affect everyone but are so small we just accept them until it is too late. I hope this all ends well and no one is hurt.
Kathy says
Bingo! Well said Linda!
jack cole says
hopefully it wont come down to a gun fight the ranchers will lose
Michelle says
So if they were black, burning down business, destroying property and stealing anything they could get their hands on it would be ok but because they are white conservatives standing up for their rights they want to call out the military. Speaks volume on who is running this country. He wants the guns for one reason and one reason only CONTROLL AND EASY ACCESS FOR MOSLEM TERRORIST TO CONTINUE TO MURDER.
richard says
Why not have the authorities use helicopters and drop sacks of shit on those protesters ! Humiliation may be the bgeswt way to stop their flaunting of our laws !
tanana says
Authorities??? Who gives them that right, its we the people, they are our servants not the other way around. At this point in history they seem to have forgotten that reality. Its way past time that we the people remind them who’s boss here and its not nor was it ever intended to be them.
Todd says
I think we ought to drop a sack of shit on your head richard. Your way of thinking is very unAmerican, and it seems you like to suck the ass of the establishment!!
Walter Morris says
I have a hard time believing,anyone is as stupid as Tod says. Obama and the Democrat Liberals, have a agenda, no matter what any one says.there Ideas are not in the best interest of the United States. I believe, that Obama and most of the Democrat party, is becoming more and more socialist, Communist, Fascism, party. If you don’t believe me look in the Dictionary what Socialist Communist means. It is total Government control of all people, and total ownership of everything. Here is one Nazism, same as Fascism, they hate Christians. ( similar to Obamnism and the Democrats). Obama wants to gradually make laws to start taking guns away or make it harder to buy a gun. Hitler took away everyone’s guns away from his people, and then started killing millions of people, that had different views of his government. Keep a watchful eye on our government, they are not always for the people. Hitlers citizens trusted him and look what happen to them.
Carrol says
The goverment wants that land because it has natural gas, and other minerals. They have been harassing these people for years.
Now they’re in jail and want to take the land from the rest of the family. Our government is corrupt.
Robert says
I AM SUPPRISED THE KING COCKROACH HASEN’T CALLED IN THE ARMED WING OF THE E.P.A. OR THE ARMED WING OF THE US FOREST SERVICE TO RUN THE CITIZENS OFF THE PEOPLES LAND ….
tanana says
That’s coming if we don’t stand united and say “No more!’ with firm resolution to those words.
Rob Johnson says
Let it play itself out. The people in the compound will go home after awhile. FBI should leave them alone.
Ron says
I’m on board with what these people are trying to accomplish but have any of these people every heard of Waco TX ? ? ? I have a feeling that this is what this is going to end up looking like. You call out the govt. (all be it how corrupt they are to the N’th degree), they have all the tanks, the poor uneducated down trodden jobless youth, and red-neck retarded Igmos just dying to pull a trigger on anyone because they were “Following Orders” ! ! ! If they’re ready to dance with the devil then hay, jump ! ! But at the end of the day, I think they’ll find it’s going to be All Bad for them….. One man’s opinion….
tanana says
And just how long are you willing to allow this rogue government to continue to do these illegal acts… forever? Well I can tell you with a certainty that if that’s your outlook on such then you’ve got some pretty deep rows to hoe in your future because unless stopped these illegal acts by the government will not only continue they will become much, much worse. Might help to read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights again and then decide if you wish to live in a gulag or a free nation.
Beverley Campbell says
Nowhere does this story mention what it is the Ranchers are so upset about and here is what I think started it, I think it is basically about the “wildlife corridor” that is so essential to the successful maintenance of wildlife. This corridor has pissed-off ranchers since first mentioned, they feel that they have the full right to public lands and do not want to have to live with a wildlife corridor whereas the wildlife does not just live in one area of land but must be able to pass thru and forage for food and to live, not all moose live in one area of the forest, nor do they live together in a big fat group, same must be said for grizzly and wolf, ranchers have long felt that unoccupied public lands belong to them.
tanana says
Serious ranchers and farmers of old have always used methods that not only rejuvenate lands they also promote more wildlife browse. You seem to forget that some of our parents as well as some of us when we were children remember that the turkey or goose on the Christmas table came from the wild not from a grocery store and veggies didn’t come out of a can, they came out of a canning jar put up from a home garden. My grandmother canned from early spring until late fall to feed her 9 children, not to mention raised domestic fowl, kept two milk cows, churned her own butter, made her own cottage cheese and kept bee’s for honey. All this and housework too as she followed my grandfather as he worked on the railroad moving west. The first house they owned was in Walla Walla, Washington ‘in town’ yet every bit of the land that the house was on was put to the production of food as was the case with their neighbors. As a child I remember well that a kid could walk from one end of town to the other in the summer and have breakfast on the way from all of the fruit trees and berries that hung over the fences of those homes.
Not So Free says
Where in the Constitution does it show the federal government has the right to “own” any land? (With the possible exception of Washington D.C.)
James says
This is just a case of government tyranny. Why does the government get to own so much land out here. We the people of Oregon have more land stolen by the government. As do other western states. Let’s go east of the Mississippi River and take away an equal percentage of land for government control. The government should have to stop being a bully. And give our lands back.
Richard says
If the Government; City, County or Federal, wants Your land, they’re going to ‘ Take It ‘ or ‘ Tell ‘ you what you can do with it . (PERIOD !) Whatever the rhetoric they use (Drafted by the Best Lawyers money can buy) They’re ‘ NOT ‘ asking, but ‘ Telling Citizens what’s ‘GOING’ to happen. There are ‘ STILL ‘ Native Americans living on Reservations – ‘ NATIVE ‘ Americans !
Todd says
You must work for the establishment with that attitude. Or just nurse on the teat of their sickness!
Dewayne Cargill says
It’s time to spank government, it’s out of control with the progressives in-charge. The Democrat Party is at war with the average American citizen and wants to control all our lives. It is obvious we cannot depend on the Republican Party to stand between “We the People” and the tyrannical Democrats and Obama their “dear leader.” However, i believe if we can get Ted Cruz elected it may not be too late to save the country. Some say Trump is the answer but i have my doubts about him. Whichever, we need to have the Convention of States under Art. V of the Constitution to make some changes to assure we can never have another Obama, We need to limit the terms of office for all elected politicians and federal judges, and we need to repeal the 17th Amendment and make senators accountable to their states again, just as the Founders intended.
Semper fi
Dan says
As long as nobody takes an action, nothing will happen and no one will get hurt. The moment ether side takes the attitude and stand that, “We will show them we can’t be pushed around!”, then all hell will break loose and blood will un-necessarily be shed.
At this moment sides are just posturing and flexing muscles. The moment ether side is seen as weakening, the possibility for an armed conflict will escalate. As a nation, we have seen in the past where government engagement were quick to take place when it was understood that they had the upper hand. Unarmed people who were easy targets, died at the merciless hands of unreasoning government aggressors. I pray God that this is not going to be one of those times again.
Todd says
Heidi Beirich is an idiot, and the southern poverty law center is a sick, far left group who loves to attack anyone or anything that doesn’t agree with their sick philosophies. Just another Harry Reid illegal, unethical land grab thinking that they can do whatever they want to whomever while ignoring the constitution of the United States! People will make up all kinds of hogwash about their intentions, when they literally just want to live free and unabated of excessive governMENTAL intrusions and deprivations. The American people should be standing with them, at least in spirit, because the sick things the government is starting to do will eventually effect us all in a very negative way! God bless all of the true Americans!!!
vincent marcantelli says
Hey a NEWS FLASH……just leave these those folks alone, who in the hell ae they bothering? Not Obama, not anyone in Washington, DC and really not anyone in Oregon, if the truth really be known, and what’s with this Southern Poverty Law Center, hell a known Communist front outfit from the very first day. The question that should be asked……what real standing does that group have?
Stephen Russell says
Free the Hammonds, admit Govt U made error & avoid another Ruby Ridge, Waco event.
Your call
Records are in awry or bad mgmt
BUT free the Hammonds its thier land.
For the whole West alone.
Annie says
Why is it that the government claims ownership of land purchased by tax -payer money?
Any thoughts on this?
sylvia says
not in agreement with prison sentence for the Hammonds. something else should have been worked out. too much out of control in the U.S.
Nancy Earley says
It’s amazing how the obama government is surrounding these Americans over the land – yet they let the muslims surround and kill our Ambassador Stevens, and others in Benghazi
Timothy Singleton says
H0rs3$#!t. There are two radically different reasons for what is happening out West.
First, you have an @$$h0!3 federal judge who, after the fact, decided he wanted to send these two men back to prison. That the two men are willing to cooperate is admirable, but irrelevant to the fact that this judge wanted to make these men pay twice for the same crime …which I thought was un-Constitutional.
What am I thinking, right? As if anyone seriously gives a flying fn¢k at a rolling doughnut what the Constitution has to say these days.
The Second explanation, which I give a 60% chance of being right, is that this is just another false flag op set off by the Feds (spit) in preparation for Obama’s (spit twice and use mouthwash) upcoming EOs on gun confiscation.
Either way, people most likely are going to die and those two men who did nothing wrong are going to return to jail. I would like to see a negotiated stand down but with the percentage of trigger happy, failed jarhead wannabes in the ranks of the Federal police agencies I don’t see how it will be avoided.
ken says
I hope we all see the the issues here………. corruption again in our government……. mabe a big word but making these patriots terrorist is a gross injustice………slash buring that gets out of control and then they put it out causing no foul but doing what blm never does………. taking care of public lands,,,,,,,that right our land……. not fed land……… illegal for feds to own land…..other than for government building purposes like Washington dc……..peaceful stand off is what I call for these families have every right to keep there property……….. we are guaranteed this in our constitution……I say if we have to lets all drive over there and take this to a hugh stand off with thousands of people………. it is time to resist the wrong doings of this government…… Its WE THE PEOPLE …………… NOT