Harney County sheriff speaks of ‘alternative motives’ while Ammon Bundy’s group puts away firearms to convince media it is civil rights issue
On the second day of its armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/03/oregon-militia-threatens-showdown-with-us-agents-at-wildlife-refuge), the Bundy militia shifted tactics. From a state of lockdown it moved to a charm offensive, inviting a small media contingent inside its redoubt, with warm smiles and waves.
Related: Oregon militia threatens showdown with US agents at wildlife refuge (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/03/oregon-militia-threatens-showdown-with-us-agents-at-wildlife-refuge)
Continue reading... (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/04/oregon-militia-occupying-wildlife-refuge-wants-to-overthrow-government-says-sheriff)

More... (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/04/oregon-militia-occupying-wildlife-refuge-wants-to-overthrow-government-says-sheriff)

Can you imagine this 'hands-off' approach being taken if 150 armed black folks took over a government facility? Where's the National Guard? Hell, a regiment of the 82nd might do. But no, thems white folks, completely different, dontcha know?

They are settlers, but they're way past their 'sell date', their service to the ruling class no longer required, their membership in 'the club' cancelled like so many petty booj before them. But they still got the ideology what brought 'em, and are stupid/desperate/enraged enough to insist upon it. And being white they get all the 'buys'.

If they ain't Nazis now they will be.

Can you imagine this 'hands-off' approach being taken if 150 armed black folks took over a government facility? Where's the National Guard? Hell, a regiment of the 82nd might do. But no, thems white folks, completely different, dontcha know?

They are settlers, but they're way past their 'sell date', their service to the ruling class no longer required, their membership in 'the club' cancelled like so many petty booj before them. But they still got the ideology what brought 'em, and are stupid/desperate/enraged enough to insist upon it. And being white they get all the 'buys'.

If they ain't Nazis now they will be.

You know, this steaming pile of a country ain't got enough roosts for all these damned chickens. You're right about the color split. Hell, five black kids can't get together on a corner to doo-wop (rap?) without the cops killing at least one of them.

These white "militias" may actually want to "overthrow" the government - they sound looney enough to try it - but their privileged skins won't keep them from being mowed-down once the gears start turning. Their skin color just gives them a lot of rope.

US Anarchists Join Forces with Bundy Brothers
ON JANUARY 4, 2016 BY WORKER'S SPATULAIN

https://workersspatula.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/us-anarchists-join-forces-with-bundy-brothers/

RURAL OREGON – Waving black flags and wearing black masks, extemeley radical anarchists have elected to join the “anti-state” occupation of a federal building alongside the Bundy brothers and other assorted reactionaries.

“This is what it’s all about man, fighting the state!” said one Sean Winston from Massachusetts, waving his black flag. “Sure it’s not perfect, but at least this is some real anti-state action for once!” he said, motioning towards the crowd of reactionary landowners waving various American flags and other patriotic symbols of US imperialism.

“I hope we get to fight some cops.” agreed his comrade, Jack Kennedy, clutching his Molotov cocktail. “If they don’t shoot at our new comrades, who are standing up for farmers rights, we might have to just start chucking shit to start a fight. Gonna TAKE DOWN THIS FUCKING SYSTEM!” he bellowed, startling the crowd of “militiamen” alongside whom he was marching.

Asked about whether or not the Bundys were the best comrades in arms, Kennedy responded angrily: “Look, are you trying to prop up the US state and empire? Because that’s what the Bundys are about: Tearing down US imperialism. How can we NOT stand with them, knowing that to be the fact that it is?”

“You just gotta look at it like the settlers in the West Bank.” added another anarchist comrade, one Michael Gold. “They clash with the police too, so this shows that they recognise the evil of the state. Same thing with these militias here. They’re privileged and not totally progressive, but they see through the bullshit, just like us.”

Oregon state troopers declined to comment as to whether or not they viewed the Bundys, their militia allies, or the anarchists as an existential threat to the state or US imperialism.

Asked how they felt about their newfound allies, Ammon Bundy responded thus: “Well, I don’t know if they’re as patriotic as we are, but we guess they’re against big government. If they help us out in our goal of creating a god-fearing, farmer-friendly, small-government, very, very white new America, well I guess I like them.”

“But they better not play any of those punk rap bands I see them wearing t-shirts for, you hear me?”

https://workersspatula.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/us-anarchists-join-forces-with-bundy-brothers/

Sometimes it's all farce.

An astute observation:


The armed white people trying to dissolve a national wildlife refuge are not practicing terrorism, they are practicing enclosure.

They are trying to privatize public (not common) space for personal and private accumulation of capital.

vogelfrei ‏@nerdosyndical Jan 3

Warning from the Birding Community to the Terrorists in Oregon: We're Watching You

Just a friendly warning from the birding and wildlife photography community to the Oregon terrorists. We are watching your every move, and we have been watching you for a long time. And yes absolutely you are domestic terrorists of the worst kind, and the truth about your decades of constant poaching of protected wildlife around Malheur and other wildlife refuges, national parks, national forests and BLM lands has been well-documented. For years those of us who are wildlife photographers, birdwatchers and carers of wildlife, have been documenting the activities of you poachers and criminals around many of our nation's wildlife refuges. With our powerful cameras, and ability to move unseen in the wilderness, we have found and documented your illegal hunts, your illegal traps and all sorts of illicit activities, and are constantly feeding that information to law enforcement, and we have finally got many of you poachers on the run and into jails. And I for one am a westerner sick to death of you welfare queens and cheats living off of BLM land, illegally gutting our wilderness and our wildlife. Malheur, Hart Mountain, Klamath Marsh, Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite etc etc, they all belong to us, we the American people, and no small group of armed thugs is going to destroy the great wildlife and national park system that our great Republican President Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir put in place over a century ago. Wildlife photographers and wildlife/bird watchers now number some 40 million people in the USA, and feed many rural western economies with our tourism dollars, and we will not stand for your sedition.

As Oregon's Congressman Earl Blumenauer just stated, "Armed insurrection is terrorism. The situation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge shouldn't be allowed to fester but should be dealt with firmly, swiftly and fairly. The continued disruption to the community of Burns and occupation of a federal facility is unacceptable. Those involved should be arrested and prosecuted"

Those of us who are international wildlife and nature photographers regularly face charging elephants, attacking lions and grizzlies, hidden crocodiles, massive storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, the hottest, coldest and windiest conditions, and all kinds of poisonous snakes and bugs in our work, and we know the outdoors and wilderness from desert to jungle to sea to mountain to tundra from pole to equator better than any poacher or criminal or yeehaw yokel ever will, and we are not afraid to protect it. We have a just fear of nature from experience, but we don't fear you gun-toting thugs in the least. You will never see us, but we and our cameras will always see you. We will #takebackmalheur from you terrorists, and will not rest until every one of you thugs and poachers is behind bars where they belong. You may think that your communities support you, but the majority do not, and as many as support you, many more despise you, and your every move is being documented in great detail. The birding networks are ablaze right now about everything going on in Malheur. We know the nearby trailer park, who is supplying you with food, and a tourist boycott of them is already in the works for all birders for this upcoming bird season. We know who everyone is coming in and out, and why, and every shred of information is going straight to law enforcement and across every birding network in America.

And for those of us who are also lawyers (I for example just happen to have a law degree of U of Oregon), whether the Feds prosecute you or not (and we will do all in our power to ensure they do), we will put every civil suit against you and God knows you have given us plenty to work with, so you will know once and for all that your odious actions have real consequences.

We stand now and forever with wildlife, and you seditionists and terrorists are about to find out that's there is a natural law of karma that vindictive people, who go out and poach innocent animals, will never be able to outrun or hide from.

We are watching you and our years of birding photography have made us endlessly patient and determined.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/05/1466254/-Warning-from-the-Birding-Community-to-the-Terrorists-in-Oregon-We-re-Watching-You

Warning from the Birding Community to the Terrorists in Oregon: We're Watching You

Just a friendly warning from the birding and wildlife photography community to the Oregon terrorists. We are watching your every move, and we have been watching you for a long time. And yes absolutely you are domestic terrorists of the worst kind, and the truth about your decades of constant poaching of protected wildlife around Malheur and other wildlife refuges, national parks, national forests and BLM lands has been well-documented. For years those of us who are wildlife photographers, birdwatchers and carers of wildlife, have been documenting the activities of you poachers and criminals around many of our nation's wildlife refuges. With our powerful cameras, and ability to move unseen in the wilderness, we have found and documented your illegal hunts, your illegal traps and all sorts of illicit activities, and are constantly feeding that information to law enforcement, and we have finally got many of you poachers on the run and into jails. And I for one am a westerner sick to death of you welfare queens and cheats living off of BLM land, illegally gutting our wilderness and our wildlife. Malheur, Hart Mountain, Klamath Marsh, Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite etc etc, they all belong to us, we the American people, and no small group of armed thugs is going to destroy the great wildlife and national park system that our great Republican President Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir put in place over a century ago. Wildlife photographers and wildlife/bird watchers now number some 40 million people in the USA, and feed many rural western economies with our tourism dollars, and we will not stand for your sedition.

As Oregon's Congressman Earl Blumenauer just stated, "Armed insurrection is terrorism. The situation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge shouldn't be allowed to fester but should be dealt with firmly, swiftly and fairly. The continued disruption to the community of Burns and occupation of a federal facility is unacceptable. Those involved should be arrested and prosecuted"

Those of us who are international wildlife and nature photographers regularly face charging elephants, attacking lions and grizzlies, hidden crocodiles, massive storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, the hottest, coldest and windiest conditions, and all kinds of poisonous snakes and bugs in our work, and we know the outdoors and wilderness from desert to jungle to sea to mountain to tundra from pole to equator better than any poacher or criminal or yeehaw yokel ever will, and we are not afraid to protect it. We have a just fear of nature from experience, but we don't fear you gun-toting thugs in the least. You will never see us, but we and our cameras will always see you. We will #takebackmalheur from you terrorists, and will not rest until every one of you thugs and poachers is behind bars where they belong. You may think that your communities support you, but the majority do not, and as many as support you, many more despise you, and your every move is being documented in great detail. The birding networks are ablaze right now about everything going on in Malheur. We know the nearby trailer park, who is supplying you with food, and a tourist boycott of them is already in the works for all birders for this upcoming bird season. We know who everyone is coming in and out, and why, and every shred of information is going straight to law enforcement and across every birding network in America.

And for those of us who are also lawyers (I for example just happen to have a law degree of U of Oregon), whether the Feds prosecute you or not (and we will do all in our power to ensure they do), we will put every civil suit against you and God knows you have given us plenty to work with, so you will know once and for all that your odious actions have real consequences.

We stand now and forever with wildlife, and you seditionists and terrorists are about to find out that's there is a natural law of karma that vindictive people, who go out and poach innocent animals, will never be able to outrun or hide from.

We are watching you and our years of birding photography have made us endlessly patient and determined.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/05/1466254/-Warning-from-the-Birding-Community-to-the-Terrorists-in-Oregon-We-re-Watching-You

I've been a birdwatcher for nearly 50 years so I have more than a little sympathy for this, but it is wrong. This reeks of petty booj privlidge, it turns the argument into one of two privlidged dogs fighting over one piece of meat. Which is a mistake, poor tactics and worse theory. In a fight between Settlers and City Slickers who gets working class sympathy? Productivity wise bird tourism does generate money but in raw, immediate dollars it is difficult to see it competing with ruthless exploitation of the land. It is only when the intangible 'goods' are added in that it makes sense, though from a human need perspective and not that of capitalist society.

How many people visit Malheur to observe nature a year? Maybe a few thousand, it's in the middle of bumfuck and essentially inaccessible to anyone not able to invest time and money to get there. So most people that do visit are at least a bit well off. To pit these folks against those clowns desperately hanging on to the Settler ethos is carrying a knife to a PR gun fight.

The proper argument is one of science and human need. These WMAs were not instituted as tourist traps, they are for resource management. They have been deemed necessary for the continued survival of hundreds of thousands birds, some of whom are shot for recreation and food. Besides this immediate utility they have value as part of the ecosystem, which science has identified as necessary to preserve for human survival. The aesthetic value which most human attach to nature also has weight.

As the capitalist scab grows, consuming the landscape, there is less and less nature to appreciate and much of that monertized(see Outer Banks). The working class is being denied first hand experience of nature, of life. On the 'screen' it is just another entertainment. If we allow contact with nature to become an elite prerogative it will go in the basket with the heads when the time comes. For this reason we should not have elite bird enthusiasts as the face of opposition to this blatant attempt at enclosure by these pathetic petty bourgeios punks who can't accept that their time is past.

Busted: Oregon Militia Thugs Caught Falsely Posing As Marine Veterans
By GPD on January 8, 2016

http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/lido_433.jpg
…by Andrew Bradford (Submitted by VT attorney Robert Walsh, 101st Airborne, Vietnam to Gordon Duff, 26th Marines, Vietnam)

__________

Yes, we already knew that the militia thugs who have seized the Malheur Wildlife Refuge are a bunch of wannabe tough guys who think they have valid reasons for being such monumental asshats, but it also turns out that some of them are downright liars who are pretending to be military veterans.

Brian Cavalier, who is the “personal bodyguard” to Ammon Bundy has told reporters that he served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Marines. One tiny problem: the Marine Corps has absolutely no record of him. Why might that be? Because he never enlisted in any branch.

In addition to Cavalier, Blaine Cooper also claims to be a Marine veteran. The truth, however, is much different: Cooper was on the “Delayed Entry Program” and never even went to boot camp. Guess he realized he wasn’t cut out to be a real hero so now he has to carry a gun and pretend he’s a man.

Cavalier told reporters recently:

“I’m a retired United States Marine, I can rage.”

No, you’re a pretend Marine and all you can do is lie. When confronted by the media about his false claims of military service, including what the Marines said, Cavalier nervously replied:

“That’s unfortunate that someone would say that. I’m not commenting on anything. I told you what it is.”

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/01/08/busted-oregon-militia-thugs-caught-falsely-posing-as-marine-veterans/

The proper argument is one of science and human need. These WMAs were not instituted as tourist traps, they are for resource management. They have been deemed necessary for the continued survival of hundreds of thousands birds, some of whom are shot for recreation and food. Besides this immediate utility they have value as part of the ecosystem, which science has identified as necessary to preserve for human survival. The aesthetic value which most human attach to nature also has weight.

As the capitalist scab grows, consuming the landscape, there is less and less nature to appreciate and much of that monertized(see Outer Banks). The working class is being denied first hand experience of nature, of life. On the 'screen' it is just another entertainment. If we allow contact with nature to become an elite prerogative it will go in the basket with the heads when the time comes. For this reason we should not have elite bird enthusiasts as the face of opposition to this blatant attempt at enclosure by these pathetic petty bourgeios punks who can't accept that their time is past.

Dead-on.

The Burns Paiute Tribe Has a Message for the Oregon Militia: "Get the Hell Out of Here"

The armed ranchers who have been occupying Oregon's federal wildlife refuge since Saturday claim that their rights to the land date back as far as the early 1900s, when ranchers and farmers lived and worked there. But for Native Americans, a century is nothing.

Rodrique and other tribe members addressed the public during a press conference on Wednesday, where they discussed how the ranchers insulted the history of their own land struggles with the U.S. government. According to Rodrique, the tribe never surrendered their land to the Bureau of Land Management — the same federal department the armed men are organizing against — but that they continue to work with them peacefully. "This is still our land no matter who's living on it," said Tribal Council Chairperson Charlotte Rodrique.

She said, "We view them as a protector of our cultural rights in that area," noting that they have "good relations" with the refuge. Rodrique and the tribe are concerned that the ranchers will not only destroy that goodwill but also damage the archaeological sites the BLM helps them preserve.


http://youtu.be/KeU90k5ZlEA

During the conference, Burns Paiute Tribal Council member Jarvis Kennedy pointed out a double standard inherent in the way the ranchers are being treated. He said, "I wonder if it was bunch of natives that went out there and overtook that, or any federal land. Would they let us come into town and get supplies and re-up?"

Given the history of Native American genocide, the answer is probably no. In the 1800s, the federal government forcibly removed the Paiute tribe from their land. It's a hypothetical Kennedy was given the chance to answer for himself during an emotional interview with CNN.

"We'd be already shot up, blown up, in jail, handcuffed," he said. "Just being honest — they're used to killing us from way back and nothing's changed, really." When correspondent Sara Sidner asked, "Why do you think the response is different this time?" Kennedy replied, "Because they're white. That's it. That's the bluntest I can be; It's because of their skin color."

Source: Mic/CNN
"It gets tiring," he said. "It's the same battles that my ancestors had, and now it's just a bunch of different cavalry wearing a bunch of different coats."

Said Kennedy at Wednesday's press conference, "They just need to get the hell out of here."

http://mic.com/articles/132066/the-burns-paiute-tribe-has-a-message-for-the-oregon-militia-get-the-hell-out-of-here?utm_source=policymicFB&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=WHFacebook&utm_content=inf_11_285_2&tse_id=INF_bbbb496b3aee4387b47cd20f6ccc06f2#.deFPNVFWK

Oregon militia's behavior increasingly brazen as public property destroyed Occupiers of Malheur refuge apparently testing officials’ patience: ‘They’re really trying to get a rise out of somebody,’ says local tribal leader

The militiamen occupying a wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon have adopted increasingly bold and risky tactics in their protest against the federal government, raising questions about how long law enforcement officials can allow the standoff to continue.

Now entering their third week of occupying the Malheur national wildlife refuge in rural Harney County, leaders of the militia appear to be testing the patience of the local sheriff’s department and the FBI by brazenly commandeering and in some cases destroying public property while escalating their anti-government rhetoric.

Community leaders and government officials in Oregon and beyond say they fear there could be major damage at the refuge and elevated safety risks for employees and local residents if the militia continues to stand its ground, seemingly emboldened by the continuing lack of consequences.

“For these people to go in and just be destructive, they’re really trying to get a rise out of somebody,” said Charlotte Rodrique, chairwoman of the local Paiute Indian tribe, who has argued that Native Americans have much more of a claim to the public land in question than the out-of-state militiamen running the takeover.

“They really want a confrontation.”

On Friday evening, Rodrique said she was horrified to learn that the militia, led by Nevada rancher Ammon Bundy, had paved a road through part of the wildlife sanctuary. That move came days after occupiers destroyed part of a US Fish and Wildlife Service fence, to allow cattle to freely graze on public lands the federal government controls.

Militiamen have also removed cameras at the refuge they claim the FBI was using for “surveillance”. LaVoy Finicum, an Arizona rancher and one of the main spokesmen for the militia, showed up to a Saturday morning press conference carrying a basket filled with black cameras.

“Do you not get tired of the mass surveillance in this country?” Finicum told reporters. “This, in my opinion, is unreasonable search.”

He added: “I want to call out the FBI and their harassment of neighborhood families.”

Finicum and other militiamen seemed undeterred by the Oregon state police’s arrest on Friday of occupier Kenneth Medenbach, 62, who drove a government vehicle off the refuge to the local Safeway supermarket in the town of Burns, 30 miles away.

“Sometimes we make dumb choices,” Finicum said of the arrest.

When driving their own vehicles, however, high-profile militia leaders have had no difficulty entering and leaving the compound. In fact, Finicum and Ryan Bundy, Ammon’s brother, recently left the refuge and drove out of Oregon and were then able to return to the occupation without facing any contact with law enforcement, Finicum told the Guardian.

Finicum said he and Ryan Bundy met out-of-state ranchers interested in mounting a similar protest against the federal government, but declined to say where the meeting took place. During his short trip, he said, he felt confident that law enforcement would not approach or arrest them.

“We did watch our mirrors a lot,” he said.

In addition to his criticisms of the federal government, Finicum slammed Harney County officials for denying the militia access to a community building in Burns, where the occupiers want to present their plans to local residents. Members of a so-called Harney County Committee of Safety, who have worked with Bundy and say they want to take over his cause, are threatening to file a complaint against the county for refusing to allow the militia to use its buildings.

Regarding the wildlife refuge, the Burns Pauite Indian tribe and federal government officials said they were worried about possible damage to cultural resources, artifacts, sensitive records and local wildlife habitats.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service strongly condemned the occupiers for building the new road.

“It’s deplorable,” spokesman Jason Holm said in an email. “I’m not sure what part of the [occupiers’] interpretation of the constitution promotes the destruction and desecration of culturally significant Native American sites … This is disgusting, ghoulish behavior.”

Holm also said the fish and wildlife service had received reports that the occupiers were accessing federal records at the refuge, raising concerns about a possibly dangerous data breach. He said the government was now contracting with a data protection and credit monitoring service to safeguard refuge employees whose personal data may have been compromised.

Rodrique said that when refuge officials undertake projects that disrupt the land, they consult the tribe’s leaders and archaeologists to ensure that there is no damage to burial sites or potential artifacts.

“There is so much history in that area,” she said. “We’ve gotten to a point where everyone is cooperating and working together to preserve archaeological historical sites.”

If the militiamen damage or steal tribal artifacts or confidential documents related to Native American history, Rodrique said, she hoped federal officials would prosecute the men to the fullest extent of the law.

Asked about the tribe’s concerns, Finicum said Native Americans should be working with the militia.

“We’re here for the natives,” he said. “The federal government has been their biggest oppressor.”

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/16/oregon-militias-behavior-increasingly-brazen-as-public-property-destroyed

"We're here for the natives..." sez the settler. Well, they are congenital liars after all, not to mention invenerate scalp collectors.

"We're here for the natives..." sez the settler. Well, they are congenital liars after all, not to mention invenerate scalp collectors.

I think the government should give 'em their "Waco" and burn 'em out. This blatant racism has gone on long enough. How many double standards can Obama's government juggle at the same time? Shit...

I think the government should give 'em their "Waco" and burn 'em out. This blatant racism has gone on long enough. How many double standards can Obama's government juggle at the same time? Shit...

Ya know, as distasteful as it is I think the Feds are handling this correctly, so far. The double standard is so obvious but it serves us in this case by way of illustration. Don't think these dickweeds ever had a plan, mebbe a vague hope for martyrdom. Longer they sit there the stupider they look and likely the stupider they'll do as they look to break this stalemate which serves them not. In the meantime the property damage and infractions build up and you know how they like to do, bury ya in charges. Bunch of them gonna get tired of camping out and playing freedom fighter(sic). Long as they're not causing permanent damage, screwing around with Paiute stuff or killing protected wildlife let'em stew, an ignominous retreat or surrender is the last thing they want.

Alternately the feds should give the Paiute a brace of RPGs.

Ya know, as distasteful as it is I think the Feds are handling this correctly, so far. The double standard is so obvious but it serves us in this case by way of illustration. Don't think these dickweeds ever had a plan, mebbe a vague hope for martyrdom. Longer they sit there the stupider they look and likely the stupider they'll do as they look to break this stalemate which serves them not. In the meantime the property damage and infractions build up and you know how they like to do, bury ya in charges. Bunch of them gonna get tired of camping out and playing freedom fighter(sic). Long as they're not causing permanent damage, screwing around with Paiute stuff or killing protected wildlife let'em stew, an ignominous retreat or surrender is the last thing they want.

Alternately the feds should give the Paiute a brace of RPGs.

Yeah, I was thinking that the Paiutes might take these John Wayne wannabes out. I'd pay for a settler's scalp...

Federal agents kill one, arrest eight in confrontation with Oregon militia leaders
By Joseph Santolan
28 January 2016
US government forces under the leadership of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested eight leaders of the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon on Tuesday afternoon. During the arrests, they repeatedly shot Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, killing him. Ryan Bundy, who was among those arrested, was wounded. Ammon Bundy, who functioned as the leader of the occupation, was also arrested.
The standoff at the remote refuge began on January 2, when Ammon Bundy, at the head of about two-dozen armed militia members, took over the government offices. Calling themselves the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, they claimed to be protesting the re-imprisonment of ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond for setting fire to federal lands.
They received extensive and generally sympathetic coverage in the mainstream media, which often depicted them as “patriotic” ranchers. The occupation became something a lightning rod for armed right-wing militia elements throughout the western United States. Supporters came to join them from Montana, Utah, Arizona and Texas, coming and going freely from the compound.
The majority of the leadership of the occupation chose on Tuesday to travel about seventy miles north to the town of John Day to hold a community meeting. The drive along Highway 395 between John Day and the Wildlife Refuge is remote and largely unoccupied. Law enforcement personnel shut down the highway to traffic and set up roadblocks to capture the militia leaders.
Press photographs reveal that the FBI deployed at least five armored vehicles and at least one Blackhawk helicopter.
Press reports state that Finicum, who had functioned as something of an informal spokesperson for the group, was shot multiple times and killed at the roadblock. Details are not yet clear, but even the brief official account supplied at the press conference held in Burns, Oregon did not claim that Finicum opened fire or even held a gun.
The militia leaders were traveling in two vehicles. The vehicle occupied by Ammon Bundy surrendered immediately to law enforcement. Finicum’s vehicle seems to have driven past the roadblock.
An audio interview was published on LiveLeak and YouTube that purported to be with Victoria Sharp, who was in the vehicle with Finicum throughout the shooting. Sharp claimed that Finicum stopped at the roadblock but that government agents opened fire on the vehicle and then killed the unarmed man.
Other accounts claimed that Finicum “charged” at the officers and they opened fire.
In a simultaneous sting, the FBI arrested several other leaders of the occupation who were in the town of Burns. According to reports, six militia members under the leadership of Jason Patrick still occupy the Wildlife Refuge. Ammon Bundy, having surrendered to the authorities, called on the remaining occupiers to surrender. Patrick issued a statement refusing.
The forces occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge are a deeply reactionary lot. Most were not even ranchers, as they were styled to be in the press. Among those arrested were a former marine reservist who led anti-Muslim protests; a talk show radio host; a tattoo artist; an electrician; a retired firefighter; and another ex-Marine. All were members of various right-wing militia organizations. Ammon Bundy operated a valet car fleet.
The violent response of the government, however, was motivated by a desire to defend the power of the state. It will use the standoff with right-wing militia elements in Oregon as a pretext for the further expansion of the police powers and its freedom to murder at will. It is building up these powers in preparation for the emergence of genuine opposition to the state within the working class.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/01/28/oreg-j28.html

I'd like to know what really went down but that's probably unlikely. It hardly matters, they got them a martyr. On the radio they're already making the dude sound like Ghandi. Seems like the feds had been trying to avoid this, if only for this reason, but something changed. Or mebbe one of the sorry cops 'feared for his life'....

Defying his own son, Cliven Bundy rallies Oregon militants to ‘fight’ to the end
David Edwards DAVID EDWARDS
28 JAN 2016 AT 10:53 ET

http://2d0yaz2jiom3c6vy7e7e5svk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/cnn_bundy_150128a-800x430.jpg


Cliven Bundy, father of militant leader Ammon Bundy, defied his own son on Thursday and called on armed occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to stay and fight.

Following a traffic stop that ended with the death of LaVoy Finicum and the arrests of Ammon Bundy and other anti-government militants, Ammon Bundy sent a message through his lawyer that it was time for the occupation to end.

“To those remaining at the refuge, I love you. Let us take this fight from here. Please stand down. Go home and hug your families,” Ammon Bundy advised in a statement. “This fight is ours for now in the courts. Please go home.”

Cliven Bundy, however, disagreed with his son, and called on the remaining militants to fight on.

“I’ll tell you one thing, we’re dang sure going to have to fight this battle over and over if we just give up right today,” Cliven Bundy told CNN during an interview at his Nevada ranch. “I mean, we’ve got a life lost, but that life was wasted.”

According to CNN, the five remaining militants at the refuge have said that they would leave peacefully if authorities agree to not arrest them or check their guns.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/defying-his-own-son-cliven-bundy-rallies-oregon-militants-to-fight-to-the-end/

lol


http://youtu.be/S7KRZQXdDac

dumb. mother. fucker.

dumb. mother. fucker.

Unbelievably stupid. If there are actually only five left, the feds will walk in and disarm them. If they resist, the feds will shoot them down. A federal felony warrant is not negotiable, at least not prior to surrender. Someone with common sense needs to advise these idiots that the Great White Man's Last Stand is over. What maroons.

Unedited video


http://youtu.be/aAGxDWKrjPQ

Unedited video

What a stupid motherfucker. There are two things, here, that should be said: 1) the Feds will kill you, if given the least excuse; 2) the Feds were bending over backwards to NOT kill these stupid white, racist fucks. If this had been a black man (or woman) in this truck, the cops would have lit them up at the first stop, when the truck started moving. There would have been tire strips on the road and the chopper and the second team of Feds would have been right on top of the truck. The fact that they let him run, didn't destroy the truck right away, didn't shoot until he actually tried to pull his pistol says it all. This Finalcum guy ain't no "martyr", he is a simpleton white supremacist asshole moron. Anax might say: 'Pandejo!'

What a stupid motherfucker. There are two things, here, that should be said: 1) the Feds will kill you, if given the least excuse; 2) the Feds were bending over backwards to NOT kill these stupid white, racist fucks. If this had been a black man (or woman) in this truck, the cops would have lit them up at the first stop, when the truck started moving. There would have been tire strips on the road and the chopper and the second team of Feds would have been right on top of the truck. The fact that they let him run, didn't destroy the truck right away, didn't shoot until he actually tried to pull his pistol says it all. This Finalcum guy ain't no "martyr", he is a simpleton white supremacist asshole moron. Anax might say: 'Pandejo!'

Couldn't say it better. Yet there's a bunch of fools, some of them across the water, who are falling for false equivalency. Russians in particular call them farmers, which brings wholely incorrect conotations. Perhaps if I call them Kulaks they'll understand.