Oregon Noncombatants Labeled "Terrorists" for Political Purposes
Ammon Bundy, the leader of a small, armed group that is occupying a remote national wildlife preserve in Oregon said Tuesday that they will go home when a plan is in place to turn over management of federal lands to locals. Bundy’s general message about federal overreach on public lands is one that resonates in a county where cows outnumber people 14 to 1, and 75 percent of the land is owned by the federal government (see map below). The "government of the people, by the people," "we, the people," who pay the taxes that keep the government running, collectively own the land. Click here for a slideshow.
People of Burns, Ore., conflicted, fearful as wildlife refuge occupation drags on
January 8, 2016Yahoo News - Wednesday marked the fifth day since a group of armed antigovernment activists led by Ammon Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, turning what began as a peaceful protest against the arrest of two local ranchers into a potentially violent occupation.
In the days since, local schools have been closed. The FBI, Oregon State Police, and sheriff’s deputies from across the state have descended on Harney County, as have the national media.
The message Harney County Sheriff David Ward and other local leaders have sent to the occupiers has been to relinquish the federal refuge and go home. But among rank and file members of the community, attitudes toward Bundy and his band of pertinacious protesters are more complicated.
After all, it was the heavily protested prison sentences of two of their own local ranchers, convicted on arson charges for setting federal land on fire, that brought the Bundy brigade to this quiet piece of country in the first place. And while most people are quick to clarify that they don’t support the group’s tactics, Bundy’s general message about federal overreach on public lands is one that resonates in a county where cows outnumber people 14 to 1, and 75 percent of the land is owned by the federal government.
Ammon Bundy, one of the sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, speaks to reporters during a news conference at Malheur … Click here for the slideshow.
Essentially, the protesters have created a sort of conflict of conscience that appears to be driving a wedge between them and the people they claim to want to help.
Grasty, for example, said he was “embarrassed” and “angry” about the heavy law enforcement presence at the courthouse Wednesday and told the community members in the room, “If you feel the same way, that anger needs to be pointed in one direction only: at Mr. Bundy and his friends.”
But Commissioner Dan Nichols, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.
Nichols, who said he paid a visit to the wildlife refuge and left with a vastly different perception of the situation than the one he’d had going in.
“I gotta say, with the fear that’s in this community, these people are respectful, courteous,” Nichols said, referring to Bundy’s group. Nichols said he was welcomed onto the property and had a “pleasant” discussion with Bundy before asking him to consider leaving.
“We’ve expressed locally many, many times that we agree with the same concerns, but we do not agree with the methods being done,” Nichols said. “We appreciate their support but we also want them to go home.”
At the same time, Nichols argued, “Those people up there aren’t a threat.”
“In fairness to them, they’re frustrated and angered Americans just like all of us,” he said. “They’ve been pushed and prodded and frustrated to the point that they’ve gone a step beyond where we as a community are willing to go.”
And despite their questionable methods, Nichols noted, the activists have managed to draw national attention to issues concerning the Western United States.
“There’s an overreach of government and an overreach of regulations,” he said.
