Oregon county judge says militants will pay up to 75K per day for occupation

[IDemo]

The group of ranchers and anti-government activists who have taken over a federal bird sanctuary aren’t getting free lodging, according to a county judge.

Harney County Judge Steve Grasty said he intends to slap Ammon Bundy and his militia group with fines to the tune of 75 grand a day for their occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, according to local news reports.

“We’re going to send Mr. Bundy the bill,” Grasty said during a town hall meeting in Burns, Oregon attended by roughly 200 community members on Monday night where locals demanded that the group leave, KTVZ reported.

Grasty said the “bill” would be compensation for the costly increase in security brought about by their nine-day occupation.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/oregon-county-judge-militia-pay-fine-occupation-article-1.2493839

[hobbit709]

1. And he won't pay it any more than previous bills.

[MohRokTah]

2. Governments sending bills to Bundys never seems to work out. eom

[BarbaRosa]

3. Sending the Bundys a bill doesn't seem to produce much results.

[Jerry442]

4. Liens against assets would get his attention. NT

[MohRokTah]

5. That didn;t work in Nevada, either. eom

[Jerry442]

8. I could be wrong but...

...it sounded to me like no one aggressively pursued those kind of things, like y'know garnishing salaries, freezing bank accounts and stuff. Also, I'd think that the Feds could get an injunction against Visa/MasterCard/Amex or Verizon/AT&T/Sprint if they could show that those services were being used in the continuing commission of felonies. I'd bet the Bundyites wouldn't actually enjoy living utterly off the grid.

[MohRokTah]

10. They sure as HELL aggressively pursued it.

Then the Bundys friends started pointing loaded semi-automatic weapons at the agents ther to pursue the liens on the cattle, and the feds backed down and emboldened these assholes.

And here we are at Bundy Ranch Standoff II. Same assholes, same shit, same results.

[RKP5637]

22. And we will probably see Ranch Standoff III, Ranch Standoff IV ... unless this is stopped.

IMO individuals like this see leniency as a weakness to be exploited, as we are seeing this yet again now. And it will likely continue ...

[Cassiopeia]

9. Liens only work if the assets are actually seized.

[Jerry442]

12. What if no one will buy from you the stuff you need to sell...

...to support yourself because there are liens on the stuff (like cows).

[jberryhill]

6. Ummmmmm.... No

So judges in Oregon announce verdicts in town hall meetings on cases they haven't heard?

[RKP5637]

23. It seems like of strange. n/t

[phantom power]

7. It's a start.

As already pointed out, we can expect them to ignore it, the way they ignored BLM grazing fees in Nevada, and then chased the BLM off at gunpoint when they tried to collect.

So, hopefully they've got some kind of plan for when the gunmen tell the county to fuck off.

[Paladin]

11. Talk is cheap, judge. How about some action against those scumbags? (nt)

[GGJohn]

14. I may be wrong, but a county judge has no say over federal land,

this would have to come from a federal judge to have the weight of the law behind it.
I so hope a federal judge steps in and slaps these fines on these asshats and seizes their assests.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. The Federal land is within the county, the county is having massive expenses because of this

This is a very large county with a very small population, just over 7,000 people. They can't afford the expenses. California, for example, has more State police officers than this county has residents.

[GGJohn]

17. It is within the county, but wouldn't federal judge have to levy those fines as to the fact

that it's a federal building?

[jeff47]

18. No, because it's the county that is claiming the harm.

This isn't over the actual occupation of the building. It's the additional costs the county is paying due to the occupation of the building.

[GGJohn]

19. Ok, that makes sense,

thank you for the info.

[IDemo]

20. I may be wrong as well

But he looks to be only interested in reclaiming costs to the county for the additional expenses of Sheriff's deputies in maintaining order, not specifically for damages to federal property. The county's (or state's) criminal jurisdiction doesn't end at the front gate of a wilderness area. As well, their involvement came at the request of the FBI:

The FBI said Sunday night it is "working with the Harney County Sheriff's Office, Oregon State Police and other local and state law enforcement agencies to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge."

http://www.ktvz.com/news/fbi-seeks-peaceful-resolution-to-malheur-refuge-takeover/37245518

[jberryhill]

24. Judges don't just "step in"

Judges rule on cases brought before them by the parties.

[lapislzi]

15. We saw how well that worked out in Nevada.

But, it's a nice gesture, offering toilet paper to the illegal squatters.

[Schema Thing]

21. Hell, if it just prevents Bundy et al from being able to profit via gofundme and such

I'll be happy.