Armed Militia in Oregon Part of Long-running, Right-wing Fight Against Public Lands

[struggle4progress]

... Bundy stopped paying the federal government for the privilege of grazing his cows on public lands in Nevada and owes about $1 million to taxpayers. Bundy, who was quoted in an interview with The New York Times wondering whether black people were better off as slaves, was the center of an armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management in April 2014 that ended with the BLM backing away and Bundy’s continued trespass on federal land. Among the anti-federal government militia who were defending Bundy at his ranch was Jared Miller who just three months after the standoff at the ranch went on a shooting spree with his wife that included the ambush-murder of two Las Vegas police officers as they ate at a restaurant. They draped the officers with a Gadsden flag — a symbol of liberty used by both the antigovernment “Patriot” movement and members of the Tea Party movement.

The latest standoff near Burns, Ore. followed a judge’s call for additional prison time for a father and son – 73-year-old Dwight Hammond and 46-year-old Steven Hammond – who prosecutors say lit a fire on federal land in 2001 to cover up the illegal slaughter of a deer herd. Both were convicted of arson and are scheduled to report to federal prison on Monday.

The wildlife refuge’s headquarters was seized by Bundy’s sons and others on Saturday. The men are armed and say they are willing to occupy the building for years if needed. According to the Oregonian, Ryan Bundy said that they're willing to kill and be killed if necessary. Also among the armed occupiers of the wildlife fefuge building is Jon Ritzheimer, an infamous anti-Muslim activist who has repeatedly threatened violence.

“Despite their flags and patriotic overtures, don’t mistake this standoff for anything than what it is: An attempt to use guns to seize control over what taxpayers own and bully the government into acquiescing to their demands,” Suckling said. “But there’s a larger context here. What’s happening in Oregon is a logical outgrowth of right-wing rhetoric that demonizes even the concept of federal land – places like national parks and forests — and villianizes those who believe that publicly owned land should be more than just a source of profit for ranchers and corporations” ...

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2016/malheur-occupation-01-03-2016.html

[jberryhill]

1. "who prosecutors say" - and a jury so found

Why are all these stories written as if what they did was somehow in dispute?

[ellenrr]

2. I Studied Oregon’s Militia Movement. Here’s 5 Things You Need to Know

more in a similar vein:

"Patriot’ groups are a spinoff cult of white supremacists.

While the news of the Bundy gang forcefully taking over a federal building in Oregon may come as a surprise to some, the occupation is part of a larger pattern for those who have studied far-right political movements. Here are five points that provide a greater context for why this is happening, who the occupiers are, and who actually supports their radical viewpoints.

http://usuncut.com/news/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-oregon-militia-takeover/

[99th_Monkey]

3. That's a good article. thanks. This is an exercise in institutional racism

run amuck, and in our faces. Yet some on DU feel like "oh we don't want any violence, so
let's have the FBI take them hot chocolate and cookies and just hope it will all blow over
peacefully"

[davidpdx]

4. If this isn't an OP, it should be