By Raul Hernandez
BURNS, OREGON
America’s home-grown terrorists have taken over a federal building and refuse to leave, vowing to stay for years, and saying they prepared to die defending Fort Apache (scratch that) the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The FBI says it has no plans to send its SWAT teams to remove the far-right, antigovernment militia — not just yet. Law enforcement is apparently going to wait until these camouflaged elite units from America’s trailer parks, swamps and deep, backwoods get tired of saluting each other, swapping conspiracy theories and playing Army.
But Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward’s patience seems to be wearing thin.
The sheriff stated in a letter today to the militia that he has requested law enforcement help from Oregon State Sheriff’s Association and Oregon State Police. Also he said Sheriff’s Offices from around the state have also sent help too.
“We requested this additional support to make sure the citizens of Harney County are safe. This is our top priority,” the sheriff stated.
He told the militia members in a letter: ” It is time for you to leave our community. Go home, be with your own families and end this peacefully,” according to the Oregonian newspaper
Harney County is a community of approximately 7,000 people; almost 5,000 of us live here in the community of Burns and Hines, according to officials.
The protest began in support of the Hammonds who are convicted felons.
Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son, Steven Hammond, 46, were both convicted of arson for starting fires on public lands adjoining their ranch near Burns, Oregon.
The Hammonds declined to be the militia’s martyrs. They said they would report to federal prisons in California today and begin serving 5-year sentences and not seek the help of the militia.
The Hammonds rejection to be a part of the militia’s protest must have been a blow to these domestic terrorists’ ego.
The peaceful militia protest to help the Hammonds, however, turned hostile when some armed protestors took over the unoccupied federal building.
Why is this happening?
Simply put, because law enforcement did nothing to stop these loons in 2014 at the Clive Bundy Ranch. There were no arrests.
Initially, Bundy drew a lot of support from some Republican officials and officeholders along with Fox’s Sean Hannity who became Bundy’s head cheerleader.
Cliven Bundy’s sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy are among the militiamen occupying the federal buildings in Oregon.
Hannity called the domestic terrorists “patriots” and portrayed Clive Bundy as a victim and hero.
Bundy refused to pay grazing fees for his cattle that used federal lands in Nevada.
In the aftermath, Clive Bundy has his taxpayer-subsidize cows, and no one who threatened federal agents, went to jail.
Bundy is now considered a hero in the militia’s eyes.
When the federal government did nothing, all this emboldened these paranoid self-described “patriots” who subscribe to wild conspiracies and tote assault rifles.
This group has a constitutional right to protest peacefully. But taking over federal building is dangerous, especially a federal courthouse. Hopefully, they will leave. If not, it is going to get ugly, real ugly.
Stay Tuned.
Trump Pointing East and South
The GOP’s frontrunner Donald Trump is pointing toward the east and south, telling his crazies that Muslims and Mexicans are the real threats to America.
The footage of the “Mexican Border” in Trump’s latest ad is actually Moroccans crossing a border, a fact noted by Politifact.
In the Trump Twilight Zone, who cares?
Most of Trump’s followers couldn’t find either country on the map. So, it doesn’t make any difference if the country in the ad is Morocco, Mexico or Monaco.
This ad does provide red meat and laughs for the TV Talking Heads for their 24/7 Trump Show and material for late-night comedians.
Militias on the Rise, Again
In the wake of the 2014 standoff between federal agents and heavily armed militia groups and last week’s takeover of the federal building in Oregon, this hasn’t yet been reported.
In its annual count of militias, released today, the Southern Poverty Law Center identified 276 militia groups – up from 202 in 2014, a 37 percent increase.
The number represents a renewal of growth after several years of declines, Law Center’s report stated. The movement grew explosively after President Obama was elected, from 42 groups in 2008 to a peak of 334 in 2011 before declining in recent years.
What’s happening in Oregon was entirely predictable, Southern Poverty Law Center officials said.
“We believe these armed extremists have been emboldened by what they saw as a clear victory at the Cliven Bundy ranch and the fact that no one was held accountable for taking up arms against agents of the federal government and the militiamen who aimed rifles at federal agents have gotten away with it,” said Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project.
“When the federal government was stopped from enforcing the law at gunpoint, it energized the entire movement,” Beirich said. “The fact is, Bundy is still a free man and has not paid the money he owes to the federal government – and the militiamen who aimed rifles at federal agents have gotten away with it.”
The militia groups included in the Southern Poverty Law Center count typically adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines and subscribe to groundless conspiracy theories about the federal government.
Some of these nutjobs have no limits to what they will do to shake things up.
Timothy McVeigh who took down the Oklahoma federal courthouse in 1995 was a member of the militia movement. The blast he set off killed 168 people.
The blast also damaged or destroyed 324 building and caused $625 million in damages.