JIM URQUHART/REUTERS Leader of a group of armed protesters Ammon Bundy, said he was “asked to do this by the Lord” in reference to their week-long occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.
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Curtiss and Chris McIntire, another group spokesman, called the situation a “double-edged sword” – the perimeter is meant to protect the occupiers from an outside attack but also to protect the Harney County community from those who arrive in solidarity with Bundy’s cause but may be prone to violence, they said.
A member of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters looks on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, near Burns, Ore. “I don’t believe that just a handful of people have the right to come in from outside of our area and tell us that we don’t know how to live our lives”, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said at a town hall meeting Wednesday.
Also on Thursday, Harney County Sherrif David Ward met with protest leader Ammon Bundy.
(AP Photo/Manuel Valdes). Members of the Burns Paiute tribe watch a press conference held by their leaders in response to the armed occupation of the nearby Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns, Ore., Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016.
To hasten their departure, Ward offered Bundy and the other activists safe passage out the county and state.
In his statement, Ward said that was because Bundy and his group made it clear they have no intention of honoring his request to leave. Referring to what he had said in previous days about new witnesses that could help exonerate the Hammonds, Bundy said “We are confirming certain things but can’t share them yet”.
Dwight, 73, originally received a sentence of three months in prison while Steve spent one year and a day in prison.
Rodrique describes the tribal way “We shared with the people who passed through…If somebody comes to my house and they’re cold, I’m going to give them a coat”.
“Your actions have created a national focus on the Hammonds and other issues here and across the West that have created mutual distrust, anger and unrest between the people of the land and the federal government”, Molt read.
The Burns Paiute tribe was the latest group to speak out against the men, who have taken several buildings at the preserve to protest policies governing the use of federal land in the West. They will now serve about four more years each.
The occupiers have vowed to remain in the building until federally owned land is returned “back to the people”, reports NBC News. “We are standing up against bad laws which dehumanize us and destroy our freedom”. “I think that the federal and local law enforcement officials are very carefully trying to manage this so it doesn’t result in bloodshed”, Clinton said. Federal prosecutors said the fires were set to cover up poaching.
“Hopefully some of the ranching families and the community will come and support you guys”, rancher Royce Wilber told them.
The post OR residents in packed town hall want armed militia to leave appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
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Even so, it was time for them to go home, Rodney Johnson said.
