But an attorney mediating the dispute between Ammon Bundy and federal officials said Bundy wants them to leave. And though the Committee expressed their anger at the way Ammon acted on his own, without telling them what he had planned, and without local consent, they still expressed their very real gratitude to him for bringing national attention to the gross injustices against the Hamonds and to the broader issues of the Federal dominance over the land that rightfully belongs to the people of the West. Out of this can come great things if the follow-up is done right.
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Cowboy Dwane Ehmer, of Irrigon Ore., a supporter of the group… Bundy, the son of anti-government rancher Cliven Bundy of Nevada, “kindly declined” the deal, telling reporters, “we always consider what people say”.
“We will take that offer”, Bundy said on Friday. A small, armed group has been occupying a remote national wildlife refuge in OR for a week to protest federal land use policies.
The Mormon family of the man behind the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge has been challenging government authority for at least two decades.
First, they start off complaining that the local county officials haven’t responded to their “Redress of Grievance”, so they are now demanding everything in writing – as if they get to call the shots. Rep. Cliff Bentz, the Republican state representative whose district includes the wildlife refuge, told Heard not to come because it would be “inappropriate”.
There may be more drama afoot at the Bundy militia standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
‘It’s bigger than anything we’ve seen before, ‘ says Leonard Zeskind, president of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights.
Many spoke during the two-hour meeting, including those who have visited the standoff site and others who traveled from beyond Oregon’s borders to the wildlife refuge after hearing word of the standoff.
Ammon Bundy and his group of so-called “militia” men are asking for a lot, and it’s not just snacks.
The Pacific Patriot Network showed up Saturday in a convoy of about 18 vehicles, carrying rifles and handguns and dressed in military attire and bulletproof vests. The letter also said they approved of his message but “disapprove of your unilateral method of occupation”.
Claiming to be members of militia groups called the Pacific Patriot Network, Idaho’s 3 percent group, and the North American Coalition of Constitutional Militias, they said they were there to be an additional source of security – a “buffer zone” between the government and the occupation.
The standoff is the latest flare up of tensions over federal management of Western lands. Proud ranchers or loggers drive the economy here and most resent being dependent on the uncertain rulings of the federal agencies that manage the land.
Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation stand guard at the Burns Municipal Airport, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, in Burns, Ore.
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Finicum, Bundy, and armed protesters have been living at the refuge for a week, saying they will only leave when the land is returned to the people – its rightful owners.
