The Fox News Channel, dishing out statism for Republicans, has finally caught up with last year’s news, forever a defining issue for freedom lovers: The standoff between Feds and farmers brewing in Burns, Oregon, and reported in this space on 12.30.15.
In a seminal column, “Why The Land Belongs To Bundy,” you met Ammon Bundy, fighting for his homesteader rights, against the Federales of Nevada, in 2014. Now Rancher Bundy, son of Cliven Bundy, has come to stand in support of Dwight Hammond, rancher under siege in Oregon.
Via State Broadcaster FNC:
Armed protesters occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon—including three sons of a Nevada rancher who battled with the government in 2014—warned Sunday that any use of force by law enforcement agencies would be “putting lives at risk.”
Hours into the occupation by activists and militiamen a spokesman for the group told reporters that there has been no contact with the FBI or other government law enforcement since the occupation began Saturday night.
“They should be constitutional,” said spokesman Ammon Bundy, referring to the government. He is a son of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who clashed with the feds two years ago.
Ammon Bundy said if the government did use force to retake the Malheur National Wildlife refuge “they would be putting lives at risk.”
Earlier, the protesters vowed to occupy the refuge for “as long as it takes,” as state and federal officials on Sunday sought to defuse the situation.
The protestors have said they stormed the federal land in a remote area near Burns, some 280 miles east of Portland, to protest the prosecution of a father and son facing jail time on an arson charge for burning 130 acres of land. Prosecutors said the fire was set to hide poaching, but the ranchers, who face five years in prison, and the protesters supporting them say it was set to stop invasive plants. …
… The 73-year-old rancher and his 46-year-old son claim they lit the fires in 2001 and 2006 to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires. The two were convicted of the arsons three years ago and served time — the father three months, the son one year. But a judge ruled their terms were too short under federal law and ordered them back to prison for about four years each.The decision has generated controversy in a remote part of the state.
MUST READ: “Why The Land Belongs To Bundy.”
UPDATED I (1/3/016): In a massive land grab under the Antiquities Act, Barack Obama will be putting hundreds of Oregonian ranchers out of business. Hear it in their own words.
UPDATE II (1/4): Once these farmers, whose homesteader rights are as authentic and naturally valid as those of the Native Americans whose rights (robbed) the Left champions (as do I)—how will the bloody liberals eat their organic grass-fed local meat? I buy it. I support local farmers’ grass-fed grazing. It’s an American frontier, founding profession, noble.
“Left Demands Media Start Calling Bundy Group ‘Terrorists.”
UPDATE III: Everything you wanted to know about Ted Cruz and were too bored to ask:
Unlike #RickSantorum, #TedCruz – weak, ineffectual, statist – slobbers over law-enforcement, condemns #OregonRanchers' righteous protest.
— Ilana Mercer (@IlanaMercer) January 5, 2016