January 7, 2016 – ChuckBaldwinLive.com via A3PR
Let me be clear: the situation in Oregon does not remotely compare to the events that took place at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada. In Nevada, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was the aggressor, which included a very real threat of violence against the Bundy family. The Bundy family appealed to their neighbors and friends for help. And help rightly arrived. The legal nuances of the Bundy situation notwithstanding, BLM gave the appearance of preparing another Waco incident that just could not be tolerated. Over 80 innocent Americans, including elderly men and women and small children, were murdered by our federal government during that unconscionable raid. There must NEVER be another Waco in this country.
The decision of Ammon Bundy (Cliven Bundy’s son)–and the men who are with him–to mount an armed takeover of the remote, empty Malheur National Wildlife Refuge building in Harney County outside Burns, Oregon, is unwise, careless, and downright foolish. There is no just cause for such action.
Previous to the move to take over the federal building, a peaceful protest in support of the Hammond family had taken place in Burns. This protest was commendable and well-conducted. Hundreds of local residents took part in that peaceful protest. The local community of Burns was very sympathetic to the plight of the Hammonds and rightly angered by the federal government’s treatment of them.
Dwight Hammond, Jr. and his son Steven had been arrested, tried, and convicted of arson for the burning of federal land that adjoins Hammond land. The Hammonds say they were burning their land for agricultural purposes and the fire inadvertently spread to federal land. The feds say the Hammonds burned the land to cover up poaching. The two men were found guilty by a jury and sentenced to five years in prison. A district court judge found the sentences to be excessive (and therefore unconstitutional) and sentenced the men to less time; but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the lesser sentence and the five year prison term was reinstated.
Read the rest of the article here.
“Is Chuck Baldwin a reliable source?” – Jonny Stryder
I believe he is. In this case in particular he seems to have a good grasp of the situation.
Short Oath Keepers Statement on this Standoff
I will post a longer statement later, but for now, here is a brief statement on this situation, in general:
Oath Keepers adamantly opposes the armed takeover of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. This is not in keeping with the moral imperative of only using force in defense when people’s lives are at stake, as at Bundy Ranch in 2014. In this case, neither the Hammonds nor their neighbors were in imminent threat of being murdered, and neither the Hammonds nor their neighbors asked for any form of armed standoff. In fact, they oppose it. This is being done by outsiders who misled and deceived locals, deceived the Hammonds, and deceived the patriot movement by luring them in with a peaceful rally and then attempting to rope them into a premeditated, manufactured armed standoff. Both Ammon Bundy and Ryan Payne (who we suspect is an agent provocateur) told the locals in the Committee of Safety, at a public town hall meeting on December 15, that they, the locals on the committee, would be making the decisions on what was to be done, how, and when. That was a lie, as they were already staging their men and supplies in the area to takeover the wildlife refuge, and had already planned out this takeover of the federal facility at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. By doing this, they have given Obama the best New Years present he could hope for – an example of militia movement/patriot aggression, which gives up the high ground while also having the least credibility and support from the locals possible, after lying to them, and also the least support from the patriot community, who were also blind-sided by Ammon and Ryan Payne.
However, as much as we oppose what Ammon Bundy and Ryan Payne have done, we must warn the Obama Administration that it does not have free reign to “Waco” the people in this standoff by using deadly military force, such as an SOD-X, Delta Force, or the FBI HRT to kill them all. The Federal government must respect their right to due process and do all it can to end this standoff peacefully, without loss of life. It must treat it like the Freeman standoff, not the Waco standoff. There will be no more free Wacos, as Mike Vanderbgh, Founder of the Three Percenter movement puts it. Treat this with kid gloves or risk a civil war.
Stewart Rhodes
Founder and President of Oath
I’ve been trying to figure out what’s been going on there, but I suspect Baldwin is right. Someone from Oathkeepers said a couple days ago that there are not Oathkeepers there, at least officially. He intimated that most of them were provocateurs.
Given the timing of Obama’s executive order re: firearms, it wouldn’t have surprised me if there was gunfire this week. I’m glad that hasn’t happened.
From Mr. Baldwin’s article:
“I am very familiar with people who are on the ground in Oregon, and I can tell you that at least two of the men involved in the armed takeover of the federal facility near Burns were also agitators and provocateurs at Bundy Ranch. Fortunately, at Bundyville, those men were plainly instructed to leave the area before they were able to inflict any significant damage. Although, I can tell you that it was only due to the cool heads and calm spirits of the good men at Bundy Ranch that kept those agitators from potential violence and resultant loss of life. Unfortunately, those same men are now in Oregon. If these men are not government provocateurs, they are certainly helping the government with a lot of free work.”
I’ve not been following this story too closely, but this is the first I’ve heard of anyone besides Clive Bundy and his family leading these folks. Is Chuck Baldwin a reliable source?