Constitution
Protest Erupts In Gun Fire At Burns, Rangeland Protesters Set To Meet In Boise Saturday
January 26, 2016 
MSNBC is reporting gunfire and death Tuesday afternoon at the standoff in Harney County, Oregon where armed protesters have occupied the Malheur Wildlife Refuge for several weeks. See the FBI news release at the end of this post for more details.
The GUARDIAN has confirmed that a group with apparently similar concerns as the protesters has booked Boise’s Centre On The Grove for Saturday January 30. The seminar is entitled “STORM OVER RANGELANDS” and has scheduled a “Property Rights Workshop” and will discuss “Dealing With Federal Overreach.”
This poster was sent to the GUARDIAN promoting the Saturday Event:
Here is the FBI press release about the Oregon events:
“At approximately 4:25 p.m. (PST) on Tuesday, January 26, 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Oregon State Police (OSP) began an enforcement action to bring into custody a number of individuals associated with the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. During that arrest, there were shots fired.
One individual who was a subject of a federal probable cause arrest is deceased. We will not be releasing any information about that person pending identification by the medical examiner’s office.
One individual suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital for treatment. He was arrested and is currently in custody.
The arrested individuals include:
* Ammon Edward Bundy, age 40, of Emmett, Idaho
* Ryan C. Bundy, age 43, of Bunkerville, Nevada
* Brian Cavalier, age 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada
* Shawna Cox, age 59, Kanab, Utah
* Ryan Waylen Payne, age 32, of Anaconda, Montana
These probable cause arrests occurred along Highway 395.
In a separate event in Burns, Oregon, at approximately 5:50 pm, Oregon State Police arrested the following individual:
* Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, age 45, Cottonwood, Arizona
All of the named defendants face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 372.
We continue to work with Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward and his deputies; Oregon State Police; and the United States Attorney’s Office to address any further outstanding issues. As the investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment further at this time.
All defendants should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Jan 26, 2016, 10:42 pm
If the Bundy’s explain to the Feds that they are bankers or Wall Street Executives, they will be immediately released with a token fine and stern verbal rebuke.
I’m pretty sure, however, the Feds will slap terrorism charges on them, just like they did on the Hammonds for letting a controlled burn touch a tiny bit of Federal land.
It is important to remember that the BIG.GOV has given itself the right to throw any American citizen in a prison forever without charges if they deem you a terrorist. If letting a controlled burn get out of control is now considered terrorism, none of us is safe. The evil BIG.GOV our founding fathers warned us about has arrived.
Jan 27, 2016, 12:37 am
I do believe the feds are literally using the fire season to burn ranchers out of business and sometimes out of their homes… in a similar way to how they allow fire to destroy structures in the wilderness areas and then prohibit rebuilding.
Feds and Indians: The feds and the tribes have joined forces to eliminated the few remaining ranchers.
Bet ya $5 that the Fuzz did not record the traffic stop and shootout. Bet ya $5 that the Bunndys did, but the Fuzz will destroy the evidence.
This will be yet another rally point for Trump… “Save the white man in the rural west”
Jan 27, 2016, 6:30 am
The greatest threat to the American people, is the American government.
Jan 27, 2016, 9:47 am
I didn’t know until this moment that Ammon, the Big Kahuna over there, was from Emmett. Small world, huh?
Is there “government overreach”? No doubt! But at the same time, the Bundy Bunch seem to be “welfare ranchers” who want free and unfettered use of land that belongs to all of us. SOMEBODY has to look out for the interests of the general public.
I’ve always loved the outdoors… and it’s not an uncommon thing at all to be driving across government-owned land, only to come across a LOCKED gate, preventing others from using that same government land. Kinda defeats the notion of “multiple use.”
Cattlemen like the Bundys sing the song…
“This land is my land,
This land is my land,
This land – was made for meeeeeeee!”
The government has the unenviable role of managing PUBLIC land, with lots of special interests competing for their share or maybe more. Since they are the landlords of probably 80% of the surface of Idaho, I don’t see conflicts going away, any time soon. The job is probably best done by LOCAL officials who understand those competing interests, rather than bureaucrats in a mirrored office building in D.C. (But the local officials also have to be fair and impartial arbiters, and I’m sure they sometimes aren’t.)
No easy answers.
I’m glad more blood wasn’t spilt, over in Harney County. I hope the interlopers go home. Or – a thought that should make us ALL squirm – maybe everybody but the Native Americans should go home. (They definitely have the strongest claim to the land, but they’re accustomed to not being represented at the table.)
Jan 27, 2016, 9:57 am
The federal government was not going to be embarrassed by this like they were by the elder Bundy. Instead of going in guns ablaze to the compound they filed charges and waited for the arrogant bunch to drive down the highway where an enforcement action was taken. Looks like one lived up to his word and went down swinging instead of going to jail. I know these guys weren’t given the wall street privilege, but they certainly were granted leniency that would not have happened had they been members of b lack lives matter. Now that they have cut off the head of the snake the body will soon whither away. The people of Burns Oregon can go back to their peaceful existence.
Jan 27, 2016, 10:24 am
According to their info “Utah’s Freedom Conference is sponsored by Freedom21.org” being held in Boise?
Also known as
“Western Rangelands Property Rights Workshop”
“Dealing with Federal Overreach”
But for effect they call it
“Storm over Rangelands. Private Rights in Federal Lands”
So it’s workshop? What’s the title again?
Then when you go to pay for a $10 lunch, you see “Property Rights Forum”.
Now it’s a Forum? Workshop? Seminar?
(I wonder if they’ll pay the IDAHO sales tax on that lunch.)
One piece says 12:30 – 5:30 and another says 12:30 – 6 with the $10 lunch at 12:30.
The people putting this on sound about as stupid and confused as the people hanging out at the wildlife refuge. I’m pretty sure Utah is the center of the world for stupid people.
Any bets on the attendance #?
Jan 27, 2016, 11:21 am
There is no such thing as private land. Private land is actually public land the government will lease to you and your lease payment is property taxes. Your lease payment can be changed at will by the landlord (government), and should you not pay, your land will be taken.
The sooner everyone realizes our rights are eroded, and the american dream is dead, the sooner real change can occur.
I don’t blame our politicians, the voices asking the politicians to create and fund new programs, far outweigh the voices asking for lower taxes and fewer services.
Jan 27, 2016, 3:50 pm
Now, I normally have always sided with the enviros re land use, especially grazing land which I had assumed to be abused by cattle all of the time. But, this assumption chained me to one side of the story. So, I wanted to see what the rancher side looked like and found this well presented chronology that explained the play by play of this conflict re the Hammond ranch/Refuge conflict. If that 1975 study (which I am still looking for) is correct, then the BLM has a lot of explaining to do here.
See for yourself….
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/01/03/full-story-on-whats-going-on-in-oregon-militia-take-over-malheur-national-wildlife-refuge-in-protest-to-hammond-family-persecution/
Jan 27, 2016, 7:32 pm
Many Years ago I listened to a liberal POS Sun Valley lawyer speak in a snarky manner about how he was crushing the Farmer/Rancher tradition throughout the West. He was very proud and all the movie stars cheered him on with donations. His number one tool was money from environmental groups given to our pretend Congressional delegation who then allowed the federal land managers to pinch off the targeted agricultural groups.
The media, our fourth branch of government, is also very dishonest about what’s been happening.
Timothy James McVeigh and friends were wrong headed mentally defective murdering pieces of crap. However, they were obviously the spawn of a group of people who felt cheated and under represented. Unfortunately these people are smart and resourceful. As Timothy demonstrated, they did not burn down their own neighborhood like protesting Blacks. Unfortunately, I fear, and reason, that the protester conflict and killing yesterday will spawn more Timothys. (I personally do not support or justify or rationalized such criminal acts… just saying, gosh folks, this is pretty obvious possibility don’t ya think.)
Long Term Fix: So I suggest we look beyond the crazy bad guys on the fringe, as they are merely a symptom. If we look at the basis of the problem there seems to be a couple of true stories. First, lefty activist have specifically and overwhelmingly targeted this population for destruction. They are able to have much more influence over the federal lands than do the Farmer/Ranchers. Secondly, America is not supposed to be about who’s got more lobby power in DC, but in fact that is exactly how DC functions. Constitution rights only considered if you slip me some money. Not even the entire State of Idaho, led by a Rancher Governor, can overpower DC if there is more money on the other side of the issue.
ACLU where are you? If the Farmer/Ranchers were poor pregnant illegal aliens, the ACLU would step in the way of the government oppression. Unfortunately the ACLU is a very political leftist organization which will not engage on the issue to help the mostly conservative white guys in this pincher. In fact, the Federal government has become like the armed wing of the environmentalist movement with the encouragement of the ACLU.
So I propose a solution to have a conservative version of the ACLU… So the nuts on the fringes of legitimate social and land use arguments can relax and let fair civil proceedings protect their rights and settle disputes. Such an organization used to be called the GOP, but we all know what a bunch of wine sipping socialite RINOs that group has become. I suggest government funding to get this organization started. I also suggest declaring Farmer Ranchers an endangered minority and protect them with anti-genocide laws.
Jan 28, 2016, 8:08 am
Dave, as you know, I only comment infrequently. There was a time when on your site the comments were uniformly well thought out, like Bikeboy’s views for example. Now, it seems like the majority of comments are made by the spawn of “chicken little” and if a person were to believe them a person would believe anarchy was only a moment away or that government was completely nonfunctional.
I could make a long list of things I am unhappy with when it comes to the government but I could make a longer list of things I approve of when it comes to government. At the top of the list, would be the management of public lands. We have a good life in the west and our lifestyle is a direct result of the public lands and the way they are managed for all the people, not for a few malcontents.
Even if a person does not use the public lands, they still derive the benefits of all that open country, from the protected watersheds and cleaner air to the money that is pumped into the economy by the people who use them for consumptive and recreational purposes. Managing for “multiple use” is not an easy task when most of us are only advocates for only our favorite use.
The country, the state of Idaho and Boise are not “in the toilet” but are thriving. Sure, there are problems but that is to be expected when you have 300+ million people trying to get along. Complaining has its place but complaining without an understanding of the entire reality of our society is a wasted effort. We are not, as a society, going to move back to the past. Like it or not, we are moving forward. Hopefully, we will move forward in a constructive manner.
Jan 28, 2016, 9:08 am
Bikeboy, Ammon is a recent Emmett property owner and registered voter! http://www.betteridaho.org/2016/01/ammon-bundys-idaho-connection/
One of the speakers on Saturday is an attorney for Cliven Bundy. It will be interesting to hear the spin on recent events. The Bundy Ranch on social media have still been trying to rally the troops. http://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/local/mesquite/2016/01/25/bundy-attorney-joins-public-lands-debate-utah/79260994/
Jan 28, 2016, 5:30 pm
Since one side of the case is obviously supported by the Tea Party type of people- the far right religious, the anti-government, the people against public education, the people in favor of family values, racism, bigotry, speaking “American”, and the gold standard… The people in favor of taking over a wildlife refuge.
I think it is fun to highlight one of their popular representatives discussing federal lands.
From the big state of Alaska, with more square miles of federal land than any other state, Sarah Palin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj_sD83FAQk
Jan 29, 2016, 8:47 am
Taxed Out: Thank you. Concur wholeheartedly.
Easterner: Big fun!
Jan 29, 2016, 1:43 pm
I’ve requested the NRA spin up a conservative civil rights branch to counter the liberal destruction of the Constitution.
Jan 30, 2016, 7:22 am
Taxed Out – If we are thriving, perhaps you could explain why the Baltic Dry Index has been steadily going down to levels not seen since the 1980’s, and shipping traffic in the oceans has virtually stopped?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-11/nothing-moving-baltic-dry-crashes-insiders-warn-commerce-has-come-halt
Also, if unemployment statistics were calculated the way they were during the Great Depression, we would all know that there are more people unemployed now than in the depths of the Great Depression. Also, 46 million Americans can’t even afford food, so would be lined up around the block and very visible if it weren’t for food stamps.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/10/08/why-this-feels-like-a-depression-for-most-people/
Being as you read the Boise Guardian, you must understand the TV and newspapers are full of misinformation. You really need to shut off the popular media and their comforting lies.
Jan 30, 2016, 4:21 pm
J. Smith. You are a genius to extract so many opinions from so little. Who am I to cross swords with you. You are also a mind reader to know what I have read and do read. You are evidently a legend in your own mind to know so much. What is beyond me is why you would waste your time attacking people on this website when you should be on Fox News.