• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Extremist Militia Occupies Federal Building In Oregon

Status
Not open for further replies.
8

80s Bad Guy

Banned
DrForester said:
ElKF61w.jpg
Click to expand...

A better solution, perhaps:

latest
Click to expand...

.
 
B

besada

Banned
TheRealTalker said:
So the situation has already been handled?
Or are they still in that building...
Click to expand...

The militia is still occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, but the feds have finally blocked off access, and are discussing whether to shut down power.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...litia-standoff-power-cut-off?CMP=share_btn_tw
A federal government official told the Guardian that authorities were planning on Monday to cut the power at the refuge.

“It’s in the middle of nowhere,” said the official, who is based in Washington, DC, and has knowledge of the planned response to the militia. “And it’s flat-ass cold up there.”

The official, who asked not to be named, said they were not privy to the FBI’s plan of action. However, they said the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which is leading the crisis management reaction to the occupation in liaison with the FBI, planned to cut the power to the building where the militiamen are spending their nights.
Click to expand...
“After they shut off the power, they’ll kill the phone service,” the government official added. “Then they’ll block all the roads so that all those guys have a long, lonely winter to think about what they’ve done.”

Snowstorms are expected in the wilderness surrounding the refuge on Tuesday, which is some 30 miles from the town of Burns. At night, temperatures are forecast to plummet to -8C (18F).

The militia, numbering few more than a dozen, have been building fires to stay warm and have been sleeping in the building usually used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which runs the refuge for wild birds.
Click to expand...
 
B

besada

Banned
BluePigGanon said:
The only word that pops in my head is "masturbatory".
Click to expand...

Ritzheimer has been looking for an opportunity to shoot up some feds for awhile, which is why the FBI has been keeping tabs on him. This is the same guy that led the armed demonstrations in front of an Arizona mosque. The Oath Keepers (best known as the armed assholes who showed up for the Ferguson protests) tossed him out because he planned to "arrest" a Senator.

It's a shame law enforcement officials allowed this man to reach the Malheur Refuge. If you want a peaceful resolution, you don't want Ritzheimer in the building, because he's not looking for a peaceful resolution.
 
B

BluePigGanon

Member
besada said:
Ritzenheimer has been looking for an opportunity to shoot up some feds for awhile, which is why the FBI has been keeping tabs on him. This is the same guy that led the armed demonstrations in front of an Arizona mosque. The Oath Keepers tossed him out because he planned to "arrest" a Senator.

It's a shame law enforcement officials allowed this man to reach the Malheur Refuge. If you want a peaceful resolution, you don't want Ritzheimer in the building, because he's not looking for a peaceful resolution.
Click to expand...

Nope. I can't tell if he's looking for a chance to shoot someone, die a martyr, or both. But he's a piece of shit.
 
J

johnsmith

remember me
Somebody flaked out on a Facebook event? I am shocked, shocked!

Another man from Utah who took part in the Bundy standoff told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he was miffed by how few protesters showed up. “I feel quite betrayed. It’s been on Facebook that everyone is going to come. And we show up, and everyone just craps out,” he said. “You come up here, ready to get killed if we have to and these people are just on Facebook about it." He added, “I’m not here to shoot anyone, I’m here to get shot."
Click to expand...
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/armed-militiamen-occupy-oregon-wildlife-refuge.html
 
T

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Captin Quacker said:
these rubes planned this whole thing on the fly didn't they?

and here I was thinking they had planned this out
Click to expand...

It doesn't even take any planning, just a little bit of money to buy some prepacked bins of supplies. Maybe they didn't have any money left from their disability checks.
 
A

antonz

Member
Captin Quacker said:
these rubes planned this whole thing on the fly didn't they?

and here I was thinking they had planned this out
Click to expand...

Almost certain Bundy Jr got the idea during the march that he would be some big hero. Which is why even the other Militia are like we want no part of this shit.
 
N

neshcom

Banned
johnsmith said:
Somebody flaked out on a Facebook event? I am shocked, shocked!


http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/armed-militiamen-occupy-oregon-wildlife-refuge.html
Click to expand...

I’m not here to shoot anyone, I’m here to get shot
Click to expand...

Oh my god, what an asshole.

edit: Wait, the two ranchers this whole thing was supposed to start from surrendered themselves to prison today? I'd say them occupying the property means they just want to get shot and be martyrs, but they've already said as much!
 
A

Ayt

Banned
johnsmith said:
Somebody flaked out on a Facebook event? I am shocked, shocked!
Another man from Utah who took part in the Bundy standoff told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he was miffed by how few protesters showed up. “I feel quite betrayed. It’s been on Facebook that everyone is going to come. And we show up, and everyone just craps out,” he said. “You come up here, ready to get killed if we have to and these people are just on Facebook about it." He added, “I’m not here to shoot anyone, I’m here to get shot."
Click to expand...

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/armed-militiamen-occupy-oregon-wildlife-refuge.html
Click to expand...

That is why the people screaming for the authorities to push this issue are so misguided.
 
M

Mackenzie 92

Member
These clowns are total frauds.

Nearly every part of the Bundy family’s business is funded by government welfare programs.

The armed militiamen currently occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon have attempted to portray an image of themselves as rugged, independent Americans rejecting government interference in their businesses. But nearly every part of their existence as ranchers is made possible by government welfare programs — even the building they’re depending on for shelter from the cold was built by federal tax dollars as part of the New Deal program. Here are just a few ways taxpayers are subsidizing the livelihoods of cattle ranchers like the Bundy family:

1. Ammon Bundy’s loan from the Small Business Administration

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers a loan guarantee program for businesses that don’t qualify for assistance in the private credit market. As Mother Jones reported, Ammon Bundy — the ringleader of the Malheur takeover bemoaning federal overreach — got a $530,000 loan from the SBA in 2010 for his truck maintenance business in Arizona, costing taxpayers over $22,000. What the loan was used for or whether or not Bundy repaid it is not listed in public records.

2. The US government charges 93 percent less for cattle grazing than private landowners

One of the biggest gripes from cattle ranchers like Cliven Bundy and other Western cattlemen is that the federal government is bleeding ranchers dry with overpriced cattle grazing fees. But the opposite is true — in 2012, it cost roughly $1.35 a month for each cow to graze on federal land, as opposed to the average $20 per month charged by private landowners for cattle grazing. FiveThirtyEight.com illustrated the price difference in a graph:

If anybody is getting the raw end of the deal from the federal government’s cattle grazing prices, it’s the federal government. As of 2014, grazing fees only accounted for 15 percent of the total cost incurred for the Bureau of Land Management to manage land for cattle grazing. The other 85 percent comes from we, the taxpayers.

3. Ranchers get huge discounts on leases of public land

In Nevada, home of the Bundy family, 80 percent of the state’s land is owned by the federal government. But ranchers get to lease that land for their own private businesses at a huge discount. According to an investigation by The Atlantic, the lease discount program cost taxpayers anywhere from $52 million a year to $200 million, when accounting for all of the administrative overhead involved in managing the program.

4. Livestock farmers milk the “emergency” feed program even in non-drought years

Western states, like Nevada and Oregon, where ranchers like the Bundys reside, only produce roughly one-fifth of the nation’s beef supply, but require a considerable amount of taxpayer subsidies to stay afloat. The Atlantic estimates that the 11 Western states populated by ranchers eat up approximately $26 million per year.

5. Ranchers depend on big government assistance to keep livestock safe

The Bundys and other ranchers would have very little livestock to feed if it weren’t for the “animal damage control” program, in which federal employees kill off the nearby predators that present a danger to cattle. The Atlantic’s study of this program found that, again, Western ranchers are responsible for a disproportionate amount of taxpayer subsidies compared to the other 39 states:

In 1994 this program cost $55.9 million nationwide, of which roughly $22 million was spent on western livestock operations. The animals killed nationwide with this money included 163 black bears, 293 mountain lions, 1,928 bobcats, 8,973 foxes, and 85,571 coyotes.

If the Bundy family really wanted the “independence” from government they claim to stand for, their businesses would be underwater. Ammon Bundy and his gang should thank their lucky stars to benefit from so much government assistance.
Click to expand...
 
entremet

entremet

Member
A good article on the background of this mess:

http://www.cato.org/blog/no-good-guys-west

The rest is at the link.

There are no good guys to cheer for in the militia takeover of an Oregon federal office building on January 2. The ostensible issue is the re-sentencing of two Oregon ranchers–Dwight Hammond and son Steven Hammond–for arson, while the underlying issue is federal land ownership of much of the West.

The arson fires lit by the Hammonds in 2001 and 2006 may have actually represented sensible land management, but the Hammonds lost the high ground by their failure to coordinate with the government agency managing the land they burned. Prescribed fire is a tool used to improve wildlife habitat, increase land productivity, and control wildfire. The 2001 fire aimed at improving productivity, but the government says the ranchers didn’t bother informing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) they planned to burn until two hours after they lit the fire. While they lit the fire on their own land, it escaped and burned 139 acres of federal land, but that burning probably did not do serious damage to the grassland and they put the fire out themselves.

The 2006 fire was more questionable. A wildfire was burning on BLM land near the Hammond’s ranch, so to defend their land they lit a backfire on their own land. That would be standard procedure except, again, they didn’t tell anyone and when their fire crossed over onto federal land it endangered firefighters who the Hammonds apparently knew were located between the wildfire and their backfire. Due to severe fire hazards, the county had a no-burn rule which the Hammonds apparently violated, but this was hardly a terrorist act.

For these actions, they were sentenced to a year in jail, which possibly was appropriate considering they endangered people’s lives. But the federal government, citing an anti-terrorism law that sets a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for arson on federal land, demanded that they be re-sentenced. Having already served the first year, they were scheduled to be re-incarcerated for four more years after the New Year. It is always disturbing when the federal government uses laws aimed at foreign terrorists to oppress citizens who have political differences of opinion with government policy. The Hammonds, who have paid $400,000 in fine related to the fires they lit, probably should not have been re-sentenced to four more years in prison, but that’s a problem with mandatory sentencing laws and overly aggressive prosecutors, not federal land management.
Click to expand...
 
A

Angelus Errare

Banned
So what exactly is taking them so long to cut the power? Sorry to say it but if these dudes occupying were black no they would not have been shot, but you can be damn sure electricity would have been cut off hour one.
 
N

NervousXtian

Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
Arkeband said:
One of those food items looks like a bag of dog food.
Click to expand...

That's Bob's Red Mill... probably flour or the like.. not dog food.

Mackenzie 92 said:
These clowns are total frauds.
Click to expand...

The problem with this is adding in the costs of the BLM managing it, because they ranchers can't manage it, because it's not their land. Who cares about what it costs to lease it, they can't buy, and in non-Western states it's already in private hands.

Also, you don't paying grazing fees on your own land. So it's not apples-to-apples. They also can't hunt the predators on BLM land to protect their cattle, because it's not there land.
 
B

besada

Banned
entremet said:
A good article on the background of this mess:
Click to expand...
It's really not a good article on the mess, which isn't surprising, as it's from the Cato Institute. It plays fast and loose with the facts, acting as if the Hammonds hadn't been convicted of arson, and continuing to assert that both fires were accidents.

It's a shitty, propaganda filled article that essentially carries water for the sorts of crazies who think the government shouldn't exist. Again, not surprising given it came from a think tank created by the Koch Brothers.
 
N

NervousXtian

Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
besada said:
It's really not a good article on the mess, which isn't surprising, as it's from the Cato Institute. It plays fast and loose with the facts, acting as if the Hammonds hadn't been convicted of arson, and continuing to assert that both fires were accidents.

It's a shitty, propaganda filled article that essentially carries water for the sorts of crazies who think the government shouldn't exist. Again, not surprising given it came from a think tank created by the Koch Brothers.
Click to expand...

Yeah, at it shouldn't even be a dispute about what the Hammond's did. They had family say what they did was to cover up an illegal poaching of deer.

The 2nd fire, you could argue at least as being somewhat justified, but still illegal.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
johnsmith said:
Another man from Utah who took part in the Bundy standoff told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he was miffed by how few protesters showed up. “I feel quite betrayed. It’s been on Facebook that everyone is going to come. And we show up, and everyone just craps out,” he said. “You come up here, ready to get killed if we have to and these people are just on Facebook about it." He added, “I’m not here to shoot anyone, I’m here to get shot."

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/armed-militiamen-occupy-oregon-wildlife-refuge.html
Click to expand...

This is tragilarious. But hey, if your dumbass wants to get shot without killing anyone, just point your guns at any nearby cops. Everybody wins!

xxracerxx said:
Someone finally figured out that a Yes on Facebook means probably not.
Click to expand...

LOL


This thread seemed to die down for some reason, but there's still much hilarity to be had:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbjo0MVIxHg
 
C

Chie Satonaka

Member
This fucking video.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

This guy is fucking delusional. I'm not usually one to play the "mental illness" card, but I legitimately think this guy is insane, and needs to be locked up for the good of humanity. His delusions might end up getting someone killed.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
The Onion weighs in with a FAQ.

http://www.theonion.com/graphic/what-you-need-know-about-oregon-militia-standoff-52111

Excerpt:

How did this start?

Protests began after local ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond were ordered to return to prison because their time already served for committing arson did not meet minimum-sentencing laws, which, to be fair, often do more harm than good and are certainly worthy of reevaluation.

Who are the ranchers protesting against?

Gub’ment.

What are the protesters’ demands?

$5 million in cash and safe passage to 1874.

What is the militia ultimately hoping to achieve?

Garner enough attention over next few weeks to be brought onstage during rally for a low-polling GOP candidate.

Is the protest going to work?

Nope.
Click to expand...
 
L

Lonewolf_92

Member
Has this been posted? It pretty well explains why the family member who turned on them during trial did so.

Dusty Hammond was punched to the ground, forced to hike 10 miles to a family ranch and ordered to eat chewing tobacco, according to a 2004 police report against uncle Steven Hammond and grandfather Dwight Hammond Jr., who surrendered to federal authorities Monday on a 2012 arson conviction.

The teenager waited an agonizing eight years to reveal his family’s role in setting fires on public land, fearing more abuse at the hand of his uncle, officials said.

Steven Hammond used sandpaper to erase a homebrew tattoo from Dusty’s chest. The coarse abrasive left the rancher’s nephew with twin scabs.

Dusty refused to cry during the 10 minutes his uncle spent scraping away the initials “J” and “S,” which the teen had carved using a paperclip. If he had shed a tear, Steven Hammond would have kept going, he told a Harney County deputy at the time of the inquiry.

Dusty’s punishment was requested by his grandparents, Dwight and Susan Hammond, who witnessed the abuse. Steven Hammond later defended it as an attempt “to teach Dusty to respect his body.”

When it was over, Dusty’s grandmother, Susan Hammond, told him to clean his bleeding wounds with alcohol and “not to have a pity party.”

She later claimed Dusty “did not think the areas were sanded deep enough and thought that he should use steel wool,” after being confronted by Harney County sheriff’s Lt. Brian Needham.

Susan Hammond denied the abuse when reached by phone on Tuesday, telling the Daily News that Dusty inflicted the wounds on himself.

"He put them there," the 75-year-old woman said, who has been left alone on their family's ranch after her husband, Dwight, and son, Steven, turned themselves in on Monday for the arson charges to serve a five-year sentence.

"He was manipulated into testifying, he’s disturbed and the government isn’t helping anything that I can see," she added, alluding to the long land dispute the Hammond family has had with the federal government. "The government has been very invasive into our family and it seems there are no limits to what they can do to destroy people."
Click to expand...

More at the link.
 
G

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
Yeah, i'm sure that damn gub'ment is just fabricating the whole thing to get back at dem good american folk
 
A

aspiegamer

Member
My father tried to ask me about this story and I told him to search for #YeeHawd instead because it would be simpler than actually trying to explain it.
iamaustrian said:
jesus christ
so spot on
Click to expand...
Even the infamous Taiwanese Animators crew has a sense of irony about racism and Islamophobia in America? Damn. It is THAT well known these days? I love on the FBI agent celebrating actually just won the game of Connect Four. Side note, their YouTube hits are depressingly low.
 
Amibguous Cad

Amibguous Cad

Member
FyreWulff said:
Cato Institute is a propaganda wing of the far right/ultra conservatives.
Click to expand...

At least get your smears correct; ultra conservatives generally hate Cato. They're a libertarian outfit and, in addition to supporting the free market, write papers supporting drug legalization or gay marriage or what have you.

Anyway, they have a definite editorial slant but they're producing some of the best work of any think tank out there. I particularly liked their report on drug decriminalization in Portugal.

And indeed if you'd bother to read the article you're bashing you'll find it's quite even-handed.

MikeDown said:
I think terrorist is a little bit of a stretch.
Click to expand...

They're in armed insurrection against the government. What else do you call them?
 
R

ReplacementPelican

Member
My brother mentioned this to me without my having to initiate it. Said that a bunch of 'SJWs' were angry because the people where white.

I don't know where he gets this shit from, he's 20 years old and at college.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

  • Locked
Elon Musk vs Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court
Social Opinion News
12
3K
AJUMP23 replied
Reuters: Bundy follower gets 68 years for role in armed Nevada standoff
3
1K
finowns replied
  • Locked
Oregon standoff leader allegedly tried to escape jail with rope made of sheets
3
1K
xxracerxx replied
  • Locked
AP: In Turnaround, Ammon Bundy Denies Leading Refuge Occupiers
12
2K
Ducarmel replied
  • Locked
Cliven Bundy (led 2014 armed standoff at ranch) arrested by FBI in Portland, Oregon
2 3
105
16K
DrForester replied
Top Bottom