Heavily Armed Militiamen Take Over Federal Building in Oregon

Dwight and Steven Hammond are father and son ranchers, convicted of arson in 2012 for lighting public land on fire adjacent to their ranch. Their actions were part of brush clearing of their land, a common practice among ranchers that in fact increases the land’s productivity and clears dead and overgrown brush.

Unfortunately, the burn expanded beyond their ranch, but the end result is that they were able to extinguish the blaze on federal lands without federal resources being needed, and in fact, the federal land is also now clear of dead brush and grass and is healthier than before. However, BLM workers saw the blaze and the government is determined to show it’s power and control over lands that actually belong to the people.

The government then chose to prosecute, charging the two men with arson, terrorism, conspiracy and a host of other charges. The two men ultimately entered a plea deal and admitted to the two fires they started, and are paying a $400,000 judgement to the BLM. Arson of federal land carries a five-year minimum sentence, but Judge Michael Hogan sentenced them to a much shorter term, saying that the mandated 5+ year sentence would have been “grossly disproportionate” and that a longer sentence would have “shocked his conscience.”

The Bundy family of Nevada joined with hard-core militiamen Saturday to take over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, vowing to occupy the remote federal outpost 30 miles southeast of Burns for years.

The occupation came shortly after an estimated 300 marchers — militia and local citizens both — paraded through Burns to protest the prosecution of two Harney County ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, who are to report to prison on Monday.

Among the occupiers is Ammon Bundy, son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, and two of his brothers. Militia members at the refuge claimed they had as many as 100 supporters with them. The refuge, federal property managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was closed and unoccupied for the holiday weekend.

In phone interviews from inside the occupied building Saturday night, Ammon Bundy and his brother, Ryan Bundy, said they are not looking to hurt anyone. But they would not rule out violence if police tried to remove them, they said.

“The facility has been the tool to do all the tyranny that has been placed upon the Hammonds,” Ammon Bundy said.

“We’re planning on staying here for years, absolutely,” he added. “This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute.”