Oregon standoff latest in dispute with feds

Wildlife Refuge Compound This is the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns that militants took over Saturday. In the 2001 incident, 127 acres were burned.

The Harney County Sheriff’s Department said the Oregon State Police was handling the incident.

The father and son of a prominent OR ranching family plan to surrender Monday to serve more time in prison for setting fires that spread to government lands they leased as cattle rangeland. For example, the Hammonds’ cows should be able to to move and graze through the refuge’s land as they wish.

“This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute”, Bundy added, calling on other militiamen to join them.

The occupation was prompted after a federal judge ruled that the sentences of Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven Hammond, 46 had not served enough time for arson under federal law.

“They are continuing to expand the refuge at the expense of the ranchers and miners”, said protester Ammon Bundy, the 40-year-old son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who had an armed standoff with federal agents in 2014.

Armed militia members, including the sons of Cliven Bundy, took over a wildlife refuge on Saturday and said they are prepared to “kill or be killed” in a conflict with authorities.

“Neither Ammon Bundy nor anyone within his group/organization speak for the Hammond Family”, the family’s lawyer Alan Schroeder wrote to Sheriff David Ward, according to local CBS affiliate KOIN.

The FBI said it was aware of the situation but declined to comment further. Cliven Bundy told OPB that he had nothing to do with the takeover of the building.

With an armed group of people occupying a government building and threatening violence, the racial bias in our society is on ugly display.

“We have no intention of using force or being aggressive or going on the offence, but just as all people have the right to defend themselves, that’s exactly what that meant – means”.

Largely, the protesters sang, toted signs and American flags and threw pennies at the Harris County Courthouse, which was symbolic of their effort to buy back their government, according to The Associated Press.

A few blocks away, Hammond and his wife, Susan, greeted marchers, who planted flower bouquets in the snow.

The Hammonds reportedly say they set the fire to get rid of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.

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

That dispute turned into an occupation on Saturday night, as militiamen seized the refuge’s headquarters – which were vacant over the holiday weekend – and blocked access roads.

The Hammond arson case has been a smoldering issue in Burns, Oregon for more than three years.

“We are using the wildlife refuge as a place for individuals across the United States to come and assist in helping the people of Harney County claim back their lands and resources”, he said.