Armed "Militia" takes over wildlife refuge outpost

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I'm confused. These guys are holed up. How are they getting mail and visitors? Why is the government letting people and stuff in?

Because the feds approach has been to let them do whatever they want because they are afraid of political backlash I guess.

[claphamsa]

because its funny...and these guys are clowns.

I would done some drone strikes...but thats just me.

[Toddzilla]

Max Temkin on Twitter. LOL

[cartman]

One down, many more to go.

Protester arrested in Burns, accused of driving stolen refuge vehicle | OregonLive.com

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by cartman

One down, many more to go.

Protester arrested in Burns, accused of driving stolen refuge vehicle | OregonLive.com

One: These idiots thought they'd just be able to drive into town in stolen property during this occupation and get away with it?

Two: Please tell me the police staked out the other stolen vehicle for the driver and that the driver was smart enough to not return to it when he saw the police, and the police have impounded it?

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

One: These idiots thought they'd just be able to drive into town in stolen property during this occupation and get away with it?

Two: Please tell me the police staked out the other stolen vehicle for the driver and that the driver was smart enough to not return to it when he saw the police, and the police have impounded it?

In regards to your first point, Obama and the local officials have let them get away with everything else, why should they expect them to put their feet down now?

[cartman]

Ammon Bundy and some of the others were arrested after a traffic stop. Early reports were that shots were fired during the stop.

[PilotMan]

Bundys in custody, one militant dead after gunfight near Burns | OregonLive.com

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Bundys in custody, one militant dead after gunfight near Burns | OregonLive.com

I hope it was worth it. They're all going to pay a steep price.

[Dutch]

Isn't this kind of like how The Search for the Holy Grail ended?

[RainMaker]

Sounds like Lavoy Finicum was the guy killed. He was the militant who was leeching off the government with his foster parent scam.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Sounds like Lavoy Finicum was the guy killed. He was the militant who was leeching off the government with his foster parent scam.

I wonder if they'll bury him in a blue tarp.

[PilotMan]

[PilotMan]

You can add one more name, Pete Santilli, arrested and charged the same as the others.

[PilotMan]

Jon "Sorry kids I'm not coming home" Ritzheimer turns himself in, in Arizona.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I wonder if they'll bury him in a blue tarp.

Obviously a FEMA body bag. I hear they have spares.

[CrimsonFox]

He died for his donuts!
(NOW! Frosted!)

[Dutch]

Looks like Civil War II ends with a whimper and not a bang.

[stevew]

Oh geez, the max these dudes can get is only 6 years unless more charges are added.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Dutch

Isn't this kind of like how The Search for the Holy Grail ended?

I cannot adequately express how much I love this comment.

Originally Posted by stevew

Oh geez, the max these dudes can get is only 6 years unless more charges are added.

Leech off the government before jail, leech off the government in jail, leech off the government after jail. To channel Jon for a sec, at least the one guy who died won't be costing we taxpayers any more money.

[PilotMan]

It sounds like the FBI has choked off the area. They've set up checkpoints in and out. Only actual ranchers from there, checked with ID are allowed in. Anyone else will be arrested. The idiots are allowed to leave and surrender anytime.

It's nice to see them actually doing something and start isolating the morons off from the rest of the world.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I cannot adequately express how much I love this comment.

For those who didn't have the privilege to watch the movie.

SPOILER - This is how it ends.

[stevew]

Oh and here I thought it was some Indiana Jones "you chose poorly" reference I wasn't quite getting.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by stevew

Oh and here I thought it was some Indiana Jones "you chose poorly" reference I wasn't quite getting.

Yeah, somewhere along the way I mentally renamed "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" to "Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail" and I just can't seem to shake it. I see how that can lead to some picking up a possible Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade reference.

[stevew]

I don't understand how they continued to let these jokers come and go throughout this thing. Let alone how it was cool for them to get dildos in the mail.

[flere-imsaho]

Wonder if they'll go after Cliven Bundy, now.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by stevew

I don't understand how they continued to let these jokers come and go throughout this thing. Let alone how it was cool for them to get dildos in the mail.

Yeah, it seems like Fedex or UPS would be more appropriate.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Yeah, it seems like Fedex or UPS would be more appropriate.

Who would probably decide that delivery to a remote wildlife reserve was too expensive without the help of the federal government and pass it off to the USPS to delivery it.

[cartman]

The FBI just released the video of the arrests and shooting. It completely refutes the claims that he did nothing to get shot.

[claphamsa]

Originally Posted by cartman

The FBI just released the video of the arrests and shooting. It completely refutes the claims that he did nothing to get shot.

you cant not link that!

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by cartman

The FBI just released the video of the arrests and shooting. It completely refutes the claims that he did nothing to get shot.

"Crisis actors man! It's how they faked Sandy Hook!"

That's usually when I want to punch them

[cartman]

Here's the link from the FBI YouTube channel. The full, unedited copy. It is from a spotter plane that was following, and it does show Finicum getting shot from a distance.

Complete, Unedited Video of Joint FBI and OSP Operation 01/26/2016 - YouTube

The Cliff Notes version:
There were two vehicles, a Jeep and a white truck. The Jeep is pulled over early in the video, and all occupants are taken into custody with no resistance. The truck is stopped initially, and one person leaves the truck and is taken into custody. Several more minutes pass, and no one is leaving the truck, despite numerous LEO requests to do so. The truck ends up speeding away. A spike strip is deployed, but the truck evades it. Further ahead there is a road block. Finicum tries to pass the road block, nearly running over a person at the road block, but then gets stuck in a snow bank. He exits the truck, moves away from the truck, and looks like he is reaching in his jacket, and is then shot. They found a loaded 9mm in the pocket he was reaching for. They use flashbangs and rubber rounds against the windows to get the rest of the people out of the truck.

[stevew]

Mormons are definitely an odd bunch.

[RainMaker]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[stevew]

So was his plan to get martyred and get his family a wrongful death claim? I don't understand these guys.

[Easy Mac]

I'm sure this makes me a horrible person, but this video needs the audio from the Leeroy Jenkins video overtop, with Leeroy Jenkins replaced with Levoy Finicum.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by stevew

So was his plan to get martyred and get his family a wrongful death claim? I don't understand these guys.

Yeah, I don't understand why he was so willing to throw his life away, but he seemed intent on dying from the very beginning.

[stevew]

Look, I don't want to defend any of this but did those Hammond dudes maybe get a but of a raw deal? The one guy has been out of prison since mid 2012( or maybe it was mid 2013) and they're just now telling him to go back? Kinda seems a bit like BS if the gov't is ordering them back cause something got messed up.

Regardless it's not something worth dying over or breaking the law over.

[PilotMan]

Only in the sense that all mandatory sentencing rules should be reevaluated.

[SackAttack]

Mandatory sentencing is what happens when "Tough On Crime" becomes a "Reason To Vote For Me."

"Vote for me, I'll work to pass a law that won't let those damn bleeding heart liberal judges let criminals off easy."

So you get mandatory minimums. And that's fun because the same ideology that supports these knuckledraggers is generally in favor of mandatory minimums in other situations.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by stevew

Look, I don't want to defend any of this but did those Hammond dudes maybe get a but of a raw deal? The one guy has been out of prison since mid 2012( or maybe it was mid 2013) and they're just now telling him to go back? Kinda seems a bit like BS if the gov't is ordering them back cause something got messed up.

I thought it was BS too until I read that they were persistently poaching on federal land and then setting fires to cover up evidence of said poaching.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I thought it was BS too until I read that they were persistently poaching on federal land and then setting fires to cover up evidence of said poaching.

Was there actually evidence of poaching?

[cartman]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Was there actually evidence of poaching?

That's apparently why the fires were set, to cover up the evidence. The poaching claims were made by several witnesses in their testimony during the arson trial.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I thought it was BS too until I read that they were persistently poaching on federal land and then setting fires to cover up evidence of said poaching.

I read up on the case as well and the entire thing stinks to high heaven. The government loses multiple lawsuits against this family and then trumps up as many charges as they can against them. The Hammonds deny all of the charges save one: The one they were convicted of. They stated they burned the land due to invasive plant species. So they've won multiple cases against the feds, admit they did one thing and deny everything else and somehow they get nailed on the thing they admitted? Then the judge doesn't think their crime warrants the mandatory sentencing, but the feds continue with their witch hunt?

Ugh. If these guys were not right wing lunatics and had the PR team of :"Making a Murderer", everyone in the country would be beside themselves at this railroading.

As for how the feds have handled this, I've been disgusted since day 1. Why they were allowing these guys to move freely around, get things shipped in, allow protesters to be on the site of the takeover. . . it was disgusting. I'm not saying they needed to go in guns blazing, but they should have at the least cut their power, blockade the roads in and out of the preserve and act like an actual crime was committed.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by TroyF

As for how the feds have handled this, I've been disgusted since day 1. Why they were allowing these guys to move freely around, get things shipped in, allow protesters to be on the site of the takeover. . . it was disgusting. I'm not saying they needed to go in guns blazing, but they should have at the least cut their power, blockade the roads in and out of the preserve and act like an actual crime was committed.

I think they wanted to avoid Waco, Ruby Ridge, OKC type of result which it seems like "only" one death accomplished. I agree though it was pretty bad that they could leave and get mail.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by stevew

Mormons are definitely an odd bunch.

Not all of them and these dumb asses give the rest a bad name.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by panerd

I think they wanted to avoid Waco, Ruby Ridge, OKC type of result which it seems like "only" one death accomplished. I agree though it was pretty bad that they could leave and get mail.

I know what they were trying to do and it doesn't make me feel any less disgusted. There is an in between Ruby Ridge and treating them like they are group of five year olds who ran away from home.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I read up on the case as well and the entire thing stinks to high heaven. The government loses multiple lawsuits against this family and then trumps up as many charges as they can against them. The Hammonds deny all of the charges save one: The one they were convicted of. They stated they burned the land due to invasive plant species. So they've won multiple cases against the feds, admit they did one thing and deny everything else and somehow they get nailed on the thing they admitted? Then the judge doesn't think their crime warrants the mandatory sentencing, but the feds continue with their witch hunt?

So if I commit a crime I should get off if I'm innocent of other crimes?

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

So if I commit a crime I should get off if I'm innocent of other crimes?

I'm not even convinced they committed a crime. It's pretty clear the government was pissed off and throwing every charge they possibly could to get them. The judge presiding over the case didn't feel the punishment was fitting for the crime they were convicted of.

If you are thinking I'm saying the that it's ok to break the law, I'm not. But I read multiple accounts of this from different sources and it looks to me like the government wanted these guys on anything they could get them on.

Despite all of this, the Hammond's have showed up for every court appearance, turned themselves over to the authorities and even distanced themselves from this fiasco at the start.

I think it's OK to state "I disagree with most of their values, I think the people who took the preserve should spend a long time in jail and still believe the Hammond group was royally screwed by government officials"

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I'm not even convinced they committed a crime. It's pretty clear the government was pissed off and throwing every charge they possibly could to get them. The judge presiding over the case didn't feel the punishment was fitting for the crime they were convicted of.

If you are thinking I'm saying the that it's ok to break the law, I'm not. But I read multiple accounts of this from different sources and it looks to me like the government wanted these guys on anything they could get them on.

Despite all of this, the Hammond's have showed up for every court appearance, turned themselves over to the authorities and even distanced themselves from this fiasco at the start.

I think it's OK to state "I disagree with most of their values, I think the people who took the preserve should spend a long time in jail and still believe the Hammond group was royally screwed by government officials"

But look at it another way, the Hammonds basically admit they committed arson and the law says the minimum sentence for that crime is five years. I may question the justice of the law, but I don't like the idea of prosecutors ignoring the law because they don't think it's just. The problem is the law, not necessarily the enforcement of the law.