Cliven Bundy Son, Militia Take Over Fed Building

Mr Bundy posted a video on his Facebook page asking for people to come help him. He said, “This is not a time to stand down”.

Ammon Bundy, a spokesman for the group, said “We have no intentions of using force upon anyone, (but) if force is used against us, we would defend ourselves”.

On Saturday, Bundy told the Oregonian, “We’re planning on staying here for years, absolutely”.

“This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute”, he added, calling on other militiamen to join them. “It is a time to stand up and come to Harney County”.

“A collective effort from multiple agencies is now working on a solution”, Ward said in a statement Saturday. There’s no need here to repeat the back-down in Nevada, and the ringleaders need to go away for long, long time.

“While the situation is ongoing, the main concern is employee safety, and we can confirm that no federal staff were in the building at the time of the initial incident”, the spokesperson said.

On Saturday night, the elder Bundy took issue with the characterization of his sons and other protesters as militiamen.

“The facility has been the tool to do all the tyranny that has been placed upon the Hammonds”, he said. “I agree with a lot of this, I don’t know why the federal government has to be here in the numbers that they are”. “I wasn’t in on that”.

Cliven Bundy is also advising the local ranchers, Steven and Dwight Hammond, not to submit to federal authorities as required on Monday.

Among them were local activists and Central Oregon residents, including Greg Delgado and Michael Funke.

Many of those involved in the convoy Saturday were made aware of the event by a call to action from the Bundy family. After the march passed, two girls swooped in to scavenge the pennies.

The marchers gathered out front of the house, and one by one went to hug Dwight Hammond and his wife.

The militia rallied past the sheriff’s office and the home of Dwight Hammond Jr., 73, and his son Steven, 43. The Hammonds were sentenced October 7 to five years in prison for illegally setting fires on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property near Diamond, Ore.

The new sentences generated controversy with Bundy and some far right groups that repudiate US federal authority.

Ammon Bundy, the man who appears to be leading the occupation, called on supporters to join him in order to make a stand against what he feels is government oppression. The Hammonds argued that they were attempting to reduce the growth of invasive plant species and ward off potential wildfires. On Monday Hammond and his son are going back to prison.

Burn residents, fearing eruption of violence, were also reportedly unhappy about the presence of the militia members in their community.

According to The Oregonian, their case has become a symbol for anti-government militias protesting federal stewardship of natural lands.

“We can not have what happened at the Bundy Ranch here”.

He said the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has taken over the space of 100 ranches since the early 1900s. The area is very remote, about 280 miles southeast of Portland.

“That is just the splinter group”, Bedortha said of those occupying the building.

As reports from the occupation started to roll in, many on social media could not help but observe the biased stand the media was taking, steering clear of words like terrorism for the occupants.

A lawyer for the Hammonds says Bundy and his organization does not speak for the Hammonds. After the ruling, the two had to report to California prison.