Cops Finally Arrested One of the Oregon Militia Idiots

Joe Raedle/Getty Images Lavoy Finicum climbs a ladder to remove cameras from an electric pole that he said was placed there by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to spy on his group as they occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore.

Law enforcement officials had so far kept their distance from the site, located about 30 miles (48 km) south of the small town of Burns in Oregon’s rural southeast, in an effort to avoid a violent confrontation.

One of the leaders of the armed group, Ryan Bundy, has said the group isn’t interested in the artifacts but wants the refuge land opened to ranchers and loggers.

President Theodore Roosevelt established the refuge in 1908 to protect wildlife from widespread destruction by market hunters, uncontrolled mining and ranching in the West. The group is demanding the ranchers” release and laying claim to the “refuge, which they argue should be transferred from the federal government to private hands.

Tribal Chair Rodrique expressed grave concern over news reports that armed militia have access to important cultural resources at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Authorities say Kenneth Medenbach of Crescent was arrested for investigation of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

“The more pledges we get, the more pressure there is for them to leave,”Zach Klonoski said Sunday, the Oregonian reported”.

As a standoff at an OR wildlife refuge hits the two-week mark, local residents are growing increasingly tired and wary.

BHA was one of the first conservation groups to publicly criticize the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

“This past week, a group of Oregon and Washington BHA members joined-up at the extremist-controlled Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon to make a strong stand against those who seek to seize our American public lands”, stated the organization, which recently uploaded a video of members protesting the occupation of the refuge.

Medenbach is being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland.

It started January 2 as a protest about two area ranchers convicted of arson who were returned to prison to serve longer sentences.

A lawyer for Hammond family has said that the occupiers do not speak for the family. According to an account by The Associated Press, Medenbach used an argument often raised by those who describe themselves as “sovereign citizens”, claiming the printing of his name in all-capital letters in court documents rendered the documents invalid.