OR armed militia leader vows to defend takeover of U.S. federal building

The protesters have said they aim “to restore and defend the Constitution” to protect the rights of ranchers and ignite a national debate about states’ rights and federal land-use policy they hope could ultimately force the federal government to release tracts of Western land.

The former risks bloodshed. Ryan Bundy declined to say how many people were at the site.

Some militia leaders said Bundy was using the dispute to provoke the federal government with little regard for the local community.

President Barack Obama said Monday that federal authorities were monitoring the situation, but agents made no apparent moves to surround the property or confront the group – an approach that reflected lessons learned from bloody standoffs at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas, in the early 1990s.

“We have exhausted all prudent measures and have been ignored”, he said. “You don’t have to stretch your imagination to come up with a different scenario if these weren’t white Christians”.

“There are some land-use tensions out there as there are anywhere – as there are around Bend, Waldo Lake, the lower Deschutes”, Gardner said.

But other observers suggested that from a tactical standpoint, the government’s cautious response would make sense no matter who was holed up in the government building in the reserve.

“They are continuing to expand the refuge at the expense of the ranchers and miners”, Bundy said. “There’s no hurry. If there’s not an immediate threat to anyone’s life, why create a situation where there would be?” Thats how federal officials defused a high-profile 2014 standoff with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy over grazing rights.

It was a stark difference in tone from Republicans almost two years after another standoff – featuring members of the same family – in Nevada over access to federal property.

The agency said it would not be providing details of its response because of “safety considerations for both those inside the refuge as well as the law enforcement officers involved”.

The argument that the militia are terrorists, as summarized by CNN National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem, points out that “they are flouting federal law, they have a political goal and they clearly are willing to use violence to get their way”.

Thankfully, the Federal Bureau of Investigation appears to have figured this out, taking steps that seem to foreshadow a quarantine of the men until they peacefully surrender.

“There’s no substitute for having people on the ground who can provide authoritative, verified information”, said Ben Mullin, a fellow at the Poynter Institute, a journalism organization.

Michael Barkun, an emeritus professor at Syracuse University who has studied extremist groups, agreed that not confronting the OR group could embolden others. “You sit down, negotiate, you don’t want to spark a confrontation”.

The occupation, which began on Saturday, was the latest skirmish over federal land management in the American West and reflected an anti-government stance held by some Americans.

“I’m not sure what the terrorism is”.

“That’s not exactly what I thought should happen, but I didn’t know what to do”, he said.

Some local refuge supporters and other fans nationwide chimed in on social media over the weekend about why an area that they’ve all worked so hard to improve would be targeted by outsiders.

Wayne State University law professor Peter J. Henning said their actions more closely meet the definition of sedition, which includes conspiring to overthrow the USA government, oppose it by force or seize its property.