In the latest development in the ongoing saga of Ammon Bundy's seizure of a Federal wildlife refuge office in Oregon, the members of the militia said they're ready to fight, but they won't say what they would actually do if federal authorities try to remove them by force as reported in the clip below.
However, while we noted the shortcomings in Bundy's latest standoff last night, what is even more notable is that as Shepard Ambellas of Intellihub points out, Montel Williams he tweeted that the National Guard should be mobilized to “kill” protesters who have currently overtaken the federal building in Burns, Oregon.
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Moreover USA Today has reported that “militia members used the ranchers as a ruse,” in what I and others feel may be the planed catalyst to start a civil war in America.
Monday, Rick Jervis wrote:
The Oregon sheriff whose county is at the heart of an anti-government call-to-arms said Sunday the group occupying a national wildlife refuge came to town under false pretenses.
Sheriff David Ward said protesters came to Harney County, in southeastern Oregon, “claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers.” In reality, he said, “these men had alternative motives to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.”
In a statement issued Sunday afternoon, Ward said he was working with local and federal authorities to resolve the situation as quickly and peacefully as possible.
Intellihub adds that its staff has identified a few suspicious individuals who claim to stand with the militants which may attempt to provocateur, escalate, the situation further. As we noted last night, this also is a distinct possibility.
Finally, in an interesting tangent, the WaPo, which admits that there "are gun rights issues, religious overtones, broad strains of anti-government sentiment and even the tactics of the Occupy Wall Street movement" as underlying motives behind the seizure, focuses on "very particular question of how much land the government controls in the state -- the same question that animated the dispute with rancher Cliven Bundy in Nevada two years ago -- and that helped motivate Bundy's son Ammon to take a lead role in the Oregon standoff."
It then provides several charts, alongside the following analysis, to show this curious aspect of what may be the core motive behind Bundy's actions. To wit:
[maps illustrating government greed]
The conclusion: "The fight isn't new, as the Congressional Research Service report notes. What's new is the way in which the broader political moment has cross-pollinated with longstanding objections to how the government manages land out West. The takeover in Oregon has its roots in the Sagebrush Rebellion. They way it's being manifested, though, is as modern as it gets."
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It remains to be seen if the National Guard will take up Montel on his "shoot to kill" advice.