And the Mahleur refuge “crisis” slowly winds down, and there are but four morons left:
Just four people remain at the occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The group spoke with OPB by phone Thursday morning.
The remaining group includes David Fry of Blanchester, Ohio, husband and wife Sean and Sandy Anderson of Riggins, Idaho, and Jeff Banta of Elko, Nevada.
“We all want to leave,” Sandy Anderson said. “We’re here, and we’re worried we’re going to die.”
Three militants turned themselves in at checkpoints outside the refuge Wednesday afternoon and face felony charges.
Police said another five people were stopped and allowed to leave the refuge since law enforcement blocked roads around the area.
David Fry said he spoke to an FBI negotiator three times in the last 24 hours. He said the group is prepared to leave peacefully, but fears arrest.
One man, Sean Anderson, had been told there was a federal warrant for his arrest on charges of interfering with federal employees. Fry said FBI negotiators told him the others would be allowed to leave without facing arrest.
“As a group, we were willing to leave peacefully,” Fry said. “But they want to arrest Sean, and take Sean out, and put him in jail. We don’t want to leave Sean in that situation, because that feels unfair.”
The bravado seems to have left our fearsome patriots, or, as some might say, their courage has gone to the birds. I have no idea why they think they are all going to die, as the FBI is quite willing to let them leave peacefully unless there is a warrant for their arrest, and should that be the case, unless they come out guns a blazing like LaVoy Finicum, they’ll be fine. They can ask their fearsome leaders, now releasing wimpy and incoherent statements through their lawyers.
Just watch this, and tell me this country doesn’t have a mental health crisis.
Sad. That’s two of the last four, who want to leave peacefully. The FBI can basically just sit there now and wait for the idiots to run out of cigarettes.
Gravenstone
If you want to leave, LEAVE! Just don’t pretend you get to leave without facing consequences for your stupidity.
oldster
Sometimes I wonder whether Bill Clinton and Janet Reno look at Obama and think, “how come he is so much better at this stuff than we were? How come he is so lucky in his opponents? How does he get them to make clowns of themselves, over and over?”
The only sad thing is that this is another quiet non-catastrophe that will not be generally credited to Obama’s successes. Certainly not to the extent that the Waco standoff was held against Clinton and Reno. And Obama will not get any credit for the nuclear bomb that Iran did *not* explode, or the thousands of US troops who did *not* die in the invasion of Syria, or any of the other stupid things he did not do.
redshirt
Thanks for that photo, John. Just wonderful.
schrodinger's cat
That creepy clown is going to give me nightmares. It should have come with a trigger warning. I hope that’s not a self portrait.
Frankensteinbeck
Deescalation worked pretty well. ‘Remember Mahleur!’ Is definitely not going down as a militia rallying cry.
singfoom
Seriously? This sounds like a toddler trying to get out of punishment for doing something wrong. What world do these people live in?
A Ghost To Most
Nice. Would be even better if he was eating from a bad of salted dicks.
OzarkHillbilly
You know, part of civil disobedience (breaking a law to make a point) is GETTING ARRESTED and being willing to make that sacrifice for a higher purpose. Of course, part of civil disobedience is also BEING UNARMED. Breaking laws while armed, no matter how minor the infraction, is generally a bad idea and usually (always??) a felony. I guess these guys thought those laws wouldn’t apply to them.
The white privilege is large with these guys.
schrodinger's cat
Here is hawtness that isRanveer Singh in Ramleela to erase the memory of the clown. He is good looking and he can dance, I call that a win win!
Betty Cracker
I hope the FBI negotiator is bullshitting Fry. All of those feckers ought to face B&E charges at the very least. They helpfully created public video logs of all their activities, so the charges should stick.
Tom Levenson
@A Ghost To Most: Hell. They’re seditionists. No salt for them. Bland, tasteless, unseasoned dicks only.
Julie
I posted this in the open thread below, but it was pretty dead by then. I got a kick out of it (and I don’t even generally like their donuts). Voodoo Donuts welcomes Ammon Bundy to Portland:
PurpleGirl
Okay Cole, I understand the picture but now I can’t unsee it. Where and when do you supply the brain bleach I need so much now.
Also, to the loons, you did illegal stuff, why shouldn’t you be arrested and jailed?
Anoniminous
I am interested by how words and phrases change meaning over time. For example, “lewd” in Middle English merely meant someone who is not in holy orders and over the next several hundred years changed to the modern meaning. In my lifetime I’ve seen “well-regulated militia” change meaning to “cretinous, fat, white guys attempting to steal Federal government property in Oregon.”
It is really rather fascinating.
Just Some Fuckhead
John, why do your legs look like two different colors in the picture? Is it a lighting issue?
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: I really don’t know what charges should or should not apply, but every single one of these YAHOODIES should lose their 2nd Amendment rights. Period. Never to get them back. Ever.
sigaba
We have reached the “they’ll be beggin’ for three-hots-and-a-cot” phase, at long last.
I like how, when I clicked through to the video, it started with a Spanish-language ad. All the militia going to watch it must love that.
JPL
Twitter tells me that a convoy just left with a person who put his head down, in the back seat of one of the cars.
So probably down to three.
schrodinger's cat
What a bunch of sissies, why are the brave freedom fighters afraid of jail. My grandmother’s sister spent time in British jail as a part of Gandhi’s Civil disobedience movement, forget complain about it she never ever talked about it.
My great grandfather was a pretty prominent person in his town, so making waves and going against the family must have not gone down that well with the family either. These loons are just middle aged men playing dress up.
gwangung
@oldster: Bush didn’t get the blame for North Korea going nuclear, so I don’t know why Obama would get any credit from the morons.
Adam L Silverman
@Betty Cracker: once they can get into the refuge and onto the computers they’ll be able to quickly determine if Fry did indeed hack in. If he did he’s in for a world of hurt. He will not see outside a Federal prison until he is a very old man.
feebog
Kudos to all the commenters on this site who were solidly behind the approach law enforcement took in this case. Ending this clusterfuck with a whimper instead of a bang is exactly what needed to happen. And look, any one of these morons can be charged and arrested down line if there is evidence they committed a crime.
Just Some Fuckhead
I knew this party would wind down when they ran out of dildos.
Just Some Fuckhead
@feebog: Now they know they can do whatever the fuck they want for as long as they want as long as they keep holed up and don’t venture out on the roads.
Anoniminous
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Can shut down the Internets for the rest of the day. They have been won.
Ruviana
@schrodinger’s cat: Can’t be a self-portrait, it’s not Cole’s interior design style :)
schrodinger's cat
@Just Some Fuckhead: You made me look at the clown picture again, bad JSF!
Howlin Wolfe
Mr. Wizard!!! I don’t wanna be a militia moron any more!!
Howlin Wolfe
@Ruviana: It’s a pic of him before he stopped drinking.
schrodinger's cat
@Ruviana: You are right, I don’t see a sea of beige and brown.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Ruviana: The faux Aztec throw is in the wash.
ninedragonspot
Not exactly Mishima-grade, are they?
SarahT
@redshirt: Prospective Bristol Palin Baby Daddy #3 ?
Felonius Monk
@schrodinger’s cat:
Nah. Steve took the picture.
Brachiator
Since this is a wildlife refuge, it would have been nice if they had done some kind of “tag and release” with these morons. Some kind of subcutaneous device so that they could be tracked later, if necessary.
Mike J
@oldster:
I’m guessing you don’t remember the Montana Freemen standoff. There was less drama than this stand off, which is why you don’t remember it.
Just Some Fuckhead
American has a fat, white loudmouth issue.
gf120581
I got to hand it to the FBI and company, they played this beautifully. Wait them out, let them look like horse’s asses to the world, lull them into a state of arrogant complacency, then swoop in, arrest the leaders and then gradually gather up the rest of these idiots as they come to what little sense they have and realize no help is coming. Beautiful.
And now we’re seeing them for exactly what they are. Overgrown children desperate to avoid punishment for their silly war games.
Dr. Bloor
@schrodinger’s cat: not a self-portrait. He commissioned it from John Wayne Gacy.
Villago Delenda Est
All registered members of the “Party of Personal Responsibility” I’m sure.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mike J: There was a transition from the Poppy Administration’s “Death to all!” approach, though Waco, to the Montana Freemen situation. Clinton and Reno learned from the experiences.
Capt. Seaweed
“Conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats”.
That sounds exactly like what happened in Nevada at Casa Bundi in 2014. Statute of Limitations for Fed charges for that little misunderstanding runs out in 2019, or so. Jus sayin…
lawguy
@oldster: Clinton and Reno and their FBI could have waited out the folks a Ruby Ridge and Waco, but they chose to attack instead.
I suspect that this was brought to a head because those outside the administration were pushing the Feds to do something, including the governor. Up until two nights ago those inside the compound were allowed to come and go as they pleased and people outside were allowed to come in. Remember Daddy Bundy? Has he been charged with anything, does he still get to graze his cows for free?
I suspect that if it had been up to Obama nothing would have been done with these people either. As it is they are getting off with what amounts to a slap on the wrist compared with so many others. Isn’t Leonard Peliter still in prison?
Frankensteinbeck
I was informed, in strident and vehement language, that I knew nothing about hostage negotiation for being the first to propose that this strategy might be a good one. I generally try for a polite tone here, but…
FUCK YOU ALL*, I WAS RIGHT AND YOU WERE WRONG.
*(That is, all those who gave me grief over it.)
lawguy
@Villago Delenda Est: Clinton and Reno and Obama learned like Mark Twain’s cat who after sitting on a hot stove never again sat on a stove either hot or cold.
Fencing these people in and just waiting them out was always an option which up until two nights ago the Feds were not willing to do.
opiejeanne
@singfoom: This whinging about not wanting Sean arrested is that they didn’t really understand that those with arrest warrants WOULD BE ARRESTED at the checkpoints; they all cried BETRAYAL! when Patrick was arrested yesterday at the checkpoint. The no harm/no foul was for anyone without warrants for their arrest. Because of this imaginary betrayal by the FBI they say they will die rather than let Sean be arrested, which is just so stupid I can’t wrap my head around it.
I’m wondering if this Sandy Anderson is the woman who was claiming to be pregnant and posted a note that said “Don’t let our deaths be in vain.” Their deaths will be in vain; they are laughingstocks for 99% of the country.
Meanwhile, our local NW news, Channel 2 in Seattle, has been referring to these idiots as protesters, giving them way too much time on camera in a manner that does not expose their idiocy but rather lends credence, and this morning they reported on the vigil to honor LaVoy Finicum (Tarp Man, now dead) and let the organizer go on and on about how he was a hero. I’ve gotten actual useful news from Twitter, thanks to JJMacNab and Les Zaitz.
opiejeanne
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s 2A Privilege, at the point of a gun.
gene108
@oldster:
Look at it as a case of lessons learned the hard way by the Feds over the last 25 years.
As MikeJ pointed out up thread, the Feds handled another group of militia men with no shots fired.
Regnad Kcin
@OzarkHillbilly: That’s Yahoodie libel, please. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq9oHhkkVV0
gwangung
@lawguy: At least, not without decapitating the leadership.
gene108
@lawguy:
Ruby Ridge was in 1992 under President Bush, Sr.
Soylent Green
Yesterday we thought we might see some militia presence massing here in downtown Portland, a potential threat to us BLM and FS workers half a block from where the gang is being held. But that fear has abated. Ammon Bundy’s lawyer explained to him how the court would regard any further attempts to stir the pot, so Ammon issued his heartfelt plea to all of his cowboy commandos to stand down. They will all go back to their keyboards, index finger poised over the Caps Lock key.
There do seem to be a few more cops around than usual, keeping an eye on all the public space.
Villago Delenda Est
@lawguy: Um, lawguy, try again. Ruby Ridge was Poppy Bush’s party. Clinton’s watch began in January 1993.
No matter how much the wingtards believe to the contrary that Janet Reno personally executed Vicki Weaver.
Prescott Cactus
@Adam L Silverman:
Do you think he was stupid enough to check his own e-mail or post to Facebook on the .gov computer ?
Sorry, my bad.
Adam L Silverman
@opiejeanne: The pregnant woman left yesterday. Anderson is the guy who screamed on the live feed they were streaming that: “They’re going to murder all of us!”
Adam L Silverman
@OzarkHillbilly: @Regnad Kcin: I think, technically, I’m supposed to resemble that remark…
Villago Delenda Est
@opiejeanne: What the living fuck is KOMO’s problem here? Protesters?
Soylent Green
@Julie:
They must read this blog then, because that was my idea.
Villago Delenda Est
@Prescott Cactus: AOT, K.
Adam L Silverman
@Prescott Cactus: No, it won’t be like that. They’ll be able to determine if there was a hack. They’ll also be able to determine if it didn’t happen until after he got there, which, ostensibly, was why he went to join the occupation. And if I’m remembering the reporting correctly he did claim to be using the facility computers not just to access data, but also to be doing online and social media stuff for the occupiers. So they’ll be able to nail him.
Schlemazel
@lawguy:
For a law guy you should work a little harder on case history. Ruby Ridge was under Daddy not Clinton. The FBI did not storm the wackos at Waco, the second coming of Christ ordered his men to pour gas around & set fire to the place. The FBI had listening devices & when they heard what was going on rushed in to try and save lives. The famous picture used by wingnuts and sold on video by Pat Robertson ( a real man of God) showing a flame throwing tank was a bit of careful editing that falls apart when you watch the whole scene and it becomes obvious what you see is the sun reflecting off of foil-faced insulation.
Adam L Silverman
@Schlemazel: Aside from the fact that the tank had a breaching ram where its gun would be. Not a gun, nor a flamethrower.
Though a breaching ram/flame thrower multi-tasker would be sweet! I wonder if I’d need ATF approval?
dogwood
@lawguy:
“I suspect if it had been up to Obama. . .”
I suspect you don’t know what you’re talking about. One of the reasons I’m glad it went down the way it did, is the way they were able to arrest the leaders when they were away from Burns. Some in Burns might not have wanted these guys around, but we shouldn’t kid ourselves. They have plenty of sympathizers there.
chopper
@Schlemazel:
this is just more of what i was talking about in the other thread as to right-wing bullshit that too many liberals have absorbed osmotically.
to this day i still hear self-ascribed democrats complaining about clinton and ruby ridge or “janet reno and her flame-throwing tank”.
people believe all sorts of horseshit every day. you’d think the people that call themselves “the reality-based community” would think a little bit first.
Prescott Cactus
@Villago Delenda Est:
@Adam L Silverman:
THX. Especially info on Grey Zone and for finding out what AOT, K meant.
Adam L Silverman
@Prescott Cactus: You’re quite welcome.
dogwood
@chopper:
The Republican Party seems to have abandoned reality in toto. On the Democratic side there’s a contingent of ideologues who are willing to believe or say whatever syncs with the ideology.
JPL
It appears to be over.. reporters are going to refuge..
dogwood
@Frankensteinbeck:
I had to stop reading threads about the situation because of all the bloodthirsty know-it-alls. And not a single one of them will ever admit you were right.
Gian
@Ruviana:
It’s from before he quit the GOP and Drinking.
JPL
There’s some confusion about what is happening at the refuge..
To be clear we do NOT know yet if this is over, appears one FBI check point just taken down so far
There will be a news conference and there might be one person still at the refuge.
Anya
@Just Some Fuckhead: Did Ritzheimer take all the dildos when he skipped town?
trollhattan
@Julie:
They win the internets and everything else. I demand that donut appear on Portlandia.
trollhattan
Love how during shouty-man’s video someone is pivoting the backhoe in the background back and forth and back and…like a four-year-old with a Tonka Toy.
Was “Big Love” a documentary?
WaterGirl
Uh, oh. You need a trigger warning for Omnes!!!
satby
@schrodinger’s cat: awesome! It’s on my bucket list to go to India during Holi.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: “Fry said FBI negotiators told him the others would be allowed to leave without facing arrest.”
I have no problem with that if it gets Fry out of there. There’s nothing in that statement that even implies that he won’t be arrested later.
trollhattan
@gene108: @Villago Delenda Est:
Details, details, potato/potata, cole slaw/handgrenade….
oz29
Their offer is “we’ll stop committing a crime if you promise not to arrest us?” Interesting.
Gimlet
@Adam L Silverman:
Good thing those battering rams don’t knock over kerosene lanterns with all that flammable stuff around.
JPL
It’s confirmed that one is left at the wildlife refuge. The rest of the crew ran out of beer, pot and munchies.
raven
@lawguy: Ruby Ridge was Bush. Get with it.
Adam L Silverman
@JPL: How much lube is left?
JPL
@Adam L Silverman: enough for one. Who do you thing remained behind?
I think Sean..
Hungry Joe
I was among those mumbling/grumbling “Seal off the access points, let them stew in their own paranoid juices, why don’t the Feds DO something?” etc. etc. Turns out they knew exactly what they were doing; I can’t imagine this stretched-out, shark-jumped fiasco ending much better. It’s a shame that somebody died, but considering the possibilities it’s impressive — amazing, even — that only one hell-bent wacko bit the Oregon dust. Hats off to the (jackbooted*?) government masterminds/thugs.
* Does anyone but a thug wear jackboots? Just asking …
opiejeanne
@Adam L Silverman: Oh, is he that idiot? I saw enough of that yesterday, then couldn’t get it to play today. YouTube is glitchy, probably all the extra activity on it.
Adam L Silverman
@JPL: I’m guessing Fry. That kid is either a serious tweaker or he’s in dire need of medication for his untreated mental illness.
Adam L Silverman
@opiejeanne: yes, yes he is.
opiejeanne
@Villago Delenda Est: I can not understand it. NWCN, Northwest Cable News, is the one I was shouting about, but KOMO and even KIRO (CBS, which is usually pretty good) were referring to them as protesters, although NWCN did add the word “armed” to protesters after I Tweeted my annoyance at Sula Kim yesterday. I don’t know if I can take credit for that tiny bit of change, but 15 minutes after I tweeted to her, she changed it.
lawguy
@Villago Delenda Est: Ooops. The point is however the same, although I was wrong about who was in charge. It is a Mark Twain’s cat thing.
nutella
@Hungry Joe:
Yes, this is ending better than I thought it would. Our compliments to the officers and officials who planned the operation and carried it out. I hope the cleanup and re-occupation by the refuge workers goes as smoothly.
I also hope that the officers who arrested the Bundys and Finicum were all wearing functional body cams so the facts about what Finicum was doing when he was shot can be clearly shown.
The Republic, Blah Blah Blah...
Don’t pass this BS off on birds…
Their courage trickled down their legs, slowly filling their boots until they overflowed…
opiejeanne
@nutella: The Feds say they have video of Finicum’s death and are considering releasing it just to stop the rumors.
Villago Delenda Est
@opiejeanne: Won’t matter. They’ll say it’s faked, like the moon landing. The truth has nothing to do with the sealed universe these creatures live in.
opiejeanne
@The Republic, Blah Blah Blah…: Speaking of birds, Sandhill Cranes use this refuge (those things are 5 feet tall!). I think that’s a great reason to visit this park; I think this may be a trip for us after the refuge reopens.
opiejeanne
@Villago Delenda Est: I know. Right now they’re trying to shout down the occupiers who say it happened the way the Feds say it did. I can’t imagine being that divorced from reality.
J R in WV
@Frankensteinbeck:
Job well done by the law enforcement community in and around the scene.
Congratulations!
Not what I proposed or expected, but it worked out very well in the surreal end.
Villago Delenda Est
@opiejeanne: Right after the UCC shootings, the “Truthers” started up, and accused one of the victims of faking his own wounds.
opiejeanne
@Villago Delenda Est: I know. They’re claimed the school shootings in Connecticut were faked, that no one died.
schrodinger's cat
@satby: That’s a great idea. You should also go to either Pune or Mumbai during a Ganpati festival. Its lots of fun.
opiejeanne
Unedited Footage of the events on 395 yesterday. LaVoy Finicum jumps out of his truck at about the 9minute mark. https://youtu.be/7TTctVOnF2U
steverinoCT
@redshirt:
It’s a nice photo, but where are Steve and the doggies?