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Malheur incident
Date	January 3, 2016 to Present
Location	Harney County, Oregon, United States
Status	ongoing
Parties
Oregon State Police 3 Percenters unspecified other rump militias
Location within Oregon

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The Malheur incident is an ongoing event in central Oregon connected with the Bundy standoff. On January 2, 2016, armed members of several rump militias took control of the headquarters building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in protest of the pending imprisonment of Harney County, Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steve Hammond.

Background

Harney County

Harney County is an expansive, rural county in central Oregon. At more than 10,000 square miles in size it is larger than six states, but has a population of less than 8,000. More than 60-percent of land in the county is public land owned by the United States and administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

Hammond arson case

Dwight and Steve Hammond were convicted of arson in 2012 for setting fires on federal land adjacent to their property near Burns, Oregon in 2001 and 2006. Federal prosecutors said the first fire was set to conceal the site of an illegal deer hunt, while the second fire was an unauthorized backburn set on the slopes below a firefighting camp. According to the Hammonds, they set fire to the land to stop invasive plants from growing onto their grazing fields.

Following their conviction, federal prosecutors requested a five year sentence for each of the Hammonds as provided for under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. However, judge Michael Robert Hogan determined sentences of that length "would shock the conscience" and violated the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, ordering the Hammonds imprisoned for sharply reduced terms of one year, which both men served. Federal prosecutors successfully appealed the reduced sentences and, in an October 2015 resentencing, the pair were ordered to return to prison on January 4, 2016.

In a separate 2014 civil judgment, the Hammonds were ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution to the U.S. government. The pair paid half the amount immediately and the remaining $200,000 in December 2015.

Opposition to sentences

Oregon Farm Bureau and Oregon Cattleman's Association

A petition requesting leniency for the Hammonds began circulating prior to their resentencing. Organized by the Oregon Farm Bureau, it had gathered more than 2,000 signatures by October 2015 and the pair's attorney said he hoped it would convince President of the United States Barrack Obama to offer clemency. Meanwhile, the Oregon Cattleman's Association, a trade group representing cattle ranchers in Oregon, established a fund to defray the Hammond's legal fees.

Militia involvement

By late 2015, the Hammond case had attracted the attention of members of the family of Cliven Bundy, including sons Ammon and Ryan. The Bundys publicized the situation via social media, drawing interest from rump militia groups outside Oregon. The Hammonds, however, rejected these offers of assistance with Hammond attorney W. Alan Schroeder writing that "neither Ammon Bundy nor anyone within his group/organization speak for the Hammond family." Harney County sheriff David Ward agreed to meet with militia members who requested the sheriff's office protect the Hammonds from being taken into custody by federal authorities. Though Ward said he sympathized with the Hammonds plight, he declined the militia request. According to Ward, he subsequently became the target of "emailed death threats."

In December 2015 Ammon Bundy and Ryan Payne, the latter man a U.S. Army veteran and electrician from Montana, set-up residence in Burns. The same month they organized a meeting at the Harney County fairgrounds to rally support for their efforts. At the meeting, a "Committee of Safety" was organized to orchestrate direct action against the Hammond sentences. According to that group's website, the Committee of Safety considers itself "a governmental body established by the people in the absence of the ability of the existing government to provide for the needs and protection of civilized society." Over the following weeks, an increasing number of out-of-state members of rump militias began arriving in Burns, prompting both opposition and support from area residents.

Timeline

January 1, 2016: A privately-organized public forum held at the Harney County fairgrounds was attended by by about 60 local residents and members of militias. Brandy Mosher, a Burns-area resident who organized the event, described it as an opportunity to diffuse tensions that had been simmering between locals and out-of-town militia in the preceding days. According to press accounts, the event lasted about two hours and "shifted from sometimes profanity-laden declarations to agreements the Hammonds had been too harshly treated and that a peaceful rally might do some good."

January 2, 2016: A crowd of more than 100 persons gathered at 12:00 p.m. in the parking lot of a Safeway in Burns. Following 40 minutes of speeches, the crowd marched one mile to the home of Dwight and Steve Hammond, before returning to the same Safeway. According to KOIN-TV, there was "no visible police presence at any point." Later in the day, two sons of Cliven Bundy - Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy - along with members of militias, began occupying unstaffed buildings on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. In a video posted to his Facebook page, Ammon Bundy called on supporters to converge on the facility which he described as "the tool to do all the tyranny that has been placed upon the Hammonds."

Strength of forces

Law enforcement

On January 2, 2016, the Harney County sheriff's office reported the Oregon State Police was "handling the incident." At the same time, a spokesperson for the FBI said the agency was "aware" of the situation.

Militia

As of January 2, militia leaders claimed to have 150 armed personnel available at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. A reporter personally witnessed "no more than a dozen" potential combatants.

References

1. ^ Stack, Liam (2 January 2016). "Militiamen Occupy Oregon Wildlife Refuge in Protest of Ranchers' Prison Terms". New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
2. "Militia takes over wildlife refuge HQ after peaceful Burns protest". KTVZ-TV. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
3. ^ Zaitz, Les (30 December 2015). "Militiamen, ranchers in showdown for soul of Burns". Oregonian. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
4. ^ Zaitz, Les (31 December 2015). "Oregon ranchers' fight with feds sparks militias' interest". Oregonian. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
5. ^ "Anti-gov't protesters march through Burns". KOIN-TV. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
6. ^ Perkowski, Mateusz (3 January 2016). "Judge sends Oregon ranchers back to prison". Capital Press. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
7. "Up Front". Range Magazine. Winer 2015. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. "Harney County Committee of Safety". hccommitteeofsafety.org. Harney County Committee of Safety. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
9. Zaitz, Les (2 January 2016). "Burns residents confront militia over fears of violence". Oregonian. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
10. Whitnall, Adam (3 January 2016). "'Oregon Under Attack': Anger as armed white militia takes control of a US government building - to limited response". The Independent. Retrieved 3 January 2016.

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