Insurrection Day: Citizen-Journalism Edition Pt.5

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30. Armed occupation of Malheur refuge was 'dress rehearsal' for violent takeover of nation's Capitol

Five years ago this month, Ammon Bundy led a 41-day armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge after protesting the return to federal prison of two Oregon ranchers convicted of setting fire to public land.

Bundy was acquitted of all charges after his arrest on allegations of conspiracy and impeding federal employees through intimidation, threat or force.

On Wednesday, the extraordinary images of a violent mob of right-wing Trump supporters storming the nation’s Capitol, incited by a president who refused to accept the 2020 election results, were no surprise to groups that have tracked extremists in the West.

Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, called the 2016 refuge occupation a “dress rehearsal for what we saw at the Capitol.” The center, based in Denver, advocates for land and water conservation in the West.

“The extremist ideologies and tactics that led to the violent occupation of public lands in Oregon are the same ideologies that President Trump has stoked among his supporters,” she said in a statement Thursday. “You can draw a straight line from the Bundy Ranch standoff and Malheur takeover to the Trump insurrection in Washington,” she said.

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/01/armed-occupation-of-malheur-refuge-was-dress-rehearsal-for-violent-takeover-of-nations-capitol-extremist-watchdogs-say.html?fbclid=IwAR1G-Bio2g7JZMcnkKorDguUSTKGHlXo-u1yVE3BPQxfAlQpG6aVRjEglso