What Does Victory Look Like for Armed Oregon Refuge Occupiers?
By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer
Christian Science Monitor
January 16, 2016
ATLANTA — The arrest Friday of a Oregon chainsaw artist associated with the armed Malheur National Wildlife Refuge takeover in Oregon marked the first open action by the US government against the states’ rights occupiers who have now held federally-managed land for 15 days.
Whether the arrest of protester Kenneth Medenbach for illegally using a federal vehicle is part of a move by federal agents to squeeze the occupation is not known; so far authorities have kept their distance from the refuge and its occupiers., though Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said “the hourglass is running.”
But while many experts call the government’s caution wise, there’s evidence that the passage of time has only strengthened sympathy for the underlying complaints, which include an end to “economic warfare” against Westerners and transfer of federally managed backcountry lands to states.
“Many who criticized [the] takeover have begun to voice support, even admiration, for the amount of attention the occupation has brought to the underlying grievances,” Carli Brosseau wrote this week in an expose in the Oregonian of how the occupation took shape.
To be sure, many Americans still want the government to round up the occupiers and reestablish federal control. Mollycoddling armed white militiamen, they say, only encourages extremism.
But even as time passes on the frozen refuge, stereotypes have begun to falter, and the debate shift. New York Times reporter Julie Turkewitz calls the occupation “the wild westiest story I have ever covered,” where cowboys, barbers and air conditioning repairmen wile away their days at their impromptu communal ranch.
More: What does victory look like for armed Oregon refuge occupiers? (+video)