7 WTF Moments From the Oregon Occupiers’ Courtroom Circus
In Oregon, surrounded by the barren, snow-blanketed landscape, they did. In protest of the arrest of two local ranchers, Ammon Bundy told the media that he and his men (plus a couple women) were equipped with enough supplies to keep control of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for years. They’d live there until the federal government handed the keys to the place over to who they believed are its constitutionally protected owners: ranchers, farmers and the public.
The Bundy brothers – none of them actual ranchers – claimed it’s illegal for the Feds to own land, pulling tiny Constitutions from their breast pockets and waving them about anytime cameras, reporters and naysayers weren’t clear on the reason for the occupation. Islamophobes, Christian family bands, vigilante border patrols, state legislators from across the West and some serious wingnuts (looking at you, Sumo Guy) drove from all corners of the country to join the party.
After 41 days of excavating ancient Indian artifacts and opening the boxes of dildos mailed to them, one of the occupation’s only ranchers was killed by police and the rest went to jail. Over the past seven months, many of the 26 defendants have been released on bail and several have pleaded guilty. But the occupation’s key figures remain behind bars in Portland and will go to trial next week. If some of these highlights from the last few months in court are any indication of what’s in store for the trial, it should be a doozy.
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