Tea Party Activist, Trump Supporter Jerry DeLemus Arrested

Tony Schinella | Portsmouth Patch - MARCH 3, 2016

IMAGE CREDITS: FACEBOOK, JERRY DELEMUS.

UPDATE: FBI agents took custody of Delemus on 9 charges including conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., threatening, obstruction

ROCHESTER, NH - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken custody of Jerry DeLemus, a New Hampshire Tea Party activist who previously made trips to Nevada to take part in the Bundy Ranch stand-off and the federal forestry building seizure in Oregon two months ago, according to reports.

DeLemus faces nine federal charges including conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, threatening a federal law enforcement officer, obstruction of justice, attempting to impede or injure a federal law enforcement officer and several firearms charges, when he was in Nevada to support the Bundy family at the ranch.

According to the indictment, DeLemus was a “mid-level leader and organizer of the conspiracy who, among other things: recruited, organized, trained and provided logistical support to gunmen and other Followers and organized and led armed patrols and security checkpoints.”

According to Jack Kimball, the former chairman of the New Hampshire GOP, state Rep. Susan DeLemus, R-Rochester, Jerry’s wife, called him and said they had taken custody of him today (March 3, 2016).

“She said that the FBI just rolled up with lots of vehicles and Agents who were in tactical gear,” Kimball wrote on Facebook earlier this morning. ”They forced their way into Jerry DeLemus and Sue’s condo with weapons drawn and arrested Jerry and took him away.”

Kimball said he believed the custody was connected to the Bundy Ranch incident and asked “all NH patriots to come together ASAP” to ”protest this tyranny in the most visible way possible.”

Kimball said he would update his friends on Facebook after receiving more information.

“A good and Patriotic Marine is now being prosecuted for standing up for Liberty,” he noted.

A media relations officer at the FBI Boston office referred all questions about the charges to the Department of Justice. The U.S. DOJ has not returned an email request to Patch.

FBI surrounds 4 remaining Oregon occupiers with armored vehicles

RT - FEBRUARY 11, 2016

Members of the FBI man an entry as Harney County residents protest the FBI's presence at the Burns Municipal Airport in Burns, Oregon © Jim Urquhart / Reuters

The FBI has surrounded the four remaining protesters occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, local media reported.

According to the Oregonian, the FBI has placed armored vehicles around the area where the occupiers are located.

“At this time, the FBI has moved to contain the remaining occupiers by placing agents at barricades both immediately in front of and behind the area where the occupiers are camping."

"Negotiations between the occupiers and the FBI continue. No shots have been fired,” the FBI said in the statement.

The FBI stated that the situation began when one of the remaining protesters had ridden an ATV beyond the barricades set up by the occupiers. The individual was spotted by the FBI, but as agents tried to approach the driver, he turned around and sped back to the refuge.

Those remaining at the refuge have been identified as David Fry, Jeff Banta, and Sean and Sandy Anderson, who are husband and wife.

The move by the FBI came on the 40th day of the Malheur occupation. It began when a group of armed ranchers and protesters took over the refuge headquarters to protest federal land management and express their anger over the arson convictions of two other ranchers under an anti-terror law.

In an audio live-stream of the standoff posted by activist Gavin Seim on YouTube, the occupiers debated how to proceed. The protesters invoked the Constitution numerous times and held prayers, while worrying over the possibility of the situation coming to a violent end.

READ MORE: Oregon grand jury indicts 16 wildlife refuge occupiers – prosecutors

“They killed LaVoy!” a protester said multiple times, referring to rancher LaVoy Finicum, who was fatally shot during a roadside confrontation between law enforcement and the occupiers.

That confrontation also led to the arrest of multiple protesters, including leader Ammon Bundy.

Bundy militants could be forced to repay $3.4 million to taxpayers over illegal stunt

Raw Story | TRAVIS GETTYS | 04 FEB 2016 AT 11:20 ET

Ammon Bundy speaks at a press conference in Oregon (screen grab)

An Oregon Democrat introduced legislation that would require Ammon Bundy and other out-of-state militants to repay taxpayers for the cost of their armed takeover of a wildlife sanctuary.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer introduced a bill that would require the militants — and the federal government — to pay back costs associated with the occupation, which the lawmaker estimates at $100,000 a day, reported KOIN-TV.

The bill would require the U.S. Department of Justice “to quickly reimburse state and local law enforcement agencies up front for costs associated with responding to the armed takeover.”

The U.S. Attorney General would then be allowed sue the militants to recover those costs.

“It would allow the federal government to go after the armed people who started it,” Blumenauer said. “But in the meantime, the people of Harney County shouldn’t have to suffer twice — had the disruption and then have to pay the bill.”

Blumenauer said the federal government should pay some of the costs to Oregon taxpayers, because he said authorities prolonged the standoff by waiting to arrest or confront the militants.

“The state and local government shouldn’t have to pick up the tab — it’s not their fault,” he said. “The feds need to reimburse and then go after the people who caused it.”

Harney County’s top administrative official previously estimated the occupation cost taxpayers $70,000 a day — and he also wanted the militants to reimburse local taxpayers.

Four militants remained Thursday at Malheur National Wildlife Sanctuary, which Bundy and his comrades took over in early January as part of a scheme to claim ownership of federally owned public land.

A federal grand jury has indicted 16 people in connection with the standoff, and 11 militants have been arrested.

One militant was shot and killed by officers who said he reached twice for a weapon after attempting to flee a traffic stop.

Blumenauer said forcing the militants to reimburse taxpayers would discourage others from attempting similar stunts.

“It must be made clear that armed takeover of government or private facilities, for grievances real or imagined, is absolutely unacceptable and won’t be tolerated,” he said. “It’s not just enough to enforce the law. We should recover damages from lawbreakers who tear up the landscape, degrade wildlife habitat and destroy property.”

Federal authorities have sent additional security personnel to wildlife refuges in southern Oregon, northern California and Nevada to ensure employee and visitor safety.

Officials said no specific threats have been made against the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge or Modoc National Wildlife Refuge.

But the occupation and ongoing protests in Burns, Oregon, have apparently concerned federal authorities that additional actions might be taken by the militants’ supporters.

LAVOY FINNICUM: THE FBI’S DROP GUN

Infowars - FEBRUARY 3, 2016

The spokesman for the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon was shot nine times by the FBI.

It should be no surprise the FBI would shoot an unarmed man nine times.This is often their modus operandi, especially with individuals the national police state agency considers political enemies—and the band of constitutionalists at Malheur, no matter how misdirected or naive, were certainly considered enemies of the state.

Now it comes out that the gun the FBI said they retrieved from Finnicum’s body—a body so bullet-riddled it necessitated a closed coffin—was in fact stolen.

The Pacific Patriots Network did a search of the weapon’s serial number and discovered it was stolen, although this crucial fact is not being reported by an establishment media that has consistently portrayed Finnicum and the other activists at the refuge as dangerous terrorists.

The over the top murder of Finnicum and a subsequent video released by the FBI are intended to send a message to the patriot movement and constitutionalists.

The message: if you go up against the federal government, if you question its dictatorial and unconstitutional policies and if you actively resist or engage in behavior to draw attention to its pathological criminality, you will be executed, particularly if you provide the FBI with an opportunity, as Finnicum did when he traveled to a meeting unarmed to resolve the standoff.

THE TRUTH BEHIND FEDERAL LAND GRABS

David Knight & Kit Daniels | Infowars - FEBRUARY 3, 2016

IMAGE CREDIT: PUBLIC DOMAIN

Is the federal government so desperate to monopolize land that it’s literally burning down the forests they are supposed to manage?

Infowars interviewed Oregon logger Tad Houpt, with the Grant Co. Forest Commission, who had organized the meeting where Ammon Bundy, LaVoy Finicum and others were going to speak to 400 people and the Grant Co. Sheriff before Finicum was killed by the FBI and the other speakers were arrested.

“This last summer we had the biggest fire we’ve ever had here, 110,000 acres,” Houpt said. “I was one of the people who got burned out; close to 50 homes burnt.”

He believes this happened because the forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service are “a disaster.”

Houpt also mentioned there were “about 2 tons [per acre] of light fuels [dead trees & other organic matter] on the ground are known to be acceptable and the live trees will withstand the fire,” but he added that “some areas of the federally managed lands exceed 500 tons per acre of fuel on the ground,” i.e. 250 times the safe limit.

“I’m telling you this is intentional,” he said. “If a jet liner crashes there’s an immediate investigation into what caused that jet liner’s crash.”

“These fires are happening all over the western U.S. and there’s no investigation, they don’t even want to talk about what’s causing them and it’s their policies [that] are 100% causing these fires.”

And perpetuating the fire dangers and the resulting economic hardships are the BLM’s arbitrary rules, such as the ban on cutting trees greater than 21 inches in diameter — even if a tree is burned and dead.

Instead of providing lumber and livelihood for loggers, dead trees greater than 21 inches in diameter will be allowed to remain, increasing the fuel on the ground and the danger and intensity of future fires.

This is all part of Agenda 21, which is intended to force people out of rural areas and into large cities where they can be easily taxed and controlled.

Signed in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and later phased in by President Bill Clinton, the United Nations Agenda 21 Sustainable Development program is based on communitarianism, which calls for government to eventually take control of all land use without leaving any decision making in the hands of private property owners.

“It is assumed that people are not good stewards of their land and the government will do a better job if they are in control,” Agenda 21 expert Rosa Koire wrote, who is a Californian Democrat and the author of Behind The Green Mask: U.N. Agenda 21. “Individual rights in general are to give way to the needs of communities as determined by the governing body.”

And if you already live in an urban area, you may already be familiar with some key aspects of Agenda 21:

– The accelerated implementation of toll roads, especially toll roads that discourage driving by increasing prices for traveling alone or for driving in “congested” areas

– The development of expensive and inefficient public rail systems in cities in order to increase centralized government control while also reducing the use of private transportation

– Utilities monitored by “Smart Meters” which can be controlled remotely by public utility companies

– The purposeful lack of easy freeway access in cities so residents remain close to their neighborhoods

Another good example of how Agenda 21 is currently being implemented is to look at the mass construction of “mixed use” condos which feature retail stores on the ground floor with several residential floors above.

These buildings are designed to restrict people from traveling by placing businesses within walking distance – and, interestingly, medieval serfs were likewise not able to travel long distances.

And, despite being fiction, the megacities in the comic series Judge Dredd feature many planned aspects of Agenda 21, a scary scenario even if real cities never completely match these fictional counterparts.

The overall intent of Agenda 21 is to expand government power at the expense of individual liberties by moving the population out of rural areas and packing them into major cities where they are more dependent on city infrastructure controlled by the government.

While Agenda 21 proponents constantly harp that the program is “voluntary,” it is a moot point when so many cities are already implementing Agenda 21 which clearly benefits the government at the expense of its citizens.

“The plan is to restrict your choices, limit your funds, narrow your freedoms and take away your voice,” Koire added.

Gov’t Tells Texas Rancher His Land No Longer Belongs to Him — He Knew It Was Serious When He Claims Official Said These Six Words

The Blaze | Oct. 15, 2015 12:04pm | Dave Urbanski

Image source: KAUZ-TV

Texas rancher Ken Aderholt said he emerged frustrated from a Tuesday night Bureau of Land Management meeting in Fort Worth — full of many of the same unanswered questions and growing concerns about the land that’s been in his family for over 70 years.

Well, it used to be his land.

Aderholt’s family has been running cattle on 1,250 acres of earth in Harrold near the Red River, which borders Oklahoma, since 1941 — and he took on the task himself long ago.

Image source: KAUZ-TV

It’s his livelihood, and it’s his life.

“It has been running through generations and handed on down to me,” Aderholt told KAUZ-TV in Wichita Falls, adding that he’s hoped his two sons could someday take over the family business.

Image source: KAUZ-TV

But Aderholt said the federal government is threatening those dreams — along with the dreams of other landowners in three counties.

He told TheBlaze on Wednesday that the BLM has claimed up to almost half the acreage on his property — including where his home sits — after redefining the boundary line.

Aderhold told TheBlaze he discovered his home was in danger during an early 2014 phone call with a BLM official who laid out what acres now belonged to the agency. When Aderhold remarked, “That’s gonna get my home,” he said the official replied, “You have reason to be concerned.”

And the rancher said he was instructed to list that among other concerns for future consideration as the BLM moves toward finalizing a plan.

Not that it’s much consolation, since Aderhold and other land owners consider theirs private property — which the government “stole from us,” he told TheBlaze.

And all this after years of paying property taxes and having a deed and title in hand.

“The BLM is saying we should have never had a deed to it,” Aderhold told KAUZ. “That Texas should have never produced that deed.”

Paul McGuire, a BLM public affairs specialist, on Thursday told TheBlaze that Aderhold’s understanding of exactly what constitutes public land on his property isn’t a done deal until a land survey is completed — and that the official Aderhold spoke to on the phone isn’t a surveyor and wouldn’t have told him what land was public.

Image source: KAUZ-TV

McGuire added that disputes such as Aderhold’s are coming up because the BLM began the process of revising land management plans in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas almost two years ago. The land in question has been federal for a long time, McGuire added, but never actively managed.

Aderhold could apply for “color of title,” McGuire said, which takes into consideration improvements made over time on federally owned land and could allow him to hold on to it.

In the end, McGuire said, the process for determining what happens to the disputed land is lengthy and complex — a final BLM plan won’t be ready until 2018, he said.

But Aderhold — who said his family has never been bothered by the government in over 70 years — isn’t laying down over what he told KAUZ is “a land grab.”

And it’s a big one: After redefining the boundary to a half mile inland from the river, the BLM has claimed up to 625 of his property’s 1,250 acres, Aderhold said.

Image source: KAUZ-TV

At the moment the BLM is figuring out what to do with the land through a “scoping” process. Aderhold said the agency could designate the land for activities such as birdwatching or horseback riding or exploring foliage. Or it could condemn it. It also could lease it back to him — or to somebody else.

Whatever the outcome, none of it sits right with the rancher.

He said other landowners have banded together and retained attorneys. U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry from Texas’ 13th district has introduced a bill to assist landowners along the Red River.

But in the meantime, Aderhold said the land claim has made life very difficult for him and other property owners — and far beyond simply losing their long-tended acreage.

Titles, Aderhold said, have become “clouded.” Money can’t be borrowed against land, properties can’t be bought or sold and no improvements are being made.

“This affects people’s lives — everyday things,” he told TheBlaze.

KAUZ-TV: Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

This story has been updated.

FBI Releases Video Of Shooting Death Of Oregon Occupier

Zero Hedge | By Tyler Durden | January 28, 2016

On Tuesday, the FBI and state troopers arrested Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan, and several others on their way to a speaking event some 20 miles north of Burns, Oregon.

Robert “LaVoy” Finicum - the self-styled “spokesperson” for the militiamen occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge - was shot and killed by authorities in the arrests.

In the wake of Finicum’s death there were conflicting accounts as to what exactly led police to shoot the 55-year-old Arizona rancher. Some suggested he was shot while his hands were in the air.

On Thursday, the FBI sought to dispel any misconceptions by releasing the following footage of the incident.

Edited version:

Full version:

While there's no sound and the video is shot from an FBI plane making it difficult to discern exactly what happened, it certainly appears as though Finicum reaches into his pocket - twice.

It's true that he emerges from the truck (which had careened into a snow bank after swerving to avoid a police roadblock) with his hands raised, but for whatever reason, he reaches for his hip on two seperate occasions. The second time he reaches down, police open fire. "As state troopers trained their guns on Robert 'LaVoy' Finicum along a secluded eastern Oregon highway, he reached twice for a pocket that police say contained a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun," The Oregonian writes. "That's when they fatally shot Finicum, a video released Thursday by the FBI appears to show." Here's more:

It began as Oregon State Police officers and FBI agents stopped a Jeep and a white pickup as they traveled north on U.S. 395 toward John Day.

Finicum, an Arizona foster parent and rancher who acted as a spokesman for the occupation, drove the truck. It and the Jeep carried key leaders of the occupation that began Jan. 2. They were headed to a community meeting in John Day, with plans to spread their message against federal land control.

Instead, at 4:26 p.m., they were pulled over about 20 miles north of Burns.

Three occupants of the Jeep -- including Ammon Bundy, the son of controversial Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and a leader of the refuge takeover – got out.

In another frame, the video shows another occupation leader, Ryan Payne, getting out of the truck driven by Finicum, with his hands up. Three others remained in the pickup with Finicum, Greg Bretzing, a special agent with the FBI said.

As police stood by with guns trained on the truck, Payne was arrested. Finicum and his passengers remained in the idle truck for about four more minutes as officers hollered for them to surrender, Bretzing said.

That period was blacked out in the [edited] video, which resumed with footage of Finicum's truck speeding away from the scene. As officers trailed in a black SUV and fired shots at the truck, it rounded two bends in the road, then rammed into a snowbank to avoid a police roadblock.

As it came to a stop, the truck nearly hit an officer who was standing alongside the road.

His hands raised, Finicum ran out of the car and toward the snowbank, yelling at police. Then, as police approached with guns drawn, he reached toward the left side of his waist. He began to put his hands back up, then reached down again.

Bretzing said Finicum was reaching toward a jacket pocket that contained a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.

The video shows Finicum being shot, then falling on his back. He raised his arm, then lay still.

"Actions have consequences," the FBI said, and "as the video clearly shows, it was a reckless action."

“On at least two occasions, Finicum reaches his right hand toward a pocket on the left inside portion of his jacket. He did have a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic handgun in that pocket,” special agent Bretzing continued.

There were two loaded .233 semi-automatic rifles and one loaded .38 special in the truck. Although police wouldn't specify how many times they shot Finicum, they did say it was "in the single digits." He received medical attention once all of the truck's occupants had surrendered.

Finicum's death prompted calls from other armed militias for members to go by the "thousands" to Harney County where five occupiers remain holed up in the bird sanctuary.

Four of the five are free to go, while one is facing charges. The group says they'll leave if those charges are dropped.

“If they’re not willing to do that, we’re all just kind of willing to stay here and see what happens," one of the holdouts said. "Are they really going to kill five people for refusing to drop a charge on a man?”

We don't know, but based on the video shown above, it's probably not a risk the men should take.

Ammon Bundy Admits Defeat, Calls On Remaining Oregon Occupiers To "Stand Down, Go Home"

Zero Hedge | By Tyler Durden | January 27, 2016

IMAGE CREDITS: SPUTNIK, TWITTER.

The story of Ammon Bundy and his not so merry band of Federal Wildlife Refuge occupiers is about to come to its end.

Following the overnight arrest of the Oregon militia leader and six of his associates by the FBI, as well as deadly shooting during a confrontation with federal authorities of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, spokesperson for the militiamen occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, moments ago Portland's KATU reported that Ammon Bundy, through his attorney, asked the remaining armed occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to stand down and go home.

Bundy and the others were taken to Portland and booked into the Multnomah County Jail and made their first appearance in federal court on felony charges.

It was here that Bundy decided to stand down.

"I'm asking the federal government to allow the people at the refuge to go home without being prosecuted," Bundy said through his attorney Mike Arnold, who stood outside court to read Bundy's statement. "To those remaining at the refuge, I love you. Let us take this fight from here. Please stand down. Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is ours for now in the courts. Please go home."

Earlier, the handful of remaining armed occupiers tried to convince more people to join them via a YouTube livestream and told any would-be occupiers that if the federal authorities "stop you from getting here, KILL THEM!"

The occupiers took over the refuge Jan. 2.

In addition to Bundy, those arrested were Ryan Bundy, Brian Cavalier, Shawna Cox and Ryan W. Payne. They were taken into custody during a traffic stop. Joseph Donald O'Shaughnessy and online talk-show radio host Peter Santilli were arrested in Burns. Jon Ritzheimer was arrested after surrendering to authorities in his home state of Arizona.



Top row from left are Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Brian Cavalier and Shawna Cox. Bottom row from left are Joseph Donald O'Shaughnessy, Ryan Payne, Jon Eric Ritzheimer and Peter Santilli. (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office/Maricopa County Sheriff's Office via AP)

KATU adds that a federal judge ordered the seven defendants in Portland to stay in federal custody. The judge ruled there's a risk they wouldn't show up in court, and those under arrest pose a danger to the community because the occupation at the wildlife refuge continues.

Defense attorneys argued that none of those under arrest have significant criminal records, but the judge agreed with prosecutors that all should remain in custody until a detention hearing scheduled for Friday.

None of the seven defendants entered any plea on the charge of impeding federal wildlife officers from doing their job, although the outcome of the legal process at this point is virtually assured: prison, of the Federal kind.

Where was the FBI during the armed standoff in Oregon? Out of sight, but listening and watching

LA Times | By Nigel Duara | January 28, 2016

A protester keeps watch this month during the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. The FBI kept a low profile but monitored statements the protesters were making on social media and elsewhere. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

As the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon dragged on for most of January, local law enforcement was spread thin and federal agents were nowhere to be seen.

Behind the quiet facade, however, the FBI was running surveillance on the occupation and recording the activists’ public statements, mostly drawn from media reports and the activists' use of social media, while FBI agents encouraged locals to report their experiences with the new strangers in town.

According to the allegations in an indictment and supporting affidavit, the FBI was collecting information that confirmed the occupiers were armed, angry and willing to die.

Three more arrests at Oregon refuge as some holdouts leave voluntarily

The court documents detail how a source told a Harney County sheriff’s officer that the protesters “had explosives, night vision goggles, and weapons and that if they didn't get the fight they wanted out there they would bring the fight to town.” The documents show that authorities grew concerned as the occupiers used increasingly heated rhetoric when discussing their plans and the occupation.


One activist, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, 55, was shot and killed Tuesday in an altercation between some of the occupiers and authorities. Ryan Bundy suffered a gunshot wound to his arm.

On Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman unsealed the government’s criminal complaint against two brothers, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and Jon Ritzheimer, as well as five others arrested in connection with the occupation.

All stand accused of conspiring to use threats, intimidation or force to stop federal officers from doing their duty, a charge also used against tax protesters Edward and Elaine Brown, a New Hampshire couple who holed up in their home in 2007 and engaged in an armed standoff with federal agents for months. It eventually ended peacefully with their arrest.

A significant amount of the FBI’s information used to charge Ammon Bundy came from an activist named Pete Santilli, who was living inside the refuge and broadcasting live his conversations with fellow activists.

To demonstrate a conspiracy, the government has a lower burden than it would with similar charges, such as aiding and abetting, or solicitation. A conspiracy charge in federal court does not require the underlying offense to have taken place, so prosecutors can charge the defendants based on their statements, without proving they actually committed a crime.

That is where Santilli’s broadcasts proved so useful to the FBI.

“We’re continuing the stand at the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve,” Ammon Bundy told Santilli in a conversation on Jan. 2, the day the occupation began. “Let everybody know that.”

Criminal complaint against Oregon protesters

Later, Bundy was recorded telling Santilli, “Malheur, Malheur,” at which point, the FBI affidavit says, Santilli nods and then introduces Bundy, who gives a speech.

At one point in a video, Santilli’s cameraman is recording Bundy speaking to another activist when the cameraman seems to realize he shouldn’t be broadcasting it. The cameraman steps away and bumps into someone. “I was trying to get away from that conversation,” he explains.

The charges filed Wednesday detail activists' behavior in the media and the behavior reported to the FBI by federal employees who said they endured threats from the protesters in town before the occupation.

One employee with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, a prime target of the protesters, said Ritzheimer, an anti-Muslim activist who led an armed protest at a mosque last May, and another man accosted her in a grocery store for wearing a BLM shirt.

“When she turned around, the second individual shouted ‘you're BLM, you're BLM,’ at her,” FBI Special Agent Katherine Armstrong wrote in the affidavit.

“That person further stated to [the BLM employee] that they know what car she drives and would follow her home. He also stated he was going to burn [her] house down.”

Then activists began targeting her, she said. A vehicle matching one she saw Ritzheimer and the other man driving began to appear parked in front of her home and in front of her workplace, she said.

A week later, a white truck with a Confederate flag sticker in the rear window tailgated her and flashed its lights, the affidavit says.

The documents are also sprinkled with repeated references to the occupiers’ principle concerns—upholding the Constitution, protecting the rights of individuals and crushing socialism. It also quotes various protesters using social media to urge “good patriots” to join the occupation.

Oath Keepers call for caution after Oregon standoff death

Oath Keepers | January 27th 2016

Oath Keepers is calling for milia to 'STAND DOWN' after one of those involved in the Oregon standoff was shot yesterday.

See full press release below.

PRESS RELEASE
26 January 2016

Pacific Patriot Network – Oath Keepers – III%

Pacific Patriots Network – Official Statement for Immediate Release

On January 26, 2016, Ammon Bundy Ryan Bundy, Shawna Cox, Brian Cavalier, Ryan Payne and LaVoy Finicum were involved in a traffic stop between the town of Burns and John Day, Oregon. They were on their way to a meeting with local ranchers. Ammon Bundy, as well as the passengers of his vehicle were stopped, arrested, and taken into federal custody by the FBI. We can confirm that one man has been shot and taken to the local hospital and that another was shot and killed. We can also confirm that separate from the traffic stop, both Joe O’Shaugnessy and Pete Santilli were also arrested and taken into custody.

It has come to the attention of PPN that many individuals are responding to this news as a ‘Call to Action’. The Pacific Patriots Network is issuing an immediate “STAND BY” Order to all those who are mobilizing to the peaceful city of Burns, Oregon. We will not pursue any action until all of the facts have been pieced together regarding the traffic stop and the arrest of Ammon Bundy. During this time, cooler heads must prevail. We do not wish to inflame the current situation and will engage in open dialogue until all of the facts have been gathered.

Again, we must reiterate the current standing order. No mobilization of any kind is to take place until every piece of speculation and hearsay have been verified or dismissed. We will maintain the high road and continue to communicate with federal officials until a complete time line has been developed. In light of recent events PPN continues to support a peaceful resolution to the occupation of the refuge. As more information is made available to the PPN it will be released accordingly and via the appropriate channels.

Pacific Patriots Network Media Team
media@pacificpatriotsnetwork.com

FBI negotiator refuses to investigate gross complaints against federal agencies: Oregon Occupation intensifies

Intellihub | January 25th 2016



BURNS, Ore. (INTELLIHUB) — Although a plethora of information can be found on Intellihub.com about the constitutionality of the Oregon Occupation and the root of the problem, the FBI can’t seem to find any information on what’s really going on and is unwilling to investigate federal agencies, period.

We are putting this video out there as an open letter to the federal government hereby requesting investigation into the unconstitutional wrongdoings currently taking place in Harney County.

During a phone meeting with the lead FBI negotiator known only as “Chris,” Ammon Bundy said:

“The FBI does not have anything really to do with the situation–it is the people their county and their land. The federal government simply needs to adhere to the Constitution of the United States, adhere to the rules in Article 1, 8, 17 and comply.”

Bundy explained to Chris how the locals are not happy that the FBI is there.

‘You have a standing army in town,’ Bundy said.

At one point the negotiator even threatened Bundy with an investigation of his person, rather than to even focus on the task at hand.

Additionally the FBI negotiator failed to provide his last name upon Bundy’s request.

“Get your investigators out here. Get interviewing these ranchers,” Bundy told the FBI.

FBI sets up checkpoints around Oregon refuge after deadly confrontation

Yahoo | By Peter Henderson

(Reuters) - U.S. and state officials in Oregon on Wednesday set up checkpoints around Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, where an armed group pledged to prolong its standoff with the government a day after one protester was shot and eight others were arrested.

Authorities said the new security involves a series of checkpoints along key routes into and out of the refuge, and was made out of an "abundance of caution" to protect the public and law enforcement after the confrontation.

The month-long occupation of the wildlife reserve over federal control of large tracts of the country turned violent on Tuesday after officers stopped a car carrying protest leader Ammon Bundy and others near the refuge. Activists said Robert LaVoy Finicum, a rancher who acted as a spokesman for the occupiers, was killed.

There were no details on why shooting broke out at the traffic stop. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said authorities would hold a news conference on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. PST (1730 GMT) in Burns, a town near the refuge.

One of the remaining occupiers, Jason Patrick, told Reuters by phone they would stay until the "redress of grievances."

Ammon Bundy

“I've heard 'peaceful resolution' for weeks now and now there’s a cowboy who is my friend who is dead – so prepare for the peaceful resolution,” Patrick said.

Authorities on Wednesday said the checkpoints will allow only ranchers who own property in the area to pass and anyone coming out of the refuge will have to show identity and have their vehicle searched.

The Malheur takeover, which started Jan. 2, was a flare-up in the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion, a decades-old conflict over federal control of millions of acres in the West. Protesters say they are defending the Constitution.

Federal officials said they had probable cause to arrest Finicum, who told NBC News earlier this month that he would rather die than be detained.

Patrick likened Finicum’s death to that of Tamir Rice, an unarmed 12-year-old black youth fatally shot by Cleveland police outside a recreation center in 2014. The officers were not charged.

"The government can kill who they want for whatever reason they want with impunity," Patrick said.

He was asked how the occupiers would respond to authorities entering the refuge but did not indicate a clear plan.

"I don't know what to tell you but if somebody saying 'peaceful resolution' comes in and points guns at me ...," Patrick said before trailing off.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco, Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Jonathan Allen and Ed Tobin in New York; Editing by Bill Trott)

EYEWITNESS: OREGON MILITIAMAN MURDERED BY COPS; “HE HAD HIS HANDS IN THE AIR”

Paul Joseph Watson | Infowars | JANUARY 27, 2016

The daughter of LaVoy Finicum, the Oregon militiaman shot dead by police during a traffic stop on Highway 395 yesterday, claims that her father was “murdered” execution-style with his hands in the air, an account backed up by an eyewitness to the incident.

Protesters involved in the weeks-long occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, including leader Ammon Bundy, were apprehended by law enforcement as they traveled to the city of John Day to attend a community meeting set up by local residents.

“Everyone obeyed orders to surrender except two people: LaVoy Finicum and Bundy’s brother, Ryan Bundy,” a law enforcement official told CNN.


Media reports about the incident simply state that “shots were fired,” although Finicum’s daughter Thara Lynn Tenney posted a message on her Facebook page last night asserting that her father had already surrendered before he was gunned down.

“I want the world to know how my father was murdered today. His hands were in the air and he was shot in the face by the American authorities. Ammon Bundy reported there are 6 witnesses to this evil,” wrote Tenney.

I want the world to know how my father was murdered today. His hands were in the air and he was shot in the face by the American authorities. Ammon Bundy reported there are 6 witnesses to this evil.
Posted by Thara Tenney on Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Her testimony was echoed by another eyewitness, Victoria Sharp, who was in the car with Finicum when the group were pulled over by cops and federal agents.

Sharp claims that Finicum put his hands out of the car window and asked the police to allow the women to leave the car.

“They shot at him, but they missed him,” said Sharp, adding that the group then attempted to drive away in the car but were shot at again by police.

“When we crashed and stopped for a second, he got out of the car, he had his hands in the air, he’s like ‘just shoot me then’….and they did, they shot him dead,” said Sharp.

“He was just walking, with his hands in the air, I swear to God, and they shot him dead and after he was down on the ground, shot him three more times,” said Sharp, adding that the vehicle was again “bombarded with bullets” as well as tear gas rounds.

Sharp says that the group tried to “find something white” so they could display it as a sign of surrender. She challenges news reports that only six shots were fired, asserting, “they shot at least 120 shots altogether.”

Sharp also claims that none of the individuals in the car pulled out a gun at any point and that the incident was an “ambush” with “FBI snipers in the trees” surrounding the vehicle.

“They had their hands out of the window to show they were not firing, nothing, we showed no aggression at all,” said Sharp.

Protesters who remain at the occupied federal building have vowed to continue their stance as authorities continue to insist they want a “peaceful” resolution to the matter.

Oregon stand-off militiaman killed in shootout with the FBI: Traffic stop turns into deadly gunfight, ending with militia's spokesman dead and leader Ammon Bundy arrested along with seven others

Daily Mail | By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER and ASSOCIATED PRESS and REUTERS | PUBLISHED: 21:10 EST, 26 January 2016

Oregon militia spokesman LaVoy Finicum has been shot dead after a traffic stop escalated into a shoot-out that saw Ryan Bundy wounded and eight leaders of the occupation movement arrested.
The group's leader Ammon Bundy was among the militiamen arrested during the encounter on Tuesday afternoon as they drove to attend a community meeting in the neighboring town.

It is the climax of a tense stand-off between federal agents and the activists more than three weeks after they took over a government building in Burns, Oregon, to protest two ranchers being jailed.

According to local media, shots were fired within minutes of the traffic stop, killing Finicum and wounding 43-year-old Ryan Bundy.

It is not clear who opened fire first.

Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, and three other leaders of the occupation - Ryan Payne, 32; Brian Cavalier, 44, and Shawna Cox, 59 - were charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers,Oregon Live reports.

Officials would not confirm the identity of the militiaman shot dead. However, Finicum's daughter Arianna Finicum Brown, 26, confirmed her father's death to The Oregonian, saying 'he would never ever want to hurt somebody, but he does believe in defending freedom and he knew the risks involved.'

Nevada state Rep Michele Fiore told the paper Ammon Bundy called his wife from the back of the police vehicle after his arrest and told her that Finicum was cooperating with the authorities when he was shot. However, other sources said that he resisted arrest.

In an interview with MSNBC three weeks ago, Finicum declared that he would rather die than face arrest.

'There are things more important than your life and freedom is one of them,' he said at the time. 'I'm prepared to defend freedom.'

He sounded a similar note when speaking to CNN earlier this month.

'I'm just not going to prison,' Finicum said. 'Look at the stars. There's no way I'm going to sit in a concrete cell where I can't see the stars and roll out my bedroll on the ground.

'I want to be able to get up in the morning and throw my saddle on my horse and go check on my cows. It's OK. I've lived a good life. God's been gracious to me.'

Finicum, a Mormon rancher from Arizona, was a father of 11 and grandfather of 19 who was married to his wife, Jeanette, for 23 years.

His daughter Challice Finch told NBC News after the deadly standoff that her father and his fellow protesters were 'all committed to not firing on federal agents.'

Speaking to The Oregonian on the eve of his death, LaVoy Finicum noted that law enforcement officials 'have become more hardened' as of late.

'They're doing all the things that show they want to take some kinetic action against us, and we're saying, "Why be so unfriendly?"' the militia spokesman told the paper.

WHO WAS LAVOY FINICUM?

LaVoy Finicum, 55, of northern Arizona, has been the right-hand man to the occupation's leader Ammon Bundy since the stand-off began on January 2.
Acting as spokesman for the group, he gave numerous press conferences to communicate their position.

At one point he personally climbed up a pole to dismantle surveillance cameras in an apparent show of defiance against the government.
But he has not always held such a strong anti-government stance.
Last year, he told the St George News that he complied with federal land controls until Cliven Bundy's stand-off in Nevada in 2014.

The episode, he said, struck a chord with him.

He joined the Bundys and 'did a lot of soul-searching' until he 'realized that Cliven Bundy was standing on a very strong constitutional principle—and yet, here I was continuing to pay a grazing fee to the BLM.'
Finicum's wife of 23 years recently arrived in Oregon, traveling up from Arizona, to celebrate his 56th birthday.

Beyond life as a militiaman and rancher, Finicum was a father of 11 and grandfather of 23 who also found time to write a novel, Only By Blood And Suffering, about a time when guns are no more, cars have stopped working, the market has imploded, and the Chinese control everything.
Joseph O'Shaughnessy, 45, and Peter Santilli, 50, were arrested in Burns soon after the traffic stop and shoot-out.

An eighth group member, Jon Ritzheimer, 32, was arrested in Peoria, Arizona, after turning himself in to the police department, Fox reported.

All of those arrested face federal charges of conspiracy to use force, intimidation or threats to impede federal officers from discharging their duties, the FBI said.

The hospital where Ryan Bundy and LaVoy Finicum were taken, St Charles Medical Center, was placed on lockdown in the wake of the shootout.

Some 25 miles of Highway 395 was shut down in both directions following the incident, a dispatcher for the state department of transportation said.

It was unclear how many people remained in the buildings at the refuge in the wake of the shootout. Late Tuesday night there was no obvious police presence there and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown asked for 'patience as officials continue pursuit of a swift and peaceful resolution.'

Brand Thornton, one of Bundy's supporters, said he left the refuge Monday and wasn't sure what those remaining would do.

'The entire leadership is gone,' he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. 'I wouldn't blame any of them for leaving.'

Thornton called the arrests 'a dirty trick' by law enforcement.

According to Oregon Live, the leaders had been en route to John Day - 70 miles from Burns - to appear as guest speakers at a meeting with hundreds of local residents.

The crowd was informed the group would not be able to make it to the event after the dramatic traffic stop.

Frustrated local and state officials have been increasingly urging the FBI to do something to resolve the situation.

Bundy and his group have held frequent news conferences at the site, traveled to meet with sympathizers and others to espouse their views and some even attended a community meeting last week, where local residents shouted at them to leave.

Federal authorities have taken a hands-off approach so far and say they want a peaceful resolution.

Bundy has been in contact with an FBI negotiator and local law enforcement.

On Friday, Bundy went to the Burns Municipal Airport, where the FBI has set up a staging area, and met briefly with a federal agent.

Bundy left because the agent wouldn't talk with him in front of the media. Sieges by federal authorities in the early 1990s led to deadly standoffs in at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas.

The group took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 2 after a peaceful protest in nearby Burns, Oregon, over the conviction of two local ranchers on arson charges.

Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven Hammond, 46, said they lit fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006 to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.

The two were convicted three years ago and served time — the father three months, the son one year.

But in October, a federal judge in Oregon ruled their terms were too short under U.S. law and ordered them back to prison for about four years each. Among the demands by the Bundy group is for the Hammonds to be released.

The alleged arrests on Tuesday come after an Army veteran was arrested for a DUI while he was heading to join the militia occupying federal land in Oregon.

Joseph Arthur Stetson, 54, was caught on camera threatening to kill cops on Monday as he was driving to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Militia in Flint join calls for justice in water crisis

Daniel Bethencourt | Detroit Free Press | 7:36 p.m. EST January 24, 2016

(Photo: REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press)

Flint may have seen multiple rallies in recent weeks that called attention to the city's water crisis — but few if any were as surprising as a rally held by the Genesee County Volunteer Militia.

On Sunday afternoon, about 30 militia supporters clad in camouflage gear and bearing “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, gathered outside of City Hall to demand accountability amid a national discussion over how the city’s water supply became contaminated.

“We’re here to defend this community," said Matthew Krol, the militia's executive officer, addressing the crowd in a full camouflage outfit with a handgun strapped to his hip. “We’re not going to allow (the government) to step on the people of Flint any longer.”

He added: “If it means having to take up arms in defense ... we will do that as well.”

Politically, the militia may not seem to have much in common with past leaders who have called attention to the crisis, including filmmaker Michael Moore or civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. The militia's Facebook page is filled with proclamations of gun rights, and also bears posts favorable to the armed militia that have been occupying an Oregon wildlife refuge. A handful of people in the Flint crowd on Sunday were open-carrying pistols.

Some of those disagreements became obvious when Krol told the group: “This is not a racial issue, unlike some people last week tried to say. It’s a human issue.”

Yet, Dave McKellar said his group was lending their support to a cause that has sparked a national outcry and become the subject of international headlines. Militia members have spent the last week or so delivering non-contaminated water door-to-door with the American Red Cross, and McKellar said that about 50 more militia members would have come to the rally except that he instructed them to help distribute bottled water instead.

Krol echoed Moore’s previous comments when he said local and state leaders knowingly lied to the people. As he spoke, onlookers cried: “They knew!” and “Unacceptable!”

The water supply became contaminated with lead in April 2014 while the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager. The state Department of Environmental Quality admitted that it failed to require corrosion-control chemicals in the water when the city switched its source to the Flint River. Other critics also blamed local officials and federal environmental experts for their roles.

For months, local and state officials failed to answer alarm bells sounded by outraged citizens who complained of discolored and foul-smelling tap water.

As for when the water may ever be safe to drink again, early test results show lead levels in Flint's drinking water appear to be falling — but experts warn it's too early to stop using bottled water and tap filters.

McKellar, a militia liaison who helped organize the rally, told the crowd that “What happened here is a crime.”

But, he added: “The only color that was involved is green.”

Contact Daniel Bethencourt: dbethencourt@freepress.com or 313-223-4531. Follow on Twitter at @_dbethencourt. Free Press Staff Writers John Wisely, Robert Allen and Matthew Dolan contributed to this report.

The Oregon Militia Is Turning Out To Be Its Very Own Worst Enemy

By LAUREN FOX TPM Published JANUARY 19, 2016, 6:00 AM EST

AP Photo / Keith Ridler

In what is starting to look like a genius move, the federal government and local law enforcement have mostly kept their distance in the two weeks since an unknown number of out-of-town, rag-tag militiamen stormed the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and vowed to stay until the federal government turned over its land to local ranchers.

So far authorities have declined to confront the men or to put the squeeze on them by restricting movement to and from the refuge or even to turn off the electricity, which might help draw the men out of the compound in the freezing January days.

But the lack of confrontation by federal officials has not only prevented it from becoming the next Waco or Ruby Ridge but transformed it into a peculiar and mundane sideshow, a one-sided standoff where the militiamen's days are marked by visits from wacky outsiders like pretend judge Bruce Doucette coming to sniff out "evidence" against the federal government and from disgruntled community members ready for the men to leave already.

By leaving the would-be revolutionaries to their own devices, authorities have given them enough rope to hang themselves.


In the last week alone, the militiamen have made headlines–not for forcing the government's hand on federal lands or helping free the Hammonds–but for throwing boxes of dildos on the floor in protest against the mocking mail they have been receiving, for getting arrested after allegedly driving an official refuge vehicle into town to get groceries, for ransacking government files and for using government computers.

With each odd incident, the media and the public gets more insight into the individuals holed up at the wildlife preserve and their puzzling and incongruent motivations. It does not appear that all of the men at the refuge subscribe to one ideology or another. A report from the Anti-Defamation League actually chronicles that the men hold a hodgepodge of views and have some varying disagreements on how to tackle the standoff.

By taking a hands-off approach to the incident, the government has actually given the militiamen room to stew, to fight with one another and ultimately, to undermine their cause.

Take for example Jon Ritzheimer, the man who recorded himself throwing boxes of sex toys onto the floor at the compound. Before he appeared in Oregon standoff videos, Ritzheimer was not known for taking up land disputes, but for putting together threatening, anti-Muslim protests and videos. He was well known in Arizona for organizing a protest where more than 200 individuals –many with guns– showed up outside of a Phoenix mosque. In November, he once again came on the FBI's radar for announcing he planned to travel to a Muslim hamlet in New York.

Kenneth Medenbach, the man arrested for allegedly driving a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service vehicle into town, was actually out on bail for another seven-month government land occupation he was allegedly involved in last year. According to the Guardian, he was also convicted of squatting on government land in 1996 when the 62-year-old now chainsaw sculptor resided in a tent on government land and guarded his assumed property with "50 to 100 pounds of the explosive ammonium sulfate, a pellet gun, and what appeared to be a hand grenade with trip wires."

The more outspoken, bold and hungry the militiamen are for attention, the more peculiar their standoff becomes. While federal officials have been wildly criticized for leaving the militiamen to their own devices, those still at the compound are giving feds plenty of evidence to help government officials charge them later.

In one bizarre video released last week from inside the compound, an ISIS-sympathizing, self-proclaimed video gamer from Ohio, David Fry, recorded himself using a Linux flash drive to circumvent password-protected government computers. And there are several photographs of de facto standoff leader Ammon Bundy ripping apart government fencing with his bare hands.

Over the weekend, one of the most outspoken standoff participants LaVoy Finicum– a Mormon rancher who has ceased paying grazing fees and has penned a right-wing conspiracy-ridden cowboy thriller – had several foster children removed from his family's custody back in Arizona.

He claimed the federal government was taking aim against his family in retaliation for his involvement in the standoff in Oregon, but questions have now been raised about his motivations for fostering such a large number of children and whether such an activity is his major source of income.

Another man affiliated with the Oregon militiamen, Californian Darrow Burke, 57, crashed his vehicle outside of Hines, Oregon, in an embarrassing display for the militiamen Sunday. He was cited for driving without a license. A man who in the first few days of the standoff served as Ammon Bundy's bodyguard – and who goes by the name of 'Fluffy Unicorn' – was arrested last week in Maricopa County, Arizona, for an outstanding warrant. One by one, the militiamen's pasts are catching up with them.

Even the father and son pair they claimed to be fighting for – Dwight and Steven Hammond– have turned themselves into authorities and have begun serving five-year sentences for setting fire to federal lands. The Hammond family has said it wants nothing to do with the standoff at the refuge.

The longer this standoff drags on, the more the militiamen do that further undermines that cause and the more the federal government begins to look like they may have made the right move when the opted to deescalate the situation. Isolated from the rest of the country, the militiamen enter the third week of this standoff, free to cross legal lines and incriminate themselves on video tape.

BREAKING: FEDS ADMIT TO STEALING LAND AND MONEY

Infowars.com - JANUARY 20, 2016

Alex Jones reports on unnerving footage in which the feds are caught red-handed admitting to predatory land grabs.

READ MORE: Video: Fed Employees Brag About Federal Land Grabs