Terrorism

The Bundy Militianmen Did a Real Number on the Malheur Refuge

Written by SK Ashby

And by that I mean number 2.

The Oregonian reports that local officials are asking for volunteers to assess and repair the damage done to the refuge over the course of the 41-day occupation.

The Oregon Natural Desert Association and Portland Audubon Society have created an online sign-up sheet for people who want to volunteer to help fix any damage done during the militants' 41-day standoff with the federal government. [...]

Volunteers will not only clean up messes and repair damage left by the Malheur occupation, but will help ensure files for wildlife grants worth hundreds of thousands of dollars are in order.

Meanwhile, the FBI apparently uncovered more than one kind of explosive material at the refuge.

U.S. Attorney Billy Williams of Oregon wrote in the filing that investigators found "significant amounts of human feces" in a trench at an outdoor camping area that was either on or next to a "sensitive cultural site."

"Occupiers appear to have excavated two large trenches and an improvised road on or adjacent to grounds containing sensitive artifacts," he wrote.

The FBI also found "firearms and explosives" on the grounds but did not specify beyond that.

It's hardly a surprise that the militia of aggrieved white men showed no respect for the land they occupied. The occupation began as a response to the sentencing of two local ranchers who were convicted for setting public land on fire. Neither that land or the wildlife refuge belonged to anyone except the federal government and the Native American Paiute tribe. The militiamen laid claim to lands that never belonged to them and claimed the land on behalf of people who didn't even want them to be there.

The only surprise is that they didn't burn the whole place down by lighting a fart on fire.