Oregon standoff acquittals may embolden other ‘patriot’ groups

Acquittal in Ore. wildlife refuge standoff "a blow to democracy and rule of law and...the residents of Harney County" 

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell expressed safety concerns for her agency’s employees after the recent acquittal of Ammon and Ryan Bundy — and others — on federal conspiracy charges related to their occupation last year of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Ore.

Others fear that the not-guilty verdicts might encourage other “patriot groups” to take similar actions. For 41 days last year, the Bundys staged an armed occupation of the refuge.

“Yes, I think it could embolden some of elements from outside this county,” said County Judge Steve Grasty.

Jewell was disappointed with the verdict and “its potential implications for our employees and for the effective management of public lands,” she wrote in a letter to Department of Interior staff.

The Association of Oregon Counties’ Laura Cleland was in Harney County during the standoff, helping county officials with crisis communications.

“On the surface, it seems logical to assume that others might think they have license to replicate this action,” she said. “The prosecutors were unable to prove there was a conspiracy, so in that sense they were found not guilty, but they were in no way innocent.”

Political Research Associates (PRA), a Massachusetts-based “social justice think tank,” called the verdict “a blow to democracy and the rule of law, and a particular insult to the residents of Harney County.”

The acquittals are “sure to embolden armed militants who aim to ratchet up armed confrontation with federal authorities and to impose their will by force of arms on communities they do not represent,” Tarso Luís Ramos, PRA’s executive director, said in a statement.

Alan Gardner, commissioner, Washington County, Utah, disagrees. “I don’t think that this Oregon thing is going to incite others to get out there and carry on. I think it was a fair verdict.”

Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward also expressed disappointment with the verdicts but said: “These folks were tried in a court of law and found not guilty by a jury of their peers. This is our system and I stand by it.”

That statement on the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, elicited some 200 responses from followers, for example: A woman identified as Debra Burnsworth wrote, “This is paving the way for more armed takeovers... as they know they can break the law with impunity….” Another commentator, identified as Patrick Murphy, wrote, “They’re going to do this again and the violence will escalate. Terrible verdict.”

Cleland said, “This is obviously a concern.” She said county commissioners in Oregon are working to establish a Western Partnership Center that would work collaboratively with federal agencies and other stakeholders to “resolve issues before they boil over to the point of direct action.

“We believe the situation in Harney County would have been much worse had it not been for the collaborative work they had done with the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge through the High Desert Partnership in the years leading up to the occupation.”