Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, "profoundly disappointed" with the verdict in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge trial, on Friday cautioned her workforce across all land-management agencies to "take care of yourselves and your fellow employees. The armed occupation in Oregon was and continues to be a reminder that employees in all offices should remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to your supervisor and, where appropriate, law enforcement officials."
"While we must respect the jury’s decision because we believe in the rule of law and our system of justice, I am profoundly disappointed in this outcome and am concerned about its potential implications for our employees and for the effective management of public lands," the secretary said in an email to all Interior Department employees.
The verdict Thursday, in which a jury in Oregon acquitted Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five others on charges stemming from a 41-day occupation of the wildlife refuge in January, drew condemnation from such organizations as the National Wildlife Federation and the Center for Western Priorities.
“This outcome is simply outrageous. All Americans watched in horror for nearly six weeks as domestic terrorists occupied one of America’s great national wildlife refuges by force and terrorized the refuge’s dedicated public servants, their families, and local residents. This was not a peaceful protest; this was occupation by gunpoint and it assaulted the very foundation of our democracy, our Constitutional principles, and our shared public lands heritage," said Collin O'Mara, president and CEO of the wildlife federation.
“These criminals prevented Americans from enjoying the wildlife that belong to all of us, destroyed refuge infrastructure, degraded wildlife habitat, and desecrated archaeological treasures. In a democracy, disagreements must be resolved through collaboration, debate or the courts, not by brute force. The danger is this decision will embolden vigilantes who take the law into their own hands and threaten the safety of the dedicated employees who manage our public lands. We stand with the women and men of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and strongly encourage the Department of Justice to appeal this decision if possible. We call upon Congress to stiffen the penalties for illegal occupations of our public lands and strengthen protections for public servants managing them.”
Secretary Jewell, who along with Deputy Secretary Mike Connor visited Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in March to meet with refuge employees, said in her email that it "was painful to hear from employees who had devoted entire careers to public service and were worried about their safety as they carried out their important missions on behalf of the American people. It was disheartening to walk room to room and survey the damage and destruction caused by occupiers to the natural, cultural, and tribal resources."
"...As we digest the jury’s verdict, our foremost priority continues to be the safety, security, and well-being of people who comprise the federal family and those visiting America’s public lands," she added. "I am absolutely committed to maintaining a safe work environment that allows employees to uphold the laws of the United States and carry out our mission of responsible public land and water stewardship for the benefit of all Americans. That will never change."
Comments
Terrorism defined: "The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes," or, "a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government."
Seems to fit the bill, no?
So you equate their activies to those of ISIS? How many people died? Only one and that was by the hands of the Feds. By your definition BLM are terrorists as well. Heck, even Hillary's thugs that are sent to start fights a Trump rallies would fit that defintion.
C'mon, EC, now you are acting like a troll. There's no comparison with ISIS, which is trying to subjugate a culture. As for the death of LaRoy Finicum, I believe he was shot by an Oregon state police officer. And he was trying to flee authorities and appeared to be reaching into his pockets at the time, according to the FBI.
You are right. There is no comparison to ISIS. That was my point. ISIS are terrorist, the Oregon group, BLM and even Hillary's thugs are not. But if we continue to call the likes of the latter three terrorist, the label will lose its real meanng just as calling legitimate prejudicial activities "racist" has diluted the meaning of that word.
And I believe it was FBI who did the shooting: https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/06/investigation_into_po...
Not saying it wasn't justified, I generally error in favor of law inforcement in cases like this. But obviously there are questions. What we do know is that nobody was shot by any of the Oregon group.
Okay, everyone. Would you like Kurt to establish a "safe zone" on the Traveler? No more talk of "domestic" terrorists? It offends your sensibilities? Yes, these guys were domestic terrorists, and deserved to go to jail. My wife's parents grew up in Burns, Oregon. We visit the refuge all the time. We certainly couldn't do that when it was "occupied." What? Anyone can now "occupy" a national park, forest, or refuge?
However, all of us should be able to see exactly what is going on. When the people in Washington, D.C., "occupying" the White House, Interior Department, etc., etc., pass out millions of acres of our public lands to corporate interests, why should the "little guy" take it on the chin for a grazing permit? Sure, some of them are not "little guys," but they sure feel alienated from their government. So do I. Now we have Secretary Clinton's emails to "revisit" once again. Well, this is sure going to be fun! Do you blame that jury for letting the "occupiers" off? If so, you don't know American History. Starting with the Revolution, we have insisted that authority be consistent. When it is not consistent, but rather self-serving, we let the little guy off.
Nothing to do with safe zones Alfred, it has to do not diluting the meaning of words to where they have no meaning. Do you really think BLM or Occupy Walls Street or Greenpeace or the folks trying to block the Dakota pipeline deserve the same title as ISIS?
A good point, EC, but I don't believe Greenpeace and/or Occupy Wall Street carried guns. When you carry a gun, you carry with it the threat to use it. You can say forever you are "defending" yourself, but consider that you put yourself in jeopardy. Meanwhile, the whole point of the gun is intimidation, and that makes you a terrorist. You may not shoot it, but you want something from it, and that something is to intimidate (terrorize) your opponent. Or, have you ever talked back to someone carrying a gun?
I do share, however, your conviction that dozens of words have lost their meaning, and yes, racist heads the lot. I am sick and tired of that one, too. How can I be a racist simply for pointing out the facts? As Kurt says above, LaRoy Finicum appeared to be reaching into his pockets, allegedly for a gun. Fortunately for Kurt, Mr. Finicum was white, so Kurt cannot be charged for his racist suggestion that a minority reaching into his pocket might in fact be reaching for a gun, as well. Really, we all know it was a cigarette.
But what's really going on here? We just learned, yesterday, that our candidate is a mess. Perhaps we should take a breather from any commenting until we hear what Mr. Comey has to say. What he should have said, in July, is that he was calling a grand jury. Then perhaps the good people in Oregon would not have felt that no one in Washington, DC, cared about them.
From the interviews I've read with locals around there, a bunch of outsiders with firearms threatening to use them if they don't get their way, and their way being other than what the law allows, they felt kinda terroriszed.
This isn't redefining terrorism, any more than pointing out the resurgence of widespread racism redefines racism. It just pinches the feet of those treading close to those footprints.
If folks don't want to be called racist, or terrorist, they should stop acting like one.