Yes, we may have a repeat of the Le Affaire Bundy in in southern Oregon where a dispute between the Bureau of Land Management and gold miners may erupt into another standoff with domestic terrorists “Constitutional rights activists” such as the Oathkeepers, after the BLM ordered the miners of the federal land they’d worked for regulatory violations. Rather than fight the matter in the courts, the miners had a better idea. They put a call out for help from the men with the long guns who rallied around racist and Sovereign Citizen supporter Cliven Bundy in Nevada last year. From Raw Story:
The owners of the Sugar Pine Mining Claim reached out to the Oath Keepers of Josephine County for help, and the pro-gun group issued a nationwide call for assistance that was picked up by websites such as Infowars and Before It’s News.
“If you are a true Militia, true III%, Oathkeeper etc. then you are needed. If you can get away from home to help, NOW IS THE TIME,” says the alert issued by Chris Langer, a firearms instructor and barbecue restaurant owner from Wisconsin. “Just like Bundy ranch, the BLM is out of order! SHUT DOWN THE FOREIGN CORPORATION NOW! The miners need you!!”
Nice touch, referring to the BLM as a foreign corporation. Meanwhile the local Oathkeepers group is already patrolling the area with semiautomatic rifles and other firearms defending their mining pals as can be seen in this video by a local TV station, KDVR.
The Oath Keepers of Josephine County are gathering at a piece of property near Merlin. They’re in the process of setting up a staging area, in order to step in if they are needed by the Sugar Pine miners.
“Because we are constitutional group,” said Mary Emerick with Oath Keepers. “We defend the Constitution… And we are here just to make sure that they receive their Fifth Amendment rights which is due process.”
So, what is the BLM saying about all this? Acting like the jack booted thugs they must be, right? Well, not exactly. It seems the dispute is over the miners’ surface rights and whether a 1955 law canceled any right the miners may have. The miners are relying on documents to support their claim, documents the BLM asserts were canceled out by a 1955 law. According to the BLM they have already been in touch with a lawyer representing the miners. But I guess either the miners don’t trust the courts or they aren’t all that confidant about their claims, because they asked for armed back-up from the same folks who aided Bundy and terrorized Federal officers, local law enforcement and an entire community in Nevada last year.
The BLM says the documents are outdated, and at some point, the property has changed hands which cancels out the grandfather process. Now, the BLM says the miners have to tone down their mining operation to stay in line with the regulations.
“We’ve sent them those letters,” said BLM’s Jim Whittington. “They also have the right to appeal our notice, that it requires either a plan of operation or notice, and some informal contacts with their lawyer…it sounds like they may appeal. So if they appeal, that starts another administrative appeal process.”
Yeah, that’s just awful, isn’t it? Sounds like the only threat is the one posed by the Oathkeepers and their militia pals. The local Sheriff has stepped in to try to calm things down:
“Sheriff Daniel in an attempt to mediate this conflict has contacted and met with the Coordinator of the Oath Keepers and the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Land Management out of Eugene. This was done to ensure the claim owner’s right to due process and avoid confrontation in the region. The Josephine County Sheriff’s Office was informed by the BLM that no enforcement action would be taken by their organization and the claim owner is guaranteed his right to due process. Further the BLM has met with the claim owner’s attorney to ensure the appeal process.
Meanwhile, these loons with the “Arizona State Militia” are already posting videos of themselves in their car on the road to save their “their friends and neighbors” from being “enslaved or beaten or tortured” by “government jackboots” – and the Chinese?
