Donald Trump's unrelenting attacks on the FBI and American law enforcement is providing aid for terrorists in court.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

Three anti-Muslim militia members, on trial for plotting to slaughter Somali refugees in southwest Kansas, have adopted a defense strategy that could’ve been culled directly from President Donald Trump’s Twitter feed: suggesting that a biased FBI conspired against them in the lead-up to the 2016 election due to their political beliefs. 

Curtis Allen, Patrick Stein and Gavin Wright are on trial in connection with their arrest in a FBI domestic terrorism sting just weeks before the 2016 election. Their defense attorneys, in turn, are putting the FBI on trial ― accusing the nation’s premier law enforcement agency of improperly targeting the three men due to their conservative ideology. 

It’s common for defense attorneys to suggest their clients were wrongfully singled out by biased law enforcement officials. And to be sure, there’s nothing wrong with healthy skepticism about law enforcement and the FBI. 

But the situation here is striking: A U.S. president has taken pains to undermine the FBI (declaring that the bureau’s reputation is “in Tatters—worst in History!”), and defense attorneys for accused terrorists are seeking to capitalize on that reality. This is happening as the president is trying to neuter a special counsel probe that’s already resulted in multiple charges against and guilty pleas from a variety of his associates. The government, meanwhile, will have to deal with jurors primed to believe a conspiracy theory fundamentally at odds with the facts ― namely, that the FBI is a hotbed of liberalism that worked behind the scenes to somehow try to stop Trump’s election.

You know the really troubling part is that Trump and his supporters would probably find nothing wrong with this.

After all these planned attacks were against Muslims, not REAL Americans.

You know, white people.

Wife of the guy who founded the Oath Keepers gets restraining order accusing him of domestic violence and using gun to threaten people.

Courtesy of the Southern Poverty Law Center:  

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes faces allegations of abuse and household violence in a motion for a temporary restraining order his wife filed last month with a Montana court. 

Stewart Rhodes, the head of the antigovernment Oath Keepers, will frequently threaten himself and his family with a weapon he always carries, and he has a history of violent outbursts against his family, including an incident in 2016 when he choked his teenage daughter by the throat. 

That history was outlined in a sworn petition Rhodes’ wife, Tasha Vonn Adams Rhodes, filed last month in a Lincoln County, Montana, court room asking for a temporary protective order against her husband. Hatewatch obtained a copy of the petition on Thursday. 

Vonn Adams Rhodes claims in the filing that the most recent incident involving her husband occurred last November at the family home in Trego, a far-northern Montana town where Rhodes lives with his wife and four of their six children. 

“Whenever [Stewart Rhodes] is unhappy with my behavior (say I want to leave the house — he doesn’t like me to leave) he will draw his handgun (which he always wears), rack the slide, wave it around, and then point it at his own head, telling me my behavior has caused this,” Vonn Adams Rhodes wrote in the petition, which was filed on February 20. “I filed for divorce a few days ago and am terrified.”

What? A gun toting Rambo wannabe is violent toward others? You're kidding?

Aren't the Oath Keepers the group that volunteered to stand outside public schools and keep them safe from gun wielding thugs? 

Yeah, I think it is a good idea to take a hard pass on that one.

Armed Right Wing militia members planning to hang around schools to "protect" them from lunatics with guns. Umm......

Courtesy of TPM: 

Imagine if every school campus in the United States had its own volunteer security officer: a former police officer or military veteran equipped with an assault rifle. 

That’s the dream of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. 

In the wake of the February 14 massacre at a Parkland, Florida high school, Rhodes is calling on members of his far-right anti-government militia group to serve as unpaid and unaccountable armed school guards — whether teachers and students like the idea or not. 

One Indiana Oath Keeper has already deployed to a local school, even though the school district says there’s no need for him to be there. 

Rhodes wants the military and police veterans who make up Oath Keepers’ membership to volunteer for unpaid, rotating shifts at schools of all levels, and colleges, throughout the country. He and two other representatives of the fringe militia community will hold a webinar Monday night where they plan to encourage Oath Keepers to station themselves at schools “to protect the children against mass murder, and to help train the teachers and staff.” 

“I think it’s essential,” Rhodes told TPM in a Monday phone call. “It’s part of our responsibility to do what we can.”

Of all of the extremely bad ideas I have heard this week, this might be the worst.

Some of these Rambo wannabes are just about as unhinged as the school shooters themselves, and having them racing into a school building full of children with their weapon drawn every time a car backfires is a terrifying thought indeed.

And can you imagine the police showing up and finding TWO assault weapon carrying individuals in the building decked out in camouflage clothing? Who would they shoot first?

No the answer is LESS guns, not MORE assault rifle toting idiots.

Members of a Kansas militia group planned to bomb a mosque.

Source

Courtesy of WRAL:

Three men accused of conspiring to bomb a Kansas mosque and an apartment complex housing Somali refugees also allegedly discussed killing the refugees' white landlord because he rented to Muslims, a move prosecutors say was meant to ensure the attack fully conveyed their anti-Muslim message. 

Details of the alleged plot emerged in government filings in advance of an upcoming detention hearing Wednesday for Gavin Wright. His attorney has argued that Wright was unaware his co-defendants intended to actually carry out the attack, portraying him as a lonely man desperate to find friends after moving to Liberal, a city along southwestern Kansas' border with the Oklahoma Panhandle. 

But prosecutors countered Wednesday with court filings that include transcripts of profanity-laced recordings that paint a more damning picture of Wright and a splinter group of the militia Kansas Security Force that came to be known as "the Crusaders" — based on the name "Crusaders 2.0" that they gave to themselves on a phone messaging app. 

Prosecutors say the defense mischaracterizes the danger Wright presents if freed before trial. They allege that he manufactured and tested the homemade explosives and hosted group meetings at his business, G&G Mobile Home Center, where authorities later found explosives.

So what do we think, Trump supporters?

Oh yes, definitely Trump supporters. 

And now that he occupies the White House this can only be the beginning.

Alabama candidate for Attorney General suggests that citizens of his state should take up arms to end abortion.

Sam McLure.

This is from a speech that Sam McLure, a candidate for Attorney General of Alabama, delivered to the Alabama Constitution Party while standing in a Bass Pro Shop: 

“McLure said that for a politician to say that he is Pro-Life but that he can do nothing about abortions because Roe v. Wade is the law of the land is a farce and a cop out. We have been manipulated by politicians who claim they are Pro-Life but don’t do anything about it. The Roe versus Wade ruling barred the State from protecting the lives of children.” 

McLure denounced Gloria Grey, who he said “makes $2 million a year to convince parents to kill their children. She owns the abortion clinic in Tuscaloosa. Since Roe v. Wade in 1972, over 500,000 Alabama children have been killed by abortion, 16 a day.” The adoption attorney in his first run for office, said that if a Pro-Life Governor, backed by a Pro-Life Attorney General and Legislature shut down abortion in the State, there is nothing anyone could do to stop it. “Sure Judge Myron Thompson would rule it unconstitutional but who would enforce it? Would President Trump intervene with troops? I don’t think so. They could cut off Federal funding,” but McLure doubted that they would. “The Second Amendment provides ‘for a well regulated militia.’ Where is Alabama’s militia? The armed people of Alabama are the militia and they would prevent a Federal officer from moving against a Pro-Life Alabama Governor who ended abortion in the State. You must be willing to die for your political beliefs and to protect your neighbor’s lives.”

Willing to die for your political beliefs is crazy enough, but this guy is also suggesting that a militia, comprised of Alabama citizens, engage in a gun battle with federal officers sent by a judge to enforce the law. 

Essentially this guy is suggesting that if citizens shot and killed officers of the court that the Federal government would not dare to do anything about it.

That is the exact same kind of thinking that sent Alaska's own domestic terrorist Schaeffer Cox to prison for 20 years, and this guy wants to be Alabama's Attorney General?

At one point in his speech McLure declared that his anti-abortion cause was similar to that of William "Braveheart" Wallace. (Because apparently Mel Gibson was fighting to take away a woman's right to choose in that movie.)

I swear these idiots are literally pouring out of the woodwork these days.

Makes me wonder if they think that because Donald Trump is in the White House that all law and order just ceased to exist or something.

Militias and Right Wing "patriot" groups are now providing security for certain pro-Trump politicians. Oh, I have a bad feeling.

Courtesy of The Trace:  

Energized by Donald Trump’s coarsely confrontational nationalism, the armed right-wing fringe is doing more than stepping out of the shadows in 2017. Detachments of armed men in fatigues have become fixtures at liberal protests, forming the vanguard of what’s become known in some quarters as the “counter-resistance.” 

Now, in a smattering of states with histories of right-wing extremism, chapters of groups like the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters may be emerging as even more direct political players, providing security for local pro-Trump politicians and Republican organizations. In one case, a Three Percenter was found to be employed on a state lawmaker’s staff. 

When self-designated patriot groups first emerged during the early ‘90s, they identified as enemies of the “New World Order” heralded by George H.W. Bush, and tended to oppose the government, regardless of which party was in power. But experts say that the recent activity of some militia members could be evidence of a greater shift in political allegiances.

“You can’t be anti-government if your guy has the top job,” said Mark Pitcavage, who researches far-right extremism for the Anti-Defamation League. 

With right-wing extremists who venerate the president looking for new enemies, some state and local politicians who are remaking partisanship in Trump’s image may see militias as a way to tighten their grip on power. The brash political style and “America First” agenda ushered into the Republican Party by Trump appeals to people in the militia movement, drawing them toward the political mainstream, said Amy Cooter, a sociologist at Vanderbilt University. Just as important, Cooter said, groups like the Three Percenters are eager for confrontation with anti-Trump liberals, who are themselves taking to the streets. “On the local level, some Republicans appear to be tapping into that agenda.”

Yep, having armed Right Wing extremists managing crowds during political events and responding to protesters. Nothing about that seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

Some of you might remember that I wrote about this early last month.

However at the time it seemed to be happening only in Oregon.

Apparently in the era of Trump bad ideas spread like herpes. 

Oregon county Republican party to use militia members for security, because nothing can go wrong there.

Courtesy of The Portland Mercury:  

The Multnomah County Republican Party (MCRP) has formally decided to pair up with right-wing militia groups to run security at local events. 

The formal resolution was passed on on Monday and its text was leaked to the Mercury Friday morning. MCRP Chairman James Buchal, despite being displeased with the leak, confirmed his group approved pairing up with the Oregon Three Percenters and Oath Keepers via a resolution earlier this week: 

Proposed Resolution of Chairman Buchal: Resolve that the MCRP may utilize volunteers from the Oregon Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, and other security groups. To provide security where such volunteers are certified to provide private security service by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. Kay Bridges moved and Janice Dysinger seconded. Resolution passed. 

Such arrangements have already caused uproar. At the June 4 rally, a militia member was spotted helping a federal cop detain and arrest a protester. The Department of Justice announced it would investigate the incident. 

Militia groups have also previously volunteered as security at pro-Donald Trump rallies in Lake Oswego in March and at Patriot Prayer's Vancouver, WA, rally in April. 

Sure nothing like having a bunch of Rambo wannabes running around with automatic weapons, to "keep the peace."

Perfectly safe, if you're not an immigrant, Muslim, or minority that is.

The Chairman of the Multnomah County Republican Party cannot understand what all of the fuss is about:

"I don't understand how it's a whole hell of a lot different than rich people hiring private security guards," explained Buchal about the volunteer militias. "I don't understand why it's so different."

Well maybe it's due to the fact that typically private security personnel are ex-cops, or ex-military, with years of training who are not spending their weekends dressing up like GI Joe and pretending to kill Nazis, ISIS terrorists, or, in more southern states, union soldiers.

I'm just saying.

The writers at Cracked wonder if an actual civil war in America is even possible. Do a little research and find that yes it is. Yes it most certainly is.

Courtesy of Cracked: 

Over the last few weeks a growing number of people have started wondering, "Is it possible the United States is heading for a new civil war?" Granted, most of those people are writers for sites like Russia Today or the Huffington Post, and thus slightly less credible than a handful of Bazooka Joe gum wrapper comics. But Donald Trump has made a few tinpot dictator-ish statements recently.

And we did just see an anti-government militia get off scot-free for occupying a federal building and pooping just, everywhere.

The reporter, Robert Evans, then post a number of chilling headlines and interviews a number of  experts on militia groups, former government employees, and educators.

One expert on insurgencies had this to say:

Colonel David Couvillon, a Marine Reserve officer who governed the Wasit province of Iraq after the start of the occupation, pointed out that insurgents can win without convincing anyone that they're "right." It'd be enough to push most Americans into the "both sides are evil" camp, which ... isn't an unfamiliar place for most of us to be.

"If you undermine the moral authority that the government or the military or the police forces have, you win. Then they become the enemy to everybody ... it may not goad you into armed insurgency, but it will goad you into a certain acceptance. And once the guerrillas reach acceptance, they have a path to win."

Good luck sleeping tonight with those thoughts running through your mind.

One of the experts on militias that Cracked interviewed for this story is a guy very familiar to IM readers.

Bill Fulton, an expert on the American militia movement and informant for the FBI, has far more than 170 groups on his list of "armed, violent organizations that might take a shot at the Federal Government". That's out of an estimated 1,360 "radical militias and anti-government groups" in the United States in 2012 (note that there were just 149 four years before) 

"You have a lot of different people who believe the world should be different ways and once the gloves come up like they did in Iraq then all of those rise to the surface...I think depending on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go, we could end up with three or four hundred solid, different groups under probably twenty or so ideological banners."

Trust me the rest of the article is just as troubling, and by the end of it you will probably be crawling through your house closing all of the blinds. 

One of the things in the article that I found noteworthy is that none of the people interviewed seemed to think that Donald Trump would be terribly involved in an insurgency.

Oh he would be perfectly willing to incite the violence, but he has no stomach for the actual fighting.

Remember?

So is this a serious threat?'

Boy I would certainly like to say that it wasn't, but after reading this article I am not so damn sure anymore.

All I know is that our first step in preventing something like this is to keep Cheeto Jesus out of the White House. So let's do that first shall we?

Oregon standoff protesters found not guilty.

Courtesy of The Guardian: 

A jury has found that brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy were not guilty of conspiring against the government, a surprising end to the high-profile Oregon standoff trial that sparked national debates about public lands and the rights of ranchers in the American west. 

The decision, unveiled in federal court in Portland on Thursday, is a blow to the US government, which had aggressively prosecuted the rightwing activists who led an armed takeover of public property to protest American land-use regulations. 

The Bundy brothers, who orchestrated a 2 January takeover of the Malheur national wildlife refuge, were acquitted on a number of serious charges, along with five other defendants. Only a day earlier the court dismissed a juror over fears of bias, raising concerns that the trial would drag on for weeks. 

“We are just so excited,” Angie Bundy, Ryan’s wife, told the Guardian after the verdict was announced. “We’ve been praying hard, and we knew they hadn’t done anything wrong.” 

They illegally took over a federal building, damaged government property, and threatened violence against law enforcement, and they just get to walk?

The whole case was a like a circus side show from the start with all kinds of bizarre demands from the Bundy boys, including asking to be paid a million dollars for being a defendant, and a request for the return of their guns, not to mention that at one point Ryan Bundy tried to break out of prison.

In fact even the end of this trial was insane.

At one point the defendants attorney was tackled to the ground and tazed, for reasons that remain a little unclear.

Ultimately I see this as setting a really bad precedent that is only going to encourage more of these sovereign citizen types to stage protests and take up arms against the federal government, and that can only lead to more people being killed.

For those who are curious there is a Twitter account from an Orgeonian reporter that will bring you right up to speed on all of this. 

Going undercover with "Mexican hunting" militia members. Update!

"Destroyer," "Sandstone," and "Iceman" are just some of the nicknames these guys give themselves.

A bunch of oversized kids playing war on American soil.

I don't know what bothers me more, that they are openly racist and longing for a confrontation with minorities, or that they seem to be embraced by the actual law enforcement in the area.

Here is the entire Mother Jones article.

It is a little long, but quite informative, and seriously unsettling.

Update: On the subject of militias it looks like the Bundy boys have been found not guilty. 

Well that certainly sends an unfortunate message to these groups.

Trio of sovereign citizens were planing a terrorist attack the day after the election. But no need to panic, they weren't Muslims or anything.

Courtesy of KWCH: 

Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall says Curtis Allen, 49, Gavin Wright, 51, and Patrick Stein were all charged with domestic terrorism. 

Beall said the three were planning to bomb an apartment complex and mosque in Garden City occupied by a Muslim community of about 120 Somali refugees. 

Beall said the men planned to carry out the attack on Nov. 9, the day after Election Day. 

He said the men stockpiled a large cache of firearms, and ammunition. Beall said the men planned to park vehicles full of explosives at all four corners of the Garden City apartment complex. 

The men said they wanted to "wake people up".

Apparently these three considered themselves sovereign citizens and belonged to a militia group called "The Crusaders."

Catchy name don't you think?

Gee firearms, bombs, a coordinated attack on innocent people, if these were Islamic jihadists this would really be terrifying and worthy of media attention.

But it's just a bunch of white dudes so clearly Fox News has more important things to cover.

While one of the Oregon standoff militia members faces a possible 12 year sentence, a Bundy boy attempts a prison break.

Ryan Bundy

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

Ryan Bundy, a protester who helped lead the Oregon militia standoff, attempted to escape jail with a rope made of bedsheets, federal prosecutors alleged in court on Monday.

Hole on, hold on, do they KNOW he was planning to use the sheets to escape?


In a pretrial hearing on Monday in court in Portland, federal officials accused Ryan of attempting to escape Multnomah county jail, disclosing that deputies found the inmate on 8 April with torn sheets braided together under his mattress, the Oregonian reported. 

Prosecutors said that deputies also found two strips of torn sheets, extra pillowcases, towels and unauthorized food containers. 

Bundy responded that he was a “rancher trying to practice braiding rope”, adding: “It’s self-serving speculation and simply not true, your honor,” according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

See? He had simply made the 12 to 15 feet of braided bed sheets to pass the time.

After all they won't even let him have his guns.

Of course one could hardly blame Bundy for wanting to make a break for it.

After all one of his boys may soon be facing a long ass prison sentence.

Courtesy of Oregon Live:   

Ryan Payne, who led tactical training for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation and is accused of organizing "armed protection'' in a 2014 standoff with federal officers in Nevada, faces a recommended 12 years in prison under plea deals fashioned in both states. 

On Tuesday, Payne, 32, entered a guilty plea to the federal charge of conspiracy in Oregon.

Damn, twelve years is an awful long time to go without fondling your shiny metal penis extenders.

On the other hand if Ryan Buncy gets a similar sentence just think how long he will have to work on that new rope?

These guys are just nonchalantly walking around the streets outside of the Republican convention.

Courtesy of Salon: 

A dozen armed white men marched around outside the Republican National Convention in downtown Cleveland on Monday afternoon. 

Salon spoke with the men, who call themselves the West Ohio Minutemen. 

Tim Alexander, 32, identified the group as a right-wing “militia,” and said they are from Mercer County, Ohio. 

“We’re tired of the way the country’s going,” Alexander explained. 

He condemned “the over-reaching government.” When asked what he meant by that, Alexander claimed that the U.S. government is using mass shootings to impose harsh gun control measures — although none have yet been passed. 

Alexander said he opposes all gun laws.

When asked what they do, they claimed that they "help people," and apparently they do so with the AR-15's, AK-47's and G3 assault rifles strapped to their chests.

How we have reached day three of this convention without anybody being shot or killed, is beyond me.

But if I had to guess I would attribute that to the incredible police presence.

The police even managed to rescue Alex Jones after he attempted to create a conflict with the other protesters and almost got his ass kicked.

Personally I might have actually allowed that to happen.

Guess that's why I'm not a cop.

Associate of Bundy militia member caught trying to blow up Bureau of Land Management office in Arizona.

Source

Courtesy of The Salt Lake Tribune:  

Federal prosecutors say a Tooele County man placed a pipe bomb against the door of a BLM cabin and pushed the button on a remote detonator multiple times, with no result. 

His mistake? He'd unwittingly assigned an undercover FBI agent to build the bomb. 

William Keebler, 57, of Stockton, was arrested early Wednesday morning in Nephi and appeared Thursday in U.S. District Court, charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to blow up federal property at an Arizona Strip BLM facility that he had allegedly scouted with Robert LaVoy Finicum.

If you think the name Robert LaVoy Finicum sounds familiar that's because he was the guy from the Bundy standoff that got his ass shot to pieces by the FBI because he pulled out a gun after a traffic stop.

And clearly his buddy's critical thinking skills are just as sharp.

If convicted this Keebler guy faces between five to twenty years in federal prison.

Hey maybe he and Randy Bundy can share a bunk?

Seems cozy in a Brokeback Mountain sort of way.

Here's what gets me.

These guys are not trying to blow up the CIA, the FBI, the IRS, or even the NSA.

No they have their tits in a wringer over the freaking BLM, which for most people is one of the most innocuous federal agencies that you can imagine.

It's kind of like being angry at the Church of Latter Day Saints, and deciding that to get even you're going to push one of those folks from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir out in front of a moving car.

It just seems pathetic.

Disgraced police officer and current Trump supporter calls on militia members to arm themselves and show up at RNC convention to do battle with BLM protesters.

Source

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A disgraced police officer called on militia members and “lone wolf patriots” to bring their guns to Cleveland to do battle with black protesters at the Republican National Convention. 

“I am encouraging patriots and Trump supporters and those that support liberty and freedom to come lawfully armed with lethal and non-lethal weaponry,” said Jim Stachowiak, a right-wing activist and former police officer, in a video posted on his YouTube channel. 

Stachowiak, who has been banned from Facebook and charged with criminal defamation for falsely identifying a LinkedIn user as a terrorist, said Black Lives Matter activists — a group he calls “Black Lies Matter” — had threatened to kill Donald Trump. 

“They have threatened to cause riots in Cleveland and nationwide,” said Stachowiak, who lost his police certification following a misconduct investigation after just three years as a public safety officer. “It is our sworn duty and obligation for all those like me and many of you who have taken the oath to defend this country against all enemies foreign and domestic.”

If ever there was a perfect example of a Donald Trump supporter it is this guy.

Now as it turns out there actually was a young black man, who may or may not have been loosely associated with BLM, who uploaded a video threatening to kill Trump back in May.

A ton of Right Wing media outlets ran with the story even though there is no proof the guy has any real affiliation with BLM.

Jesus can you imagine if a bunch of heavily armed racist rednecks show up in Cleveland to confront the combative Black Lives Matter protesters?

They are going to have to call in the Cleveland PD, the state police, and the freaking National Guard to finally get control back of their city.

P.S. After I wrote this post last night, and scheduled it to publish this morning, I came across a story of an actual person who tried to wrestle a gun away from a police officer in order to kill Donald Trump.

Teen arrested at Trump rally in Vegas, intended to grab officer's gun & kill the candidate @jeffpeguescbs has more pic.twitter.com/qlGJ3hU7vk

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) June 20, 2016

As it turns out he is white, British, and not affiliated with BLM in any way.

From his Oregon jail cell Ammon Bundy says he misses his family, but says standoff was worth it.

Courtesy of Oregon Live:  


He hung his head and talked softly when he described how hard it is being away from his wife and children. 

"We are in here locked away and our families are trying to survive, and they're struggling out there especially when we were the primary breadwinners,'' he said. "My babies are at home. My beautiful wife is at home. Everything is at risk right now for us, as far as our income, our house. But we have to ask ourselves – was it worth it? I believe it was.''

Bundy says that he reads scripture each day and then shares them during his nightly 15 minute phone call with his family.

He also claims that he takes inspiration from the words of Martin Luther King Jr..

You know if he were really paying attention to the teachings of Christ and the words of MLK he might realize that what he did was against EVERYTHING they stood for.

While Jesus, as he is described in the Bible, might have been cool with a peaceful protest, it is highly unlikely that he would have given his blessing to allowing those protesters to bring automatic weapons to the standoff with them.

And as for Martin Luther King Jr., can we even imagine how differently the civil rights movement would have turned out if the marchers in Selma had been brandishing firearms?

We STILL would not have equal rights in this country.

No what Ammon and his idiot friends fail to understand is that showing up ready to kill, means that you are also showing up ready to lose your freedom or your life. And that after the fact the only people who will feel sympathy for your cause are the same ignoramuses who also read words of peace and interpret them as declarations of war.

Feds arrest co-chair of Donald Trump's veteran coalition for participation in Bundy standoff.

Courtesy of OPB: 

Federal authorities on Thursday arrested a New Hampshire man for his role in a standoff by Nevada ranchers opposed to federal control of public lands. 

Gerald DeLemus, of Rochester, was named in an indictment in Nevada as a “mid-level leader” and organizer of a conspiracy to recruit, organize, train and provide support to armed men and other followers of rancher Cliven Bundy. 

DeLemus, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and tea party activist, last year signed on as a member of presidential candidate Donald Trump’s New Hampshire veterans coalition. A July news release posted on Trump’s website listed DeLemus as a co-chair.

What? You mean people associated with the Donald Trump campaign are in trouble with the law?

Who could have predicted such a thing?

DeLemus was not the only person caught in the FBI's net. They also indicted and arrested thirteen others: 

A superseding criminal indictment was returned by the grand jury on Wednesday, March 2, and now charges a total of 19 defendants. The 14 new defendants are Melvin D. Bundy, 41, of Round Mountain, Nev., David H. Bundy, 39, of Delta, Utah, Brian D. Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nev., Blaine Cooper, 36, of Humboldt, Ariz., Gerald A. DeLemus, 61, of Rochester, N.H., Eric J. Parker, 32, of Hailey, Idaho, O. Scott Drexler, 44, of Challis, Idaho, Richard R. Lovelien, 52, of Westville, Okla., Steven A. Stewart, 36, of Hailey, Idaho, Todd C. Engel, 48, of Boundary County, Idaho, Gregory P. Burleson, 52, of Phoenix, Ariz., Joseph D. O’Shaughnessy, 43, of Cottonwood, Ariz., and Micah L. McGuire, 31, and Jason D. Woods, 30, both of Chandler, Ariz. 

Twelve defendants were arrested earlier today. Two defendants, Brian D. Cavalier and Blaine Cooper, were already in federal custody in the District of Oregon. 

“These indictments and subsequent arrests send an irrefutable message to the American people that our determination remains steadfast to protect them and pursue individuals who participate in violent acts of this nature,” said Special Agent in Charge Bucheit.

Wow, look at all the Bundy's. I wonder if there are any Bundy family members NOT in jail?

Gee what kind of country are we becoming when a man cannot gather a small army of heavily armed idiots to engage the federal government in a standoff?

You know besides a country of laws of course?

Overruling the statement by his son Cliven Bundy is urging the Oregon protesters to stay put and not give up.

Courtesy of the Guardian:

Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who led a standoff with the federal government in 2014, wants the protesters in Oregon to stand their ground – directly defying the message of his son, Ammon. 

Days after militia leader Ammon Bundy, now in jail in Portland, Oregon, called on the final four occupiers at the Malheur national wildlife refuge to surrender and go home, the elder Bundy sent a letter to government officials declaring that the armed militia would not be backing down. 

“This is notice that We the People of Harney County and also We the People of the citizens of the United States DO GIVE NOTICE THAT WE WILL RETAIN POSSESSION OF THE HARNEY COUNTY RESOURCE CENTER,” Cliven wrote in the letter, which he sent on Monday to the local sheriff, Oregon governor Kate Brown, and the White House.

Apparently the protesters renamed the refuge the "Harney County Resource Center" because...because they're assholes that's why.

Bundy also said this in an interview:

“What this is saying is that Cliven Bundy is taking control of things,” Cliven said in an interview from his ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, on Monday afternoon. “If we don’t retain it, then we’ve lost everything that we’ve done in the last two months. We’re not gonna give up.” 

He added: “This is not Ammon’s message. This is my message ... We’ve made a decision to retain it ... The feds are going to get out of there.”

Bundy does not believe that his son's statement is real and thinks that it was released under duress. 

I have little doubt that this will inspire more people to join these idiots, and that means it is only a matter of time before somebody else gets shot and killed.

Which seems to be exactly what Bundy and his supporters are hoping will happen.

Ammon Bundy and seven members of his band of merry militia wannabes arrested during Oregon traffic stop. Well except for the one that was shot dead of course. Update!

From top left, booking photographs of Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Brian Cavalier and Shawna Cox. From bottom left, Ryan Waylen Payne, Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy and Peter Santilli.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Ammon Bundy, the leader of an armed seizing of a federal wildlife refuge in rural eastern Oregon, was arrested and one person was killed Tuesday afternoon in a traffic stop in rural Oregon, the F.B.I. and the Oregon State Police said. 

Seven other people, including Mr. Bundy’s brother Ryan Bundy, were arrested, the authorities said. Another person was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening. 

The authorities did not identify the man who was killed, but a member of the Nevada State Assembly, Michele Fiore, who has been a supporter of the Bundy family, said on Twitter that it was LaVoy Finicum. Mr. Finicum had become a de facto spokesman for the occupiers.

The seventh man arrested was that loudmouth Jon Ritzheimer, who claimed in a YouTube video that he could not be with his children because he was too busy standing up for the Constitution.

In fact he got scared and ran home to Arizona: 

“FYI. I came home to AZ to visit my family,” Ritzheimer posted late Tuesday. “The feds know I am here and are charging me with Conspiracy to impede a federal officer. I need an attorney. My family needs help and I am hoping they grant me bail.” 

The FBI issued a statement early Wednesday saying the 32-year-old Ritzheimer had turned himself in and was arrested without incident. 

“Ritzheimer faces one federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 372,” the FBI said in a statement.

You know as a rule I really don't want ANYBODY shot and killed. But I have to admit that if this Ritsheimer guy had gone out in a blaze of "glory" I would not have shed a tear at his demise.

But as it turned out he was just a sniveling coward with a big mouth.

Which should not be news to anyone.

So exactly what was accomplished here?

No seriously I'm asking, WHAT was accomplished here?

Update: Here is Ritzheimer using his children in order to evoke sympathy and convince people to send him money. 

If you are like me it will likely make your blood boil.

Militia members who took over the bird sanctuary in Oregon are engaged in harassment and intimidation of locals.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

Local law enforcement is accusing armed protesters who seized an Oregon wildlife refuge of harassment and intimidation. 

In a statement Monday, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward described an "uptick" in reports of "law enforcement officers and community members being followed home; of people sitting in cars outside their homes, observing their movements and those of their families; and of people following them and their families as they move around the community." 

Ward added, "While not direct physical threats, these activities are clearly designed to try to intimidate." 

Federal employees of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, the site occupied by the protestors, also reported "a number of uncomfortable instances" of "unknown" outsiders idling outside their homes, watching them and initiating debates about their employment. 

"Many of these confrontations are taking place as their employees are grocery shopping, running errands with their families and trying to lead their day-to day lives," Ward said.

Gee what tough guys.

Bunch of overweight bullies is what they are.

In other news a judge has said that the county will charge Bundy and his associates up to $70,000 a day for the increased security.

So yes this little occupation is working out perfectly.

P.S. Well it looks like I got fooled by a parody site as well. In an earlier version I shared a story that came from  a site that seemed legit, but turned out to be having a laugh.

Oh well that kind of thing is bound to happen eventually.