Victory of Patriots: US Court Acquits Leaders of Oregon Protesters

28.10.2016
USA

The leaders of the armed farmers and their supporters have been found not guilty by a US court. They were accused of embezzling federal property, staying on federal land with weapons, and opposing law enforcement.

Causes of the conflict

Farmers Steven and Dwight Hammond were blamed for committing arson on federal reserve land, when in fact they destroyed the straw and weeds on the territory of their own ranch. The federal government often attempts such cases in order to seize land from private owners. Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who were able to defend their land in a similar situation in 2014, came to help the Hammonds.

Trial

The public prosecutor tried to reduce the case to the land issue and the relationship between the farmer and the reserve management. The defense, on the other hand, insisted that the case was politically motivated. The bottom line is that the federal center has tried for decades to subdue landowners who represent an independent, armed, and well-organized part of the population.

Too early to rejoice

Despite the acquittal, the informal leaders of the protesters, Ammon Bundy and his brother, are still in custody. Law enforcement agencies in the US are planning to redirect the farmers to the state of Nevada, where they are to be brought to justice for their actions in 2014. This behavior of the authorities leads to the conclusion that this could be a kind of revenge for disobedience.

American symbol

In traditional American society, the Bundy brothers are associated with such characters as Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid. In the eyes of the population, they are heroes who rob banks and fight against the “feds'" forced policy of corporations eating up family land. Thus, similar actions against the federal government are nothing but a reproduction of the national myth, which will always find a lot of supporters, mainly among the white American population. Several studies indicate that each such episode only strengthens the popularity of the Bundy brothers and encourages their supporters to unite forces. The number of such "right-wing extremist groups" has grown from 150 to more than 1,000 during the reign of Barack Obama.

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