Post by Logan on Jan 17, 2016 0:24:47 GMT -6
No end in sight: Protesters settle in for long winter at Oregon refuge
The shout startles everyone: "Provocateur at the gate!"
A young man runs through the communal kitchen at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, two others fast behind. They are dressed in camouflage and pulling on military-style vests. All three wear black balaclavas as they rush outside and run to the front entrance of the headquarters that has been occupied by anti-government occupiers for the past two weeks.
The burst of turmoil interrupts an otherwise quiet afternoon. Several dozen armed men and women now control this federal facility in remote southeastern Oregon, a growing siege staged to protest the imprisonment of two local ranchers and a federal government that they say is out of control. They spend their days concocting strategies, meeting with reporters and well-wishers, and organizing mundane chore charts, all while remaining on hair-trigger alert to any effort to infiltrate their ranks or forcibly end the occupation.
There is no visible law enforcement presence for miles; the occupiers are free to come and go as they please. Still, the group's members are certain that their movements and communications are being monitored by police and the FBI. They listen for drones, stare down passing vehicles and keep a 360-degree watch from a 150-foot observation tower adjacent to the compound. They are on guard.
Continue reading at www.courant.com/nation-world/ct-protesters-oregon-refuge-20160116-story.html#nt=outfit .
The shout startles everyone: "Provocateur at the gate!"
A young man runs through the communal kitchen at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, two others fast behind. They are dressed in camouflage and pulling on military-style vests. All three wear black balaclavas as they rush outside and run to the front entrance of the headquarters that has been occupied by anti-government occupiers for the past two weeks.
The burst of turmoil interrupts an otherwise quiet afternoon. Several dozen armed men and women now control this federal facility in remote southeastern Oregon, a growing siege staged to protest the imprisonment of two local ranchers and a federal government that they say is out of control. They spend their days concocting strategies, meeting with reporters and well-wishers, and organizing mundane chore charts, all while remaining on hair-trigger alert to any effort to infiltrate their ranks or forcibly end the occupation.
There is no visible law enforcement presence for miles; the occupiers are free to come and go as they please. Still, the group's members are certain that their movements and communications are being monitored by police and the FBI. They listen for drones, stare down passing vehicles and keep a 360-degree watch from a 150-foot observation tower adjacent to the compound. They are on guard.
Continue reading at www.courant.com/nation-world/ct-protesters-oregon-refuge-20160116-story.html#nt=outfit .
