Armed group in 'bid to OVERTHROW government' after storming official building

However local sheriff David Ward claimed the group intends to overthrow the government.

An armed militia took over a building at a national wildlife refuge in OR late Saturday and vows to occupy the outpost for years to protest the federal government's treatment of a pair of ranchers facing prison time. According to the Portland Oregonian, the state's largest newspaper, about 300 militiamen from several states marched through town and threw pennies at the local sheriff's office before a smaller group, including the Bundy brothers, broke off and drove south to capture the empty building. They served their original sentences - Dwight, three months and Steven, one year - but an appellate judge ruled in October that the terms were too short under federal minimum sentencing laws. "They are outsiders; this is not their community", said Calzadilla. There was no visible sign of law enforcement outside the wildlife refuge Sunday night, though the Oregon State Police urged people to stay away and federal authorities said they were monitoring the situation. This is not a decision we've made at the last minute.

Holm described the occupation as a break-in, although federal justice and Interior Department officials contacted later declined to say whether any crimes were committed in the occupation. We can feed all of the individuals that come.

Wyden says he understands why some may be frustrated with federal bureaucracy and poor economic conditions in rural areas.

He also said Harney County, in southeastern OR, went from one of the state's wealthiest counties to one of the poorest.

After the re-sentencing of two OR ranchers for arson on federal property, an Idaho militia group showed up to protest. Maureen Peltier, a Washington Army National Guard staff sergeant and member of the so-called patriot movement, toldThe Oregonian that some in the group were armed and others were not.

As the government figures out how it's going to resolve the standoff in OR without bloodshed, Bundy and his armed followers are putting themselves, and the lives of others at risk as a result of their disregard for the law. Critics of the federal government say it often oversteps its authority and exercises arbitrary power over land use without sufficient accountability. "And that for them, this is a civil peaceful protest".

The Hammonds had been convicted of arson after lighting what they said was a controlled fire on their property that spread to government land. The two were convicted in 2012 of setting fires on public land to protect their property from wildfires.

Dwight Hammond has said he and his son plan to peacefully report to prison January 4 as ordered by the judge.

"Neither Ammon Bundy nor anyone within his group/organization speak for the Hammond Family", the Hammonds' lawyer W. Alan Schroeder to local law enforcement authorities this weekend.

The phrase "OregonUnderAttack" has been trending across social media since Saturday night according to Independent report with number of users alarmed at the situation and outraged by the fact that government seems reluctant to take action against the "white militia".

of the park headquarters: "It is the people's facility, owned by the people, and it has been provided for us to be able to come together and unite in making a hard stand against this overreach, this taking of the people's land and resources".

A collective effort from multiple agencies is now working on a solution.

He is asking people to stay away from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for their own safety.

As I said, I'm parked right here outside right here at the gate and I'm armed with the Constitution and a camera so that if they try and come in here fully armed and create another Ruby Ridge or Waco event we can be right there to put the truth out and hold them accountable. but we do not want it to come to that-nobody wants it to come to that-and I don't think they want it to come to that on the other side, either. The 1862 Homestead Act granted 160 acres of land to the people willing to settle it. Ranchers in some regions needed far more land than that to be profitable. "I recall them in Ferguson and Baltimore", TV host Roland Martin .

Bundy Saturday.

"We're planning on staying here for years, absolutely", Ammon Bundy said.

"I'm hoping most of it's just muscle, trying to push", Landon said.

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