In a decision that shocked everybody, the Oregon militia members who occupied a federal building earlier in the year were acquitted on Thursday. Leftists were outraged, blaming “white privilege.” Conservatives hailed it as a blow to federal government overreach. How were the militia leaders able to get off free?
Here are six things you need to know about it.
1. The occupying of the federal building occurred in January to stand in solidarity with the Hammond family. The Hammond family was being harassed by the federal government that was trying to kick them off their land. Ammon Bundy, the son of Cliven Bundy, and and seven others decided to protest the government’s treatment of the Hammond family by arming themselves and leading a militia to take a federal building.
2. While many felt that what the Oregon militia leaders were doing was wrong, they made clear there was no intention to commit violence. Thaddeus Deane, a former Navy seal who took part in the original protest in solidarity with the Hammond family, told the Daily Wire that the Oregon militia leaders were part of the original protest as well, but eventually separated themselves from the march to occupy the federal building. The original protesters didn’t approve of the actions of the Oregon militia leaders, but, Deane underscored, the Oregon militia leaders were not committing violence:
Deane stressed that the armed protesters are “peacefully occupying” the federal building, since it was unlocked, no people were inside of it at the time, there were no signs saying they couldn’t be there, and no damage has been done to the buildings.
“There are two things that either need to happen,” Deane said. “One, now that they’ve made their point… unless they have the bulk of the militias behind them saying, ‘We’re supporting you,’ then perhaps they’ve made enough of a point and made their stand that they can peacefully extract and fall back and be done with this. But they haven’t hit a point of a no return, there’s been no guns pointed at anybody. But if they hit a point where they go past that point of no return, then it is imperative that those able-bodied patriots and civilians able to be there… will help prevent another future Waco or Ruby Ridge-style event.”
Daily Wire editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro wrote at the time that the Oregon militia’s “wrongheaded” actions did fall right in line with Henry David Thoreau’s philosophy of resisting “a tyrannical government rather than complying with it if such resistance forwarded the cause of ending the tyranny,” even if it meant taking armed resistance.
“Let’s not dismiss that there’s a serious strain of Americanism that runs from the American Revolution to Henry David Thoreau and down to Ammon Bundy,” Shapiro wrote. “What’s happening in Oregon may be wrongheaded, but it isn’t unprecedented. To paint it as such is simply historically ignorant – and dangerous. After all, as Thoreau wrote, there may be some causes that require resistance. Giving up that right altogether is a recipe for tyranny.”
3. The Oregon militia leaders were arrested 24 days after they started their building occupation. They were arrested after a traffic stop occurred that resulted in a gunfight that killed the militia’s spokesman, Robert Finicum, who allegedly resisted arrest during the traffic stop, although Bundy maintains that Finicum had done no such thing. The militia leaders faced “a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties,” according to Fox News.
4. Bundy’s testimony is what saved the militia leaders from the wrath of the legal system. Bundy seized the trial as an opportunity to defend his militia’s protest, per the New York Daily News:
“This is much bigger than the Hammonds,” Ammon Bundy told the court about his quest in Oregon to bring awareness to what he called injustices carried out by the federal government. “It’s for my children, grandchildren.
“Everything comes from the Earth and if [the government] can get control of the resources, they can get control of the people.”
The result was that all seven of the militia leaders were acquitted, which surprised the attorneys defending them.
“It’s a stunning victory for the defense,” attorney Robert Salisbury told the Daily News. “I’m speechless.”
5. After the verdict, Bundy’s attorney was arrested. His attorney, Marcus Mumford, reportedly was yelling at the judge about “how his client should go free,” resulting in a loud argument that caused him to be “tased and arrested,” according to Raw Story. Mumford was released from jail but will face unspecified charges.
6. Leftists reacted to the verdict by claiming Bundy and the others were released because of “white privilege.” This is false. Alleged black man Shaun King hyperventilated in a Daily News column about how “white privilege is a powerful thing”:
Imagine just for a moment that heavily-armed Black Lives Matter activists took over a federal building. It’s doubtful that such a siege would last longer than a day. By and large, unarmed, non-violent peaceful black protestors are arrested on sight when they even block the entrance to a federal building. Many are still facing charges for such simple acts of civil disobedience to this very day and they did nothing like what the Bundy clan did in Oregon.
Or imagine that an armed group of Muslim-American activists took over a federal building. I’m not talking about immigrants or people on the terrorist watch list, but just good, old fashioned American students who happened to be Muslims. Do you think they’d be allowed to continue their takeover for 41 days? Do you think they’d be acquitted at trial? Those young men would likely be taken to Gitmo. I’m not even kidding.
Many Twitter users echoed King’s sentiments:
white right wing terrorists at #oregonstandoff all not guilty, but #blacklivesmatter is forcibly removed from City Hall, by race patrols?
— BadHombre (@Hobofett360) October 27, 2016
You guys *I’m sure* the verdict would have been the same if the defendants were black. #ImDisgusted #oregonstandoff
— George Bailey Smith (@GeorgeBaileyDog) October 27, 2016
I want to see those (like Trump) who cry about law and order at #BlackLivesMatter protests talk about it with the #Oregonstandoff
— (((Garrett Khoury))) (@KhouryGarrett) October 27, 2016
These responses are asinine.
Shapiro debunked the notion that the acquittals of the Oregon militia leaders were the result of “white privilege,” writing that there have been examples of “black leftists who have taken over buildings peacefully while armed – they’re not even arrested,” pointing to the Afro-American Society taking refuge in a building at Cornell University while armed. They weren’t arrested. In other similar situations, there were “very few prosecutions.”
“The left celebrates armed and dangerous riots in major cities around the country associated with the Black Lives Matter movement – how many people have been charged and convicted?” Shapiro wrote. “How many leaders of BLM have been invited to the White House, by contrast?”
In other words, the acquittals of Bundy and the militia leaders follow typical legal precedent, regardless of skin color.
