As standoff at the Malheur refuge drags on, government officials are taking note of the increasingly expensive law enforcement operations they say are necessary to keep the community, including their own families, safe from the threat of the outsiders who’ve taken over the refuge. The rural county sheriff has had to bring in help from nearby counties and they addressed the issue at a community meeting last night:
And Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson was at Monday night's community meeting in support of counterpart Sheriff David Ward, who issued a statement late Monday saying law enforcement "will not be intimidated" and offering tips to residents on "prudent safety measures" to avoid trouble.
It's been a costly step-up in security and the like, according to Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, who put the cost at "$60,000 to $70,000 a day -- and we're gong to send Mr. Bundy the bill," he told the crowd of about 200.
And he had a plea for the locals, and probably others as well: "No matter how you feel, do not bring food and supplies up to the refuge."
One of the outsiders present at the community meeting was the extremely obnoxious Pete Santilli, a Cincinnati man who hosts a show on YouTube for the rightwing conspiracy loving crowd. He has been live streaming the events in and around the refuge from the start. Although he claims to be media, he can often be heard on his broadcasts using “we” when talking about the protest, using his show to encourage people from around the country to drive to Oregon with their weapons to join the standoff, giving updates about the location of law enforcement directly to Ammon Bundy, delivering food to the refuge and generally helping in anyway he can.
this is all well and good threats of punishment calling on people not to be complicit to these acts of treason but these Hammond and Bundy people have been served for decades and nothing ever happened except the evolving into this defiance by White privilege. so unless they start enforcing, locking up, prosecuting and taking back federal land that we pay for with tax money which by the way no matter what state you reside in all fed money is local.
this will go down as the biggest failure of law enforcement of current times. i understand trying to avoid similar past events that ended in mass deaths but direct rejection of law is just that and if republicans truly believe this is a nation of laws they will tell their treasonous supporters to stand down and turn themselves in let's see who abides by American laws.
