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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2016)
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 21 Juror: Acquittal was not endorsement of occupiers Sisters salutes... By Andrew Selsky Associated Press PORTLAND (AP) — The stunning acquittal of seven people who occupied a federal wildlife sanctuary in Oregon was a rejection of the prosecution’s conspiracy case, not an endorsement of the defendants’ actions in the armed protest, a juror said Friday. But sympathizers who believe such resistance to the government is justified could feel emboldened by the ver- dict, which might invite more confrontations in a long-run- ning dispute over Western lands. Worried that Thursday’s verdict could lead to more land takeovers, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Friday urged all government employees to “remain vigi- lant and report any suspicious activity.” In a statement, she said she was “profoundly disappointed” in the jury’s decision. William C. Fisher, an activist from Boise, Idaho, who once camped by a memorial to occupier LaVoy Finicum at the site where he was shot dead by police, pre- dicted that the verdict would encourage others to act. “I think a lot more people will be revolting, rebelling and standing up against what we see as a tyrannical govern- ment,” Fisher said in a tele- phone interview. The 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last January in remote eastern Oregon was part of a larger debate about the use of federal lands in the West. The militants led by Ammon Bundy, a small business owner from Arizona, wanted to hand the refuge over to local officials, saying the fed- eral government should not have dominion over it. The U.S. government owns nearly half of all land in the West, compared with only 4 percent in the other states, according to the Congressional Overview of Federal Land Ownership. One of the jurors in the case asserted Friday that the panel was not endorsing mili- tancy to resolve those issues. The juror, identified only as Juror No. 4, wrote in an email to The Oregonian/ OregonLive that the verdicts were a “statement” about the prosecution’s failure to prove a conspiracy charge “and not any form of affirmation of the defense’s various beliefs, actions or aspirations.” Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy and five others were charged with conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs at the refuge. One of the jurors ques- tioned whether criminal trespassing charges could have been filed instead. But Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former federal prosecutor, said trespassing is only a misdemeanor and prosecutors wanted felony convictions. They had few other options to seek serious charges because the defen- dants never attacked anyone, Levenson said. Rather than attempting to retake the land and risk- ing a gunbattle, authorities took a cautious approach. They closed nearby roads and stayed miles away while urg- ing the occupiers to abandon the land. “This may be a case of no good deed goes unpunished,” Levenson said. “The upside of not confronting them was it was less likely there would be violence. The downside was it was less likely that they could use the assault charge.” The standoff finally ended when the Bundys and other key figures were arrested SISTERS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY Thrift Store ReStore We will be closed HO! HO! HO! Nov. 6 & 7 for "Holiday Room" our holiday opens upstairs changeover. Tues., Nov. 8th See you bright and early Nov. 8! 541-549-1740 ning It's begin lot like... to look a 541-549-1621 541 5 549 49 16 141 W. Main Ave., Sisters 254 W. Adams Ave., Sisters Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, 12-4 p.m. Donations accepted Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sundays Donations accepted Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. in a Jan. 26 traffic stop out- side the refuge. That’s when Finicum was killed. Most occupiers left after his death, but four holdouts remained until Feb. 11, when they sur- rendered following lengthy negotiations. Bundy remains in jail because he still faces charges in Nevada stemming from an armed standoff at his father Cliven Bundy’s ranch two years ago. Joel Hansen, Cliven Bundy’s attorney, said Friday that he thinks the jury in Oregon “saw through the lies of a government which is trying to prove these Bundy brothers and their compatriots were some kind of terrorists.” In Hansen’s view and some others in the rural West, ownership of public land is a constitutional question that has not been settled. “There is a seething anger among those who use the land because of the oppressive management of the land in the West,” Hansen said. “It’s the ranchers, the loggers, the miners, the Indians. It’s all part of tyrannical oppression. Their goal is to manage them out of business to get them off the land.” The jury’s decision came on the same day that officers in riot gear evicted protest- ers from private land in the path of the Dakota Access oil pipeline in rural North Dakota. Authorities fired bean bags and pepper spray as they surrounded the camp of demonstrators, who have spent months embroiled in a dispute over Native American rights and the environmental effects of the project. At least 117 people were arrested. The Oregon occupiers had chosen, perhaps inadvertently, a part of Oregon where locals and the feds had a recent his- tory of working together. Few who live near the sanctu- ary welcomed the occupiers, most of whom were from out of state. I think a lot more people will be revolting, rebelling and standing tp against what we see as a tyrannical government. — William C. Fisher Not long before the take- over began on Jan. 2, locals and federal officials had deter- mined the fate of large swaths of land, Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, the top local administrative official, said last summer in an interview. The High Desert Partnership in Harney County, a group that includes the Bureau of Land Management, the Nature Conservancy and timber business owners, had been working quietly to deter- mine land stewardship, which Jewell credited in her state- ment on Friday. TIME TO PUT ON WINTER TIRES Call and make your appointment now for NO-WAIT SERVICE 541-549-1026 DAVIS TIRE Serving Sisters Since 1962 188 W. Sisters Park Dr. In Sisters Industrial Park across from SnoCap Mini Storage Sisters Christian Academy would like to thank our local families and merchants for support- ing our Walk/Jog-a-thon this year. Because of your generosity we were able to meet our goal! Our Walk/ Jog-a-thon helps us offer scholarships and to keep our tuition low. Thank you to VFW Post 8138, Trailer World, American Legion Post 38, Hull’s Construction, Three Creeks Brewery, RE/MAX, Action Air, Monte’s Electric, Aspen Ridge Electric, C h a o s & G r a c e Photography, Melvin’s, Franz Bread, Phuel Foods, and our Sisters Christian Academy friends and fam- ily! We are richly blessed because of all of you. Quality Truck-mounted CARPET CLEANING Quality Cleaning 16 years in Reasonable Prices Sisters! — Credit Cards Accepted — ENVIROTECH 541-771-5048 Licensed • Bonded • Insured • CCB#181062 RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL – We can straighten ‘em out – Loaner Cars Deductible Assistance Windshield Replacement 541-549-DENT — 541-549-3368 — 332 W. Barclay Dr., Sisters ★★ ELECT ★★ PHIL HENDERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONER PROUDLY NOMINATED BY THE REPUBLICAN AND INDEPENDENT PARTIES ENDORSED BY COMMISSIONER TONY DEBONE Looking For ward to Serving Sisters Country! www.electphilhenderson.com Paid for by Friends of Phil Henderson for Deschutes County Commissioner
