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8 In Other Words January 21 2021 The Washington, D.C. Seige Has Western Roots and Consequences continued from front page the federal government. THE WESTERN U.S. isn’t the only place where anti-government sentiment festers, but here the wounds are open, fre- quently endured and historically recent. Violence and the threat of violence in the region occur within the context of a nation founded on the genocide of Indigenous people. Leaders of anti-federal movements lean into this violent history and in- clude factions that are specifically anti-Indigenous. In defending his right to graze cattle on federal land in Nevada — a claim he successful- ly defended at Bunkerville in 2014, when federal authorities withdrew after being outgunned by militia- men — Bundy argued that his claim to the land was more legitimate than the Southern Paiutes’ because “they lost the war.” This white-plus-might- makes-right sentiment is a pervasive feature of Western mythology and cow- boy culture. Over the last half-century, anti-government leaders have rallied to that image as the West’s popula- tion swelled and control over its natu- ral resources became more contested and regulated. The original Sagebrush Rebellion of the mid-to-late-1970s — which inspired the modern Bundy-led standoffs but were not nearly as para- military — came in response to federal public-land laws like the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Wilder- ness Act and Endangered Species Act, which increasingly restricted how natu- ral resources could be used. Those restrictions were seen as unconscionable overreach by ru- ral Westerners who were accustomed to using public-land resources as they wished. “The hardest thing to do in American politics is to withdraw a right,” said Daniel McCool, a politi- cal science professor at the University of Utah. Even though those rights were privileges in the legal sense, the percep- tion that they were rights, and that they were being taken away, fueled the origi- nal Sagebrush Rebels, McCool said. “The roots of the Sagebrush Rebellion were when they no longer got what they wanted,” he said. “There’s a direct line from there to the Bundy groups active Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, breaking windows and clashing with police officers. Image credit: Jon Cherry/Getty Images today.” Entitlement isn’t the only fea- ture today’s anti-government protest- ers — who snapped selfies and strolled casually through the Capitol after over- coming police barricades, sauntering off with trophies taken from the of- fice of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. — have in common with the original Sagebrush Rebels. They also share an alliance with the Republican Party and a lack of accountability for breaking the law. None of the original rebels were prosecuted, and their move- ment faded with the election of Ronald Reagan, who publicly backed their anti- regulatory ideology. Reagan showed his support by installing Interior Secretary James Watt, who weakened many of the federal regulations they chafed against. FAR-RIGHT TERRORISM is the most prevalent form of terrorism in the U.S., according to the FBI. Report- ing by Reveal News and Type Investiga- tions found that right-wing extremism during the Trump administration has become more common and far more deadly. But that uptick comes with a ca- veat when it comes to Western extrem- ism. During the Trump era, right-wing extremism and the militia movement shifted its focus from the federal gov- ernment to other targets, like anti-fascist activists and state and local govern- ments, according to the Anti-Defama- tion League. The explanation for this shift in target is simple: Anti-federal extrem- ists found common cause with Trump’s presidency as he promised to “drain the swamp,” catered to racist ideolo- gies and flirted with QAnon conspiracy theorists. He and his administration acted directly in the interest of Western factions within the right-wing extrem- ist movement, including the Bundys. In 2018, Trump pardoned Dwight and Steven Hammond, whose imprisonment for felony arson on public lands helped spark the Oregon standoff in 2016. No attempts were made during his adminis- tration to enforce federal law by round- ing up Cliven Bundy’s cattle, which continue to illegally graze on federal public lands in Nevada. Just a week be- fore the siege of the Capitol in Washing- ton, D.C., the Bureau of Land Manage- ment (BLM) restored the Hammonds’ public-land grazing rights in Oregon, despite their record of endangering fed- eral employees and committing arson. Those actions — and the in- ability of federal prosecutors to secure convictions for leaders of the Bunker- ville and Malheur occupations, who clearly threatened federal agents and held federal land at gunpoint — em- boldened anti-government extremists. After the acquittals, the movement felt vindicated and victorious. “It’s a very heady thing to be involved in,” said Betsy Gaines Quammen, the author of American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God and Public Lands in the West. “It was pivotal in empowering this movement and laid the ground- work for what we saw (on January 6 in the Capitol),” she said. A former BLM staffer from Southern Utah echoed that conclu- sion. “There is a clear link with the Bunkerville showdown and Mal- heur Refuge occupation and what happened yesterday at our nation’s Capitol,” Richard Spotts wrote to High Country News. In dodging accountability for their actions the Bundys “have been aided by weak and incompetent federal law en- forcement officials,” wrote the for- mer BLM employee who was based in St. George, Utah from 2002-2017. “I hope that the incoming Biden ad- ministration won’t make Obama’s mistakes nor allow meek federal land managers and law enforcement officials to continue hiding under their desks,” Spotts wrote. While the Trump era has em- powered anti-government extremists in new and dangerous ways, it has offered some relief to the public-land employ- ees in the West who often bear the brunt of extremist ideologies. Data collected by Public Employees for Environmen- tal Responsibility (PEER), a group that supports public-land reforms and agen- cy employees, found that threats against federal employees and facilities dropped precipitously following Trump’s elec- tion. In 2017, the BLM recorded a 25% reduction in such incidents, the lowest number since 1995. The Bundys didn’t see the federal government under the Trump administration as the enemy, said Jeff Ruch, the former executive director and current Pacific director of PEER. “The administration acted in concert with the violent movement’s demands,” he said. WITH THE TARGET no lon- ger on the federal government’s back, anti-government extremists in the West have aimed their tactics at left-wing protesters and at state and local govern- ments. Throughout the Trump adminis- tration, the president’s supporters went continued on page 9 VNC 503-429-9333 Recreational & Medical Marijuana Dispensary Serving the Community Featuring: • Edibles • Concentrates • CBD Oils, Topicals, & Tinctures • Flower Grams & Pre-rolled Joints Vernonia’s Natural Choice Open 7 days 9am - 9pm 736 Bridge Street, Suite 1 Owned and Operated by Don & Kim Wallace DON WALLACE, PLS Professional Land Surveying 1224 E. 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