N E W S F E AT U R E
B Y TO N Y C O R C O R A N
GORILLA
THEATER
Fear and birding at Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge
I
had to see this thing, this occupation, in person.
Another 1970s Sagebrush Rebellion being staged at
Oregon’s bird sanctuary, this sacred site? Really? Our
oldest American refuge, so precious it was designated
as such before America even had a National Park
Service? Why? Who are these guys? Why Malheur of all
places? WTF?
I called my former colleague, Senate Republican leader
Ted Ferrioli, who represents Harney County, to get his
take. And I called Cliff Bentz, the current state rep from
Ontario.
I didn’t expect a call back from either of them.
Republicans dodge the Malheur occupation like kryptonite
because, if they personally would ever weigh in and
oppose armed militia action against the state of Oregon or
the federal government before a primary in their district,
they could draw a Tea Party opponent in the primary.
To my surprise, Ferrioli called me back. I chided him
about the Oregon Republicans’ total silence on the occupa-
tion. He actually praised the Hammond family for their
neighborly generosity. The ostensible trigger for this event
was the re-sentencing of the Hammonds by Federal Judge
Ann Aiken.
Then he mentioned that the Hammonds’ prolonged,
intensified and escalated battle with the BLM over the
years was a two-way street, with each side poking each
other in the eye. Ferrioli did not dispute the arson convic-
tions and evidence that one arson was set up, at least in
part, to cover up the slaughter of a deer herd. But he also
didn’t defend the Bundys. He had no answer or rational
explanation for the Bundy resolution to return all Western
federal lands to pre-Columbian, pre-1492 Native
Americans, in this case the Burns Paiute Tribe.
Ferrioli told me, “If God told these guys to go some-
where to commit suicide by cop — then go back to Utah
or Nevada or wherever you came from — we’re not going
to do that here.” But, as he pointed out, Oregon is not the
chief decision-maker here, it’s the FBI.
It was 14 degrees in Burns on Jan. 9, and I went out to
the Harney County Fairgrounds in search of a media meet-
ing point. Turns out it didn’t exist. Back in town I found
two newly arrived Oregonian “back up” reporters coming
in to relieve the two reporters who had been here since last
Sunday. It seems everyone just shows up at 11 am at the
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters 30 miles
south of town.
I went armed with my EW press pass, camera, pen,
notebook and a tape recorder with an actual dadgummed
tape in it.
When 11 am rolled around, four armed men came
walking up from the headquarters, but brothers Ammon
and Ryan Bundy didn’t attend as they had in the days
before. The two previous nights featured raucous commu-
nity meetings in Burns with scared-shitless residents tell-
ing the brothers they wanted no part of the Bundy militia
action. So the brothers, sophisticated press manipulators
10
January 14, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com
that they are, tried a different strategery — at least at the
presser I attended.
There were probably 20-25 media types there, four or
five TV cameras set up at the armed barricade 1,000 feet
from the headquarters compound. The occupiers sent this
soft-spoken, skinny, bespeckled elderly guy in a cowboy
hat with one of those classic long-barreled six-shooters in
his holster as their first spokesman for the presser.
The purpose of today’s news conference was to let
everyone know that the Bundy brothers received a letter
from a local outfit — the Harney County Committee of
Safety — offering to take this mess off the Bundys hands,
take over the stand-off and let the Bundys go back home.
We were told the Bundys were taking the letter into consid-
eration, and hadn’t come to a decision yet on when to take
up the sheriff on his offer of an armed escort to the state line.
Any questions? The rabid media replied — all at once. If
you’re a clever spokesman, you can take advantage of this
by selecting only the question to which you’ve rehearsed a
response. Question: When is the standoff gonna end?
Answer: There are two standoffs actually, because the FBI
has also taken over the middle school by use of armed force.
That’s why the kids aren’t going to school. It’s not our fault;
golly, gee, we’re just here to help. There are three parties to
blame for this fiasco: the FBI, the sheriff and you, the
media. That was it for the squinting cowboy!
The next speaker lectured the media on how their use
of terms like “armed takeover” and “militia” caused our
current problem. We’re not violent or threatening, you’re
making this stuff up. You never talk about all the support
we get from local ranchers. It’s all your fault, liberal media
people. And, by the way, the occupiers called 911 Thursday
night because of a “scuffle,” and the sheriff’s office
refused to respond. For “security” purposes, he could pro-
vide no further details of the “scuffle.”
Then a new announcement: “Further, as a result of that
lack of response by the sheriff’s office, we don’t know if it
was fear or what, the occupiers are now taking over as ‘secu-
rity’ for the local citizenry until this fiasco is resolved!”
Interesting comment, given that one definition of “militia” is
a military force that engages in rebel or terrorist activities,
typically in opposition to a regular army or, in this case, the
FBI and the sheriff. Let’s just say there was no palpable sign
of relief with this new announcement. Another escalation.
Two women, a TV news reporter and an Oregonian
reporter, took the speaker on. This was one of the few parts
of the news conference that was real. “How can you claim
this is public land, when you have armed men preventing
us from going down to the headquarters?” And “Why are
you lying about the fact that we’re not reporting how some
ranchers have brought you supplies and feel the same way
you do about the BLM?” When these women spoke, the
media all jumped to their defense. No response. No more
questions, none answered anyway.
The next speaker informed us importantly that he had
been self-appointed as the “mediator” for this fracas, and
he had spoken at length with the Bundys and understood
the letter offered by the Harney County Committee of
Safety. And furthermore, he was more than willing to work
with the FBI and the sheriff to get some communication
going. After all, he reminded us sternly, you know how
important communication is to prevent another Ruby
Ridge or Waco showdown, don’t you?
He then admitted, only after being asked specifically, that
nobody — not the FBI, not the sheriff’s office — that no one
was returning his calls because apparently he and the Bundys
were the only ones who thought he was the mediator.
Really? During all this de-escalation talk, we need to be
reminded of Waco: a 1993 botched re-run of the Sagebrush
Rebellion movement from the 1970s and 1980s that sought
outright transfer of federal lands to state and local authori-
ties and privatization? Crazy then, crazy now.
I’m old. I’ve been involved in many press conferences
given my grizzled years, but what happened next was like
something out of a Quentin Tarantino movie gone bad.
Twenty minutes into the press conference, with Mr.
Mediator summing up his lack of credentials, suddenly all
the TV cameras and photographers pull up stakes and start
running back down the road. A convoy of a dozen vehicles
had just pulled up, mostly pick-ups, license plates from
Iowa, Arizona, Montana, Texas.
Fifteen or so armed folks, including two women, were
led up the road to the press conference site by two guys
with semi-automatic rifles at arms rest, upraised. As we all
walk towards each other, one of the riflemen suddenly
yells at a rapidly advancing camera guy to back off. The
whole crowd stops. The TV gal challenges the rifleman:
“Look at what you’re doing. You don’t have any right to
talk to us like that! This is public land!”
She stared him down. A short silence ensued, then the
media and the Bundy Bunch started walking back to where
the microphones were. Then, another Tarantino moment
occurred when the news conference resumed. Five leaders of
the new visitors marched up to the podium, but the occupier’s
leaders were frantically chasing the other new visitors away.
Ultimately, the new visitors stood by themselves at the
road’s fork. It was friggin’ cold out, and the whole scene
made very little sense.
Meanwhile, Bespeckled Cowboy was back as our
spokesman at the presser, and he introduced and welcomed
these fine folks. Then he immediately denied that any of the
new visitors were going to stay at the headquarters com-
pound. They were just gonna hang around Burns in support
of the occupiers. He then went on this de-escalation rant
about everyone putting down their “long guns,” this just
moments after this dadgummed armed posse arrived!
The new Bundy Bunch “security” guy was now walking
through the media repeating: “Wow, this is the safest I’ve
felt in days.” The visitors were introduced as members of
the Pacific Patriot Network (PPN). Their spokesman was
Mr. Curtiss, a “three percenter” from Idaho. He described
his group as a Western states coalition of five organizations
representing militias, without naming the other members.
He reiterated their support of Dwight and Steven Hammond,
who have distanced themselves from the Bundys, and their
support of the Bundy takeover.
Curtiss also reiterated his support of the Bundy’s mis-
trust, and described the general mistrust of local ranchers
toward BLM. He spoke about Congressman Greg Walden’s
recent speech and vote against reauthorization of the
Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.
The press conference ended with the five PPN leaders
walking back down to the headquarters to meet with the
Bundys. Unlike previous days, we were not allowed to
follow them down the road.
As I made my way back to Bend Saturday evening, Jan.
9, I wondered whether this whole PPN-Tarantino scene
helped move us toward a face-saving move for the Bundy
brothers and the occupiers to have a peaceful exit. Or wheth-
er it moves toward escalation by simply turning up the heat.
Hope for the best. Remember: 82 people died at Waco. ■
Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove is a former state senator and a retired
state employee. He writes an occasional political column for EW called
“Hot Air Society.”