Harney County Sheriff David Ward paid a visit to the armed anti-government protestors on Thursday but wasn’t delivering ‘snacks & supplies’ in a bid to meet one of the protestor’s call on the social media earlier this week.
Flanked by a motley crew of sheriffs from neighboring counties and journalists, Ward met Ammon Bundy, one of the occupation leaders, for a brief chat at an intersection close to Malheur Wildlife Refuge, which Bundy’s group took over on Saturday.
The Oregon County sheriff offered the protestors a ’safe escort’ out after telling Bundy:
“I’m here because the citizens of Harney County have asked me to come out and ask you folks to peacefully leave”.
The Nevada rancher declined the offer saying he and his compatriots are “feeling ignored.”
“The government, in order to be legitimate in these United States, must acknowledge a redress of grievances by citizens.”
The two men then shook hands and went off in separate ways, but according to the sheriff’s office, they planned a second meeting on Friday. Earlier this week, the sheriff was met by the cheers of a large crowd at a community meeting in Burns when he loudly and clearly said it’s time for the protestors to
“Pick up and go home…You don’t to come here from elsewhere and tell us how we’re going to live our lives.”
The sheriff’s position remains unclear at best. On the one hand, authorities have said that Ward’s purpose behind the meeting was to seek a peaceful resolution and not to make any arrests. Yet earlier, he openly declared that the activists would face federal charges once the whole charade is over.
Since several buildings in the refuge were taken over by gun-toting protestors last Saturday, the whole thing turned into what seems to be a full-blown farce and a field-day for stand-up comedians and TV show hosts, as gaffes are being reported by the media on a daily basis.
On Thursday, Blaine Cooper, one of the protestors taking part in the armed occupation, sent out a social media post calling for people to send them ‘snacks or supplies’.
“If you have supplies or snacks or anything that may be useful to this stand then please send them to the address above.”
On a separate occasion Brian Cavalier, supposedly the “personal bodyguard” of Ammon Bundy, told reporters that he served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Marines, but it turned out he was blatantly lying, as he was never enrolled in any branch of the Marine Corps.
