The popular perception of right-wing patriot militia members is that they are racist, violent and crazy. The authors of a new book about them say that’s not the whole story.
Ammon Bundy speaks to local ranchers in January 2016 urging them – unsuccessfully – to take up armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
Peter A. Walker
Militants who took over the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon – and were acquitted of charges – ultimately failed because local ranchers saw a better way to deal with federal agencies.
Supporters of Ammon and Ryan Bundy and other militants who took over the Malheur Wildlife Refuge celebrate after they were found not guilty of conspiracy charges.
Alex Milan Tracy/Sipa via AP Images
A geography professor reports from the front lines of the Malheur occupation. Despite strong local opposition to occupiers, he foresees more conflicts to come.
Harney County residents gather to protest the FBI’s presence at the airport in Burns, Oregon, January 31, 2016.
REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
Race may have played a role in the muted federal response to the standoff at Malheur Wildlife Refuge, but it goes deeper than that.
Members of various militia groups met in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. One dressed as a Continental army officer.
REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
The notion of civil rebellion – like the one at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge – is at the heart of the Second Amendment. But so is the idea that such rebellions should not be undertaken lightly.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.
Achill Family/Flickr
Behind the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon lie decades of controversy over federal control of public land in western states.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was often referred to as the Bureau of Livestock and Mining in the 19th century.
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Like much federal land in the US West, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has a long history tied to Native Americans’ plight and conflicts between settlers and the federal government.