Burns Residents Protest LaVoy Finicum Killing
The billboard at the entrance to Burns, Oregon says it all.
The residents value all life. This includes the life of LaVoy Finicum.
The Burns residents are angry that their small, quaint, little town has been invaded by the Federal government, and it has caused the death of Finicum on Tuesday, January 26, 2016.
Local citizens hosted a protest rally on Friday at the Courthouse. Attended by a few dozen people, everyone had something to say. Residents were speaking up in ways they have been afraid to in the recent past. They looked up at the courthouse windows and pointed at the faces looking down on them.
They were not thinking of retaliation. They were not thinking of revenge. They were thinking about the FBI, local Judge Steve Grasty, Sheriff David Ward and Governor Kate Brown. They were angry and they wanted everyone in the country to know it.
They told the world how they cannot enter their own courthouse, due to the armed guards at the entrances. They cannot conduct business as usual because Judge Steve Grasty has shut them down. They want Harney County back, and they want their Country back.
The occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge was begun on January 2, 2016. Led by Ammon Bundy, it began as a protest on behalf of Dwight and Steven Hammond, ranchers that were sent to federal prison, a second time, for a fire that had burned from their property to a small amount of BLM property. The Federal Prosecutors were not satisfied with the original sentence imposed on the Hammonds and appealed the ruling for a longer sentence.
This led to protests against minimum sentencing laws, and more. The occupation included complaints of the government’s unconstitutional owning of land. The Bundy’s group, called the Citizens For Constitutional Freedom (www.c4cf.com) have, also, openly worn sidearms in support of the Second Amendment.
Not everyone attended the rally at the courthouse. There were a couple of residents that chose to show their anger on the sidewalks of Monroe Avenue.
