Rolling Rally in Burns
Over 50 vehicles gathered in Burns Saturday night to circle their town in protest. The majority of the protesters had Oregon plates, indicating mostly local residents. About 5-6 Idaho plates could be found in the roughly mile-long line.
They staged their rally in a large parking lot on the south side of town. It was there we heard from locals and visitors alike. “The FBI needs to leave Burns!” many told us. “They murdered LaVoy Finicum” could also be heard.
The Flags adorning the vehicles included not just the Stars and Stripes of our National Standard, but the Battle Flag of the Confederacy, and the yellow Gadsen Flag with it’s familiar “Don’t Tread on Me” logo.
They circled the town multiple times, starting near the McDonald’s on Monroe St, heading east. Turning north on Broadway, they traveled the main route through Burns before turning towards the courthouse for a pass in front of the law enforcement waiting for them.
FBI, the Oregon State Police and Deputies from around the state were armed with ARs and other long guns, and the courthouse was lit up and blockaded, in anticipation of trouble from the local residents.
There was no trouble, just a lot of noise.
There were a couple of lonely hold outs which were not happy with the rally. A single woman stood in the staging area with a sign that read “Militia Go Home” and a single gentleman stood on a street corner near the courthouse yelling at the cars as they passed.
There was a report of another person jumping on a car in a fit of anger, terrifying the young lady inside. Over all, with much division within the town, the rally was a resounding success for the protesters.
After several loops within Burns proper, the rally ended on a high note for the activists. Vowing to return on Monday for another scheduled rally, we heard “We will get our town back” as one of the many comments.
Monday’s rally is scheduled for the afternoon, with a call-to-action made by the Pacific Patriots Network (PPN) asking for participants within a six-hour drive to travel to Burns for the day.
The PPN have a list of grievances, presented on behalf of Burns residents, posted on their website.
You can view the live-streamed event here.
