The FBI gets the best of the Bundy militia.
I am sure you have all heard that the FBI was able to successfully arrest Oregon occupation leaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy along with five other militia members during a highway traffic stop about 45 miles north of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge they had been occupying since January 2 of this year.
Sadly, the arrests ended in gunfire when Ryan Bundy and Arizona rancher LaVoy Finicum resisted arrest – resulting in Finicum, 54, being killed and Bundy being wounded.
Normally I cover the straight news, but in this instance I want to venture my opinion as to how, when and why things occurred as they did.
I have been observing people asking all day why the FBI waited so long to effectuate these arrests. I have also noted people complaining about why the feds haven’t stormed the refuge putting an end to the siege once and for all.
So I wanted to give my theory of events – some of which can now be verified by a report just published by NBC News based on information provided by a senior law enforcement official Wednesday.
As NBC News explains “the decision to carry out the arrests was set into motion when the defiant leaders left the refuge Tuesday to attend a community meeting in the [nearby] town of John Day.”
Their plans were already known to the FBI as the organizers of the meeting had publicized that Ryan Bundy would be speaking at the meeting. This provided the perfect opportunity for law enforcement officials to be able to take the Bundy brothers and other militia leaders into custody without placing civilians in harm’s way.
This was confirmed by NBC’s source who told them that arresting the Bundys and the other leaders away from the refuge was meant to minimize the potential for violence.
As NBC also confirms, the FBI and state police were able to stake out a stretch of highway 395 on the route between the occupied bird refuge and the town of John Day, insuring minimal risk to law enforcement officials.
However, at the refuge itself there is an indeterminate number of weapons and militia members, making the odds for a brutal, bloody gun battle all the more likely. This, in turn, seems to be the reasoning behind the caution being exercised in dealing with the remaining militia members still holed up at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Even so – as events played out – there was still the disturbing news of gunfire and the subsequent wounding of Ryan Bundy and the death of LaVoy Finicum.
Two vehicles driven by the militia initially complied with an order to pull over, but the lead vehicle quickly took off, eventually hitting a snow bank. At that point Finicum exited the vehicle “brandishing a firearm.” But you can imagine the possible carnage had the FBI and state police opted to storm the compound.
The standoff is still in full swing with the militia members airing periodic live video feeds on their YouTube Page, DefendYourBase. Liberals Unite will keep you posted with updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.
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