An armed standoff in rural Oregon is beginning to lose momentum as LDS Church member Ammon Bundy is now in police custody.
The newspaper, the Oregonian, reported the confrontation began in early January, when a group of activists who had been protesting lack of access to federal lands in Burns, Oregon decided to drive 30 miles south to seize the headquarters and visitors center of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
As the occupation attracted the media’s attention, Bundy exclaimed in a phone interview with The Oregonian, “We’re planning on staying here for years.”
In another phone interview with CNN, Bundy said, “This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute. People need to be aware that we’ve become a system where government is actually claiming and using and defending people’s rights, and they are doing that against the people.”
Bundy’s supporters were driven by frustration with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which controls 52.9% of Oregon land, according to Time Magazine. They are demanding greater access to federally controlled property so more cattle can graze, more forests can be lumbered, and more earth can be mined, which would foster economic growth in the poorest part of Oregon, published The Washington Times.
A video uploaded to Facebook on Jan. 2 shows Bundy further explaining his discontentment: “The people cannot survive without their land and resources. We cannot have the government restricting the use of that to the point that it puts us in poverty,” Bundy argued.
Even though Bundy invited protesters to bring firearms to the occupation through Internet videos, he declared, “We pose no threat to anybody. There is no person who is physically harmed by what we are doing,” wrote the Independent.
Kate Gurney, a freshman from Utah who has yet to declare a major, said, “I think it’s always okay to protest because we have the rights to do that. But, protesting should not threaten anyone.”
The Washington Post identified a significant portion of Bundy’s followers as being members of the LDS Church. The movement’s participants relied on Book of Mormon narratives, which can be interpreted in such a way that legitimizes their antagonism towards federal authorities.
During an interview with Oregon Public Radio, an occupier professed, “I’m Captain Moroni, from Utah.” In 2014, OPR recounted a similar standoff in which the Bundy family was also involved. Excerpts from the article stated, “Supporters and members of the Bundy militia cited Book of Mormon passages centering on Captain Moroni.”
The sentiments of Oregon’s protesters are mirrored by those of Moroni in the Book of Mormon where it states “Moroni was angry with the government, because of their indifference concerning the freedom of their country.”
As news media solicited clarification from Church headquarters, a statement was released from Salt Lake City which read “While the disagreement occurring in Oregon about the use of federal lands is not a Church matter, Church leaders strongly condemn the armed seizure of the facility and are deeply troubled by the reports that those who have seized the facility suggest that they are doing so based on scriptural principles.
“This armed occupation can in no way be justified on a scriptural basis. We are privileged to live in a nation where conflicts with government or private groups can – and should – be settled using peaceful means, according to the laws of the land.”
Daniel Stout, a BYUH ICS Communications Professor from New Jersey, explained, “In the West, there are groups of Mormons who descend from the pioneers who landed in Utah, and many of them were dispatched to various areas in southern Utah, northern Nevada, and southern Idaho.
“It was a different lifestyle than those in Salt Lake City, and those early Mormons in those country areas, the rural areas, they cultivated a frontier mentality. They feel almost an aversion to the government when it sets aside land, protecting it for environmental purposes. And, I think the interesting thing is it’s not only ranchers who are conservative politically, but, I think this worldview of ‘the land is ours’ dates back into earlier Mormon history.”
On Jan. 26, Ammon Bundy and seven other protesters were arrested at a roadblock after their vehicle veered into deep snow. One of Bundy’s associates, LaVoy Finicum, was shot and killed by law enforcement after allegedly reaching for his gun, wrote The New York Times.
Finicum had declared at a news conference two weeks earlier, “I would rather die than be caged.”
Awaiting trial in a Portland jail, Bundy announced vicariously through his lawyer, “To those remaining at the refuge, I love you. Let us take this fight from here. Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is ours for now in the courts. Please go home.”
Most of the occupiers followed Bundy’s counsel; however, seven people have chosen to persist, reported the New York Times.
David Whippy, an associate professor from Suva, Fiji, explained, “I know that these people have strong ideals and strong values and they’ve stuck to what they believe on both sides. There’s hope that with the negotiation process and it taking awhile, they could come around to seeing each other more as people…understanding the other side. I am always an advocate for lengthening the negotiation process so that life is not lost.”