At least one of the militants, Joe “Capt. O” Oshaugnessy, left the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge amid drinking claims after arguing with participants over bringing their wives and children to the standoff, and another -- Brian “Booda” Cavalier -- left the compound after news reports revealed he had lied about serving in the military.More on that:
A former compatriot-turned-opponent claims one of the most prominent militants, Blaine Cooper, sucker-punched one of his friends -- sending the counter-protester to the hospital with a concussion and serious facial injuries.
Lewis Arthur, who describes himself as an anti-violence patriot and head of the Veterans on Patrol activist group, said he arrived Wednesday with three other men to remove a “radicalized” and “suicidal” veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has a tendency toward violence when he’s placed under stress.
... Arthur said the 36-year-old Cooper, a former friend, attacked a member of his three-man crew during an argument over their mission to remove women, children and Ryan Payne -- a U.S. Army veteran who has bragged about setting up sniper teams to target federal agents during the 2014 standoff at Bundy ranch.
“(Payne) made it very clear out there that he wanted the federal government to go and take him out,” Arthur said.
Arthur said Cooper punched him in the back of the head, then attacked his comrade, who goes by the name of J Dog. The group retreated, and J Dog went to the hospital.J Dog? Is that one of those drug dealers Maine governor Paul Le Page was complaining about?
More on Oregon:
John Hildinger, who was arrested on a Maryland firearms charge on his way to the anti-Obama “Operation American Spring” rally in 2013 and is well-known in the “patriot” movement, ... said Cavalier was a “mean motherf*cker” with multiple drunken driving convictions, and he said the Arizona tattoo artist had insinuated himself with the Bundy family and “scared off” anyone who tried to get close to them....And if that's not enough:
Hildinger said Payne was lying about serving as an Army Ranger and had three sealed criminal charges against him, and he cautioned the militants to stay away from him....
But he saved his harshest criticism for Cooper -- who he accused of being a federal informant who got border militiaman Kevin “KC” Massey arrested on firearms charges.
Hildinger said Cooper, whose real name is Stanley Blaine Hicks, had amassed 16 felonies under his birth name and another felony under his chosen name -- which is the name of Jesse Ventura’s character in the 1987 movie “Predator.”
Those include multiple counts of assault -- both with and without a deadly weapon -- and making threats, along with several alcohol- and traffic-related offenses, and Hildinger accused Cooper of stealing thousands of dollars of photography equipment from the border militia’s Camp Lone Star.
A Cincinnati-area online talk radio host has emerged as the spokesman for the armed ranchers occupying buildings at a wildlife refuge in Oregon.Well, it's a good thing these these folks are such models of decorum and good citizenship, because, as The New York Times notes today, in much of America, this kind of armed standoff has effectively been decriminalized:
Peter Santilli, who hosts The Pete Santilli Show, ... says he embedded himself with the group in late December....
Santilli came under fire in 2013 when he suggested shooting former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton "in the vagina."
... Santilli was stopped by Newtown police last month because he was going about 20 mph in a 50 mph zone, Newtown Chief Tom Synan said. Police believe Santilli was going slow because he was texting, Synan told The Enquirer at the time.
Police found a loaded 9 mm Smith and Wesson pistol in a bag between the passenger's feet while searching the vehicle.
Santilli was charged with illegally carrying a concealed weapon.
TRINIDAD, Tex. -- How long can the Oregon standoff last? If the one that dragged on here in this rural East Texas town is any example, the answer is at least a decade, and perhaps much longer.In case you can't tell, there's a noose hanging from the sign that says "Solution To Tyranny."
In a wooded 47-acre compound on the Trinity River, about an hour southeast of Dallas, John Joe Gray, 66, quietly carried out what some call the longest standoff in America -- a few days shy of 15 years. It officially ended in 2014 when a district attorney dropped charges....
Mr. Gray, a carpenter linked to antigovernment militia groups, was charged with assaulting a state trooper after a December 1999 traffic stop and was jailed, but he was released on bond in January 2000. He never showed up to court, returning instead to his property, where he and his relatives armed themselves and patrolled the barbed-wire fences. In a letter, he warned local officials that if they wanted to come get him, they needed to “bring body bags.”
The authorities heeded his warning. For more than a decade, Mr. Gray was a fugitive hiding in plain sight, never leaving the compound even after the power was cut off and living off the grid there with his wife and an extended family that includes several children....
The sheriff of Henderson County, Ray Nutt, monitored Mr. Gray’s property over the years but left him alone. Mr. Gray’s supporters dropped off food and supplies. Reporters pulled up to the main gate. Early in the standoff, Mr. Gray even had a visit from the actor Chuck Norris. But there were no major confrontations with law enforcement.
... in December 2014, ... Douglas E. Lowe, at the time the district attorney in nearby Anderson County, dismissed the felony assault charge against Mr. Gray before leaving office.
“I didn’t do that to concede victory to that guy,” Mr. Lowe said. “It had been going on for 15 years, and somebody just had to make a decision that it was time to say it’s over.”
If you scare the law into thinking that crossing you might result in another Waco or Ruby Ridge, you can pretty much do whatever you want in most of this country. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
