They hate the feds so we loves them
Law? What law? Trump is all the law anyone will ever need. He’s pardoned the Hammonds.
President Trump on Tuesday pardoned a pair of Oregon cattle ranchers who had been serving out sentences for arson on federal land — sentences that set off an armed occupation of a wildlife refuge in 2016.
Dwight L. Hammond, now 76, and his son, Steven D. Hammond, 49, became a cause célèbre that inspired an antigovernment group’s battle with the federal government over its control of rural land in Oregon. The occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge resulted in the death of a rancher from Arizona.
And a lot of damage to our publicly-owned national wildlife refuge by some violent reactionaries who want to steal our public land for their cattle to graze.
“The Hammonds are devoted family men, respected contributors to their local community, and have widespread support from their neighbors, local law enforcement, and farmers and ranchers across the West,” Ms. Sanders said in the statement, which was issued while Mr. Trump was en route to Brussels for a NATO meeting.
So being devoted family men makes it ok to torch public land?
Only if you’re a Trump supporter. Hillary supporters, do not try this method.
As an Oregonian, I’d like to share some additional information. The Hammonds started fires on their own land to clear brush that spread to areas of the refuge. They never denied their responsibility. Many people in eastern Oregon feel that the feds put the hammer to them because of 20 years of land disputes and the feds reneged on a previous plea agreement that ended up with these guys in prison for 5+ years. In fact, there was a strong feeling that President Obama might have pardoned them had not the Malheur occupation muddied the optics. The Hammonds themselves did not support the occupiers who were just looking for a cause to exploit. The Hammonds aren’t heroes but neither are they deserving of the treatment they received.