Members of the community near the militia-occupied Oregon wildlife refuge claim that outsiders have been stalking, intimidating and harassing them both before and during the standoff.
According to a report from the Oregonian, “More than a dozen local residents have reported to authorities that they were harassed in the weeks leading up to the occupation and in the days since.”
The families interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity to the Oregonian out of fear that they could be further targeted by the militia group that has now been holed up at Malheur Wildlife Refuge for more than a week.
While members of the self-proclaimed Citizens for Constitutional Freedom told the Oregonian they were not involved, residents near Burns, Oregon reported to authorities that many of the vehicles tracking them had out of state license plates.
A local pastor–who had been outwardly opposed to the presence of the militiamen at Malheur– shared with the Oregonian that individuals had drove to his home, yelled something at him and later, slowly trolled by his office.
“I thought if these guys know where I live, that’s not going to be healthy for the safety of my family,” the pastor told the paper.
The wife of a police officer in the community set up cameras in her neighborhood and caught what she said was militiamen just sitting in a truck in her driveway for up to 40 minutes at a time.
She told the Oregonian “every gun in the house is loaded.”
