Sounds Like A Great Guy

In a Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016 photo, rancher Dwight Hammond Jr. greets protesters outside his Burns, Ore., home. Hammond and his son, Steven, reported back to prison Monday, Jan. 4. The Hammonds were convicted of arson... In a Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016 photo, rancher Dwight Hammond Jr. greets protesters outside his Burns, Ore., home. Hammond and his son, Steven, reported back to prison Monday, Jan. 4. The Hammonds were convicted of arson three years ago for fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006, according to prosecutors. The men served no more than a year until an appeals court judge ruled the terms fell short of minimum sentences that require them to serve about four more years. Their sentences were a rallying cry for the group calling itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday night, Jan. 2. (Les Zaitz/The Oregonian via AP) MORE LESS
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If, like me, you’ve been curious why the Bundy gang bothered to pick a remote wildlife refuge visitors center to stage their drama, Lauren Fox has some interesting backstory on that question. The jailed ranchers who inspired militia types to flock to Oregon in the first place have a long history of confrontations with the refuge, which is adjacent to their ranch. And when I say confrontations … Dwight Hammond, Jr., the ranching family patriarch (pictured), reportedly made death threats against the refuge’s managers on multiple occasions: 1986, 1988, 1991 and 1994. You might call that a pattern. More here.

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