Each night, these two tent camp in the rain and snow. Each morning, they wake up, warm up, and go down the road to protest the Bundy militia's daily press conference. They won't leave until the militants do, they say.
They are here, they say, because our laws and public land deserve the dignity and protection of people standing up peacefully yet forcefully against those who would steal them at gunpoint (again, would note the Paiute).
The center has offered them warm rooms for comfort but they have refused, insisting on roughing it properly, camping in tents in the cold and rain and snow. Hard core. Unlike those flaccid softies hunkering down in their hijacked gift shop, enjoying taxpayer-funded government amenities.
These two—there appear to be no names—are doing this because it’s the right thing to do: real patriots protesting people who are doing wrong and there is a quote from Dr. King about doing right for the sake of doing right.
They camp in the cold and then get up and go and protest the Cowliphate daily briefing.
...that it's no small irony that tomorrow, on the federal holiday for Martin Luther King Jr., Malheur National Wildlife Refuge will be the only refuge in the entire national refuge system that is officially closed to the public, on a day otherwise free of usual fees, for occupation by racist militants.
More from the Center For BioDiversity. “Why we are are going”:
The U.S. Department of the Interior has opened all public land in the United States for free on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It is encouraging Americans to come to their public lands to honor Dr. King's vision and bravery, and to remember that that the work of building a racially just society is not done. Only one parcel of American public land is not open today: the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. It is not open because it has been seized by an armed militia whose leaders have expressed horrifically racist, anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim statements.
That is why we're going to the Malheur today. It is essential to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. precisely here on the Malheur where racism, injustice, violence and the theft of public land is playing out for all the world to see.
Dr. King understood nature deeply, teaching us "It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly."
He also exhorted us to "Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way."
At the top of this post is a link to the Center for Biological Diversity.
Here is contact info:
Kieran Suckling Executive Director, Center for Biological Diversity (520) 275-5960, ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org
No word about a GoFundMe page but I imagine inquiries can be directed through the phone and email. They might find it overwhelming but that’s okay. I am certain they would welcome and totally deserve the support.
I look forward to following what happens with these people.