BUNKERVILLE STANDOFF:  OREGON SHERIFF WEIGHS IN ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

"You may not support the Occupiers for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge or the Bundy Standoff and that is a personal choice or decision made by each of us as an individual.  At this point, these issues should be moot with all of us.

The underlying issue and concern I have is how far our representative government has gone to fudge, lie, cheat, manipulate, falsify, withhold, deny, cover up, doctored, abuse and misuse their positions at our expense and go so far to see that they broke not only the rules but the public trust.    When our government goes as far as they did to do whatever it took to see these people imprisoned and jailed for literally two years......."

Grant County, Oregon Sheriff Glenn Palmer "Facebook" post December 22, 2017

Before the Oregon Standoff protest began at Harney County's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last year, Sheriff Glenn Palmer of neighboring Grant County had gained a reputation as a Constitutional Sheriff.

Palmer refused to sign a 'joint agreement' with federal law enforcement patrolling the federally owned lands in Grant County and had spoken out in the media about his position.

Then came the Oregon Standoff protest with Palmer calling for a negotiated settlement and release of the Harney County ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond jailed as "terrorists" (five year mandatory sentence) for lighting a backfire to protect their property.

The Oregon State Sheriff's Association then rallied around the FBI's aggressive and deadly policy in dealing with the protest.   

Armored vehicles were sent by the various sheriff's departments in Oregon to assist with operations in Harney County.

The ambush "felony traffic stop" that killed LaVoy Finicum and injured Ryan Bundy on January 26th, 2016 occurred as Sheriff Palmer and a crowd were awaiting the arrival of the "leaders" of the protest for a rally in John Day, Oregon as they attempted to extend the reach of their non-violent protest.

The local police chief in John Day and the 911 call center director there filed complaints against Sheriff Palmer alleging misconduct but an investigation found no wrongdoing.   Those complaints came last year during Palmer's re-election year, but Palmer won anyway.

Palmer had more to say in his post in the aftermath of the recent revelations about the Bunkerville Standoff case and here it is.

".......This maneuver and tactics utilized should have us all outraged.   It leaves an err of questioning as to what else and who else before has had to go down this road and wonder of who else has been falsely and wrongfully prosecuted and convicted.

When we are at a time in society that our government will break the law to enforce the law, and where people will not unite to ensure that this shall never happen to another single citizen,  I have to wonder if we are still a free nation.  These actions are what you would expect to see or witness coming from a Third World Country or a foreign nation.  Not the United States of America.

Allowing this to happen and condone that fellow citizens were treated as they were treated as they were and locked away for two years is literally horrid.  Our Judicial system failed these people and there has got to be accountability."