Anger, Threats Over Malheur Arrests, Death Spur Feds to Issue Warning to Law Enforcement, Federal Workers
Law聽enforcement bulletin from DHS, FBI outlines threats to officers, employees, and suggests ways to combat them.
Responding to a rising tide of threats in the wake of the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore., federal authorities are to be on the lookout for retaliatory violence from extremists affiliated with the antigovernment movement.
Eleven people聽affiliated with Ammon Bundy鈥檚 鈥淐itizens for Constitutional Freedom鈥 were arrested in a law聽enforcement sweep operation on Jan. 26, while one member of the self-described 鈥渞evolutionaries鈥 鈥 Robert 鈥淟aVoy鈥 Finicum, a 54-year-old Arizona rancher 鈥 was shot and killed and while resisting arrest. More than two weeks later, on Feb. 11, the standoff ended when four remaining militants inside the compound surrendered to face federal charges for their activities during the takeover, which began Jan. 2.
鈥淚n response to news of the arrests, some militia extremists and their supporters have called for violence or unspecified nationwide action against law enforcement, federal facilities, and US government employees,鈥 the bulletin, issued jointly by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, said.聽聽
Threats have swirled around the scene at the wildlife refuge since it began. Even before the takeover, due to fears of violence emanating from the antigovernment movement. After the Jan. 26 arrests, federal authorities at a number of other wildlife refuges in the region, citing the need to 鈥渞emain vigilant to ensure employee and visitor safety throughout the region.鈥 At least one refuge 鈥 鈥 closed briefly in response to the occupation. The Oregon State Patrol, one of whose troopers shot Finicum, also has received .
The DHS鈥檚 participation in issuing the bulletin is noteworthy. A previous DHS bulletin, issued in 2009 鈥 similarly directed as an advisory for the nation鈥檚 law聽enforcement officers 鈥 described the potential threat of domestic聽extremist recruitment, particularly among returning war veterans. The bulletin proved accurately prophetic, but fueled by of the bulletin鈥檚 contents drove the department to rescind聽聽and , as well as to shrink the DHS domestic聽extremism unit to a single person.聽
More recently, however, it would revive聽its group monitoring domestic extremism, which produced a predictably hysterical response. The recent arrests of both the Malheur occupiers led by Ammon and Ryan Bundy, as well as the arrest of their father, Cliven Bundy, on charges related to the April 2014 standoff he led with federal authorities, are clear indicators that the previous trend toward law enforcement downplaying the threat of far聽right terrorism is beginning to reverse itself.
This bulletin is worded very carefully, saying that the combination of threats from Bundy鈥檚 group and 鈥渂ecause the CCF had been urging local residents to occupy other federal facilities, the FBI and DHS urge recipients of this bulletin to use caution during encounters with suspected domestic extremists, and to be vigilant of potential surveillance or pre-operational indicators.鈥
It goes on to warn that some of these indicators 鈥渕ay be constitutionally protected activities and should be supported by additional facts to justify increased suspicions,鈥 adding that 鈥渘o single behavioral indicator should be the sole basis for law enforcement action; rather the totality of behavioral indicators and other relevant circumstances should be evaluated when considering any law enforcement response or action. Independently, each behavioral indicator may represent legitimate recreational or commercial activities. Multiple indicators, however, could suggest a threat.鈥
Some of these indicators include:
- 鈥淣ew or increased advocacy of violence in response to the recent events in Oregon 鈥 such as vows to avenge the death that occurred during the enforcement聽action;鈥
- 鈥淓vidence of planned travel to Oregon 鈥 possibly as part of a group 鈥 to engage in violence in support of the individuals still present at the MNWR;鈥
- 鈥淒emonstrating an unusual interest in site security reaction drills or procedures; causing multiple false alarms or fictitious emergency calls to the same locations or similar venues;鈥
- 鈥淎ttention to or avoidance of surveillance cameras;鈥
- 鈥淎cquisition of suspicious quantities of weapons and ammunition, or of materials that could be used to produce explosives, such as hydrogen peroxide, acetone, gasoline, propane, or fertilizer.鈥
The bulletin also suggested a number of measures that law enforcement officers and federal employees could take, including increasing the visibility of armed security and raising community awareness of potential threats.