SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Ammon Bundy, the leader of an anti-government militia, speaks to members of the media in front of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters on January 6, 2016 near Burns, Oregon. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
In a move that sends a "very friendly message to some very dangerous people," President Donald Trump on Tuesday granted full pardons to Dwight and Stephen Hammond, the father-son team of Oregon ranchers whose 2012 conviction for arson inspired the right-wing Bundy militia's armed takeover and month-long occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.
"Trump's pardon abandons human decency to signal encouragement of violence and extremism among his base."
--Kieran Suckling, Center for Biological Diversity
"Trump's pardon abandons human decency to signal encouragement of violence and extremism among his base," Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told Common Dreams in an email denouncing the president's decision. "The Hammonds are dangerous people with a long history of arson, illegal grazing, threatening violence against federal officials, and child abuse."
\u201cOur dumpster fire of a president has pardoned two Oregon arsonists who also threatened to kill federal officials, abused their nephew and illegally ran cattle on a national wildlife refuge. https://t.co/rGobaXQnbk\u201d— Kier\u00e1n Suckling (@Kier\u00e1n Suckling) 1531237584
The Hammonds' crime of intentionally starting a fire on public land--which witnesses alleged was aimed at covering up the illegal slaughter of deer--carried a minimum prison sentence of five years, but a sympathetic judge decided in 2012 to hand the ranchers a far lighter sentence. Prosecutors later successfully appealed the lenient sentences, and the Hammonds were resentenced in 2015 to serve full five-year prison terms.
Brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who led the 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, cited the Hammond case as the driving force behind their decision to illegally seize public property wielding rifles and other firearms.
"This pardon is a win only for those with no respect for life and basic decency."
--Lori Ann Burd, Center for Biological Diversity
The Bundys and seven other members of the right-wing militia that took part in the armed occupation were acquitted of all charges in October of 2016, a decision that set what one critic called "a dangerous and far-reaching precedent for the kind of paramilitary intimidation and right-wing violence that underpins their movement."
Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the environmental group Center for Western Priorities, argued in a statement that by pardoning the Hammonds, Trump has "sided with lawless extremists who believe that public land does not belong to all Americans."
"This pardon is a win only for those with no respect for life and basic decency," added Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Hammonds are child abusers and anti-government zealots who endangered lives when they committed arson to cover up illegally slaughtering a herd of deer."
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
In a move that sends a "very friendly message to some very dangerous people," President Donald Trump on Tuesday granted full pardons to Dwight and Stephen Hammond, the father-son team of Oregon ranchers whose 2012 conviction for arson inspired the right-wing Bundy militia's armed takeover and month-long occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.
"Trump's pardon abandons human decency to signal encouragement of violence and extremism among his base."
--Kieran Suckling, Center for Biological Diversity
"Trump's pardon abandons human decency to signal encouragement of violence and extremism among his base," Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told Common Dreams in an email denouncing the president's decision. "The Hammonds are dangerous people with a long history of arson, illegal grazing, threatening violence against federal officials, and child abuse."
\u201cOur dumpster fire of a president has pardoned two Oregon arsonists who also threatened to kill federal officials, abused their nephew and illegally ran cattle on a national wildlife refuge. https://t.co/rGobaXQnbk\u201d— Kier\u00e1n Suckling (@Kier\u00e1n Suckling) 1531237584
The Hammonds' crime of intentionally starting a fire on public land--which witnesses alleged was aimed at covering up the illegal slaughter of deer--carried a minimum prison sentence of five years, but a sympathetic judge decided in 2012 to hand the ranchers a far lighter sentence. Prosecutors later successfully appealed the lenient sentences, and the Hammonds were resentenced in 2015 to serve full five-year prison terms.
Brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who led the 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, cited the Hammond case as the driving force behind their decision to illegally seize public property wielding rifles and other firearms.
"This pardon is a win only for those with no respect for life and basic decency."
--Lori Ann Burd, Center for Biological Diversity
The Bundys and seven other members of the right-wing militia that took part in the armed occupation were acquitted of all charges in October of 2016, a decision that set what one critic called "a dangerous and far-reaching precedent for the kind of paramilitary intimidation and right-wing violence that underpins their movement."
Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the environmental group Center for Western Priorities, argued in a statement that by pardoning the Hammonds, Trump has "sided with lawless extremists who believe that public land does not belong to all Americans."
"This pardon is a win only for those with no respect for life and basic decency," added Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Hammonds are child abusers and anti-government zealots who endangered lives when they committed arson to cover up illegally slaughtering a herd of deer."
In a move that sends a "very friendly message to some very dangerous people," President Donald Trump on Tuesday granted full pardons to Dwight and Stephen Hammond, the father-son team of Oregon ranchers whose 2012 conviction for arson inspired the right-wing Bundy militia's armed takeover and month-long occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.
"Trump's pardon abandons human decency to signal encouragement of violence and extremism among his base."
--Kieran Suckling, Center for Biological Diversity
"Trump's pardon abandons human decency to signal encouragement of violence and extremism among his base," Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told Common Dreams in an email denouncing the president's decision. "The Hammonds are dangerous people with a long history of arson, illegal grazing, threatening violence against federal officials, and child abuse."
\u201cOur dumpster fire of a president has pardoned two Oregon arsonists who also threatened to kill federal officials, abused their nephew and illegally ran cattle on a national wildlife refuge. https://t.co/rGobaXQnbk\u201d— Kier\u00e1n Suckling (@Kier\u00e1n Suckling) 1531237584
The Hammonds' crime of intentionally starting a fire on public land--which witnesses alleged was aimed at covering up the illegal slaughter of deer--carried a minimum prison sentence of five years, but a sympathetic judge decided in 2012 to hand the ranchers a far lighter sentence. Prosecutors later successfully appealed the lenient sentences, and the Hammonds were resentenced in 2015 to serve full five-year prison terms.
Brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who led the 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, cited the Hammond case as the driving force behind their decision to illegally seize public property wielding rifles and other firearms.
"This pardon is a win only for those with no respect for life and basic decency."
--Lori Ann Burd, Center for Biological Diversity
The Bundys and seven other members of the right-wing militia that took part in the armed occupation were acquitted of all charges in October of 2016, a decision that set what one critic called "a dangerous and far-reaching precedent for the kind of paramilitary intimidation and right-wing violence that underpins their movement."
Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the environmental group Center for Western Priorities, argued in a statement that by pardoning the Hammonds, Trump has "sided with lawless extremists who believe that public land does not belong to all Americans."
"This pardon is a win only for those with no respect for life and basic decency," added Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Hammonds are child abusers and anti-government zealots who endangered lives when they committed arson to cover up illegally slaughtering a herd of deer."