The Birders and the Bundys Again

Today about a hundred supporters of the ranchers who occupied Malheur Wildlife Refuge last month staged a rally at City Hall protesting the arrest of their leaders and the killing of Lavoy Finicum by the FBI. This woman, dressed in the US flag, apparently not an English teacher, coopted the Black Lives Matter movement with her own notion. All the Bundy supporters were white, but none were visibly armed, as Portland has an ordinance against openly carrying loaded firearms. Many wore cowboy hats and one wore a T-shirt proclaiming, “"This is the USA. We love freedom. We drink Beer. We eat meat. We own guns. We speak English. If you don't like this, MOVE!" 

The counter-protesters across the street carried signs that said, “I Love Public Lands” and “Birds Not Bundys.” Jarvis Kennedy, a member of the Tribal Council of the Paiute Nation, the people who lived in the Malheur area before white settlers arrived, addressed the counter-protest. A video of him speaking about the armed people at Malheur is here. 

A set of pictures of the two protests is here, including one of a man wearing the T-shirt quoted above.