澳彩开奖

What began as a paper dispute over the language in a claim for an old gold mine in the hills of southwestern Oregon has lurched into what the antigovernment 鈥淧atriots鈥� arriving on scene seemingly hope will be an armed confrontation with federal authorities.

Most of those arriving at the scene of the dispute over the Sugar Pine Mine near tiny Merlin, Ore., and nearby towns such as Grants Pass and Medford, believe they are engaging in a stand against a tyrannical federal government and the Bureau of Land Management 鈥� the second chapter in a fight that began a year ago with the Bundy Ranch standoff.

But as the mine owners to the militia members and antigovernment activists pouring into the valley after heeding the call: 鈥淭his is NOT a standoff with BLM. We are NOT promoting any confrontation with BLM. This is a security operation for the protection of Constitutional Rights.鈥�

鈥淚f you are on a fringe element, and you鈥檙e here to protest, or provoke a reaction with the federal government, I don鈥檛 want you here,鈥� said Joseph Rice, the 鈥渟ecurity coordinator鈥� for the Josephine County chapter of the Oath Keepers, in a YouTube video on the Oath Keepers site. 鈥淟et me repeat that: If you鈥檙e here to protest and to provoke a reaction with the federal government, I do not need you.鈥�

Since the people arriving in Oregon are apparently ready for action, and there isn鈥檛 any action on the horizon other than in a courtroom or at an administrative hearing, they鈥檙e taking matters into their own hands.

Today, they鈥檙e planning a outside the combined offices of the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service in Medford. Organizer all supporters who couldn鈥檛 attend to hold protests outside their local BLM offices.

鈥淲e are calling on all miners, loggers, farmers/ranchers and freedom lovers everywhere who are tired of government abuse to tell the BLM that the people of this country that they are sick to death of the way that they have been conducting themselves,鈥� he wrote on Facebook.

Jackson is one of the ringleaders of a group at the center of the dispute, which includes the mine鈥檚 co-owners, Rick Barclay and George Backes, who both have expressed affinities for the Oath Keepers鈥� 鈥渃onstitutionalist鈥� beliefs. They and the Josephine County chapter of the Oath Keepers last week in protecting the mine from the BLM.

Coming the same week as the one-year anniversary of the Bundy Ranch standoff, the story was widely circulated by websites as and the similarly conspiracy theorist website , whose reporter interviewed Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes about the scene in Oregon. 鈥淥ur goal is to make sure the miners have their day in court and due process,鈥� Rhodes said.

And Oath Keepers are coming come en masse to ensure that happens.

Among those who have come to the mine is Arizona militiaman Blaine Cooper, who widely seen on YouTube urging Patriots to make their way to Oregon.

They鈥檙e calling it a 鈥渟ecurity operation鈥� largely because owner Rick Barclay insists that the BLM is notorious for burning down miners鈥� cabins in the backwoods, and he believes they鈥檇 have destroyed his mine if he had not called for help. Cooper was last seen leading a group of anti-Obama protesters outside the White House, including several who demanded the president be hung.

So far, the mine鈥檚 owners have seemed to welcome support from the antigovernment movement.

鈥淚鈥檓 absolutely positive the BLM has not destroyed my property because it has been protected, as have my rights, by a group of folks,鈥� Barclay said in on the site. 鈥淭hey came at my request. I requested their presence. I still request their presence, until such time as I achieve my due process.鈥�

BLM employees are somewhat flabbergasted that a dispute over unfiled paperwork could somehow erupt into a situation in which weapons are now being brandished.

鈥淔rom our perspective, it鈥檚 been pretty much the same thing we always do,鈥� BLM spokesman Jim Whittington said. 鈥淭his is not a process that is new to us. We have hundreds of claims down here, and it鈥檚 not uncommon for us to come across operations that are not in compliance or don鈥檛 have documentation. So it鈥檚 kind of a shock to have this blow up like this."

A guard at the road turns away unwelcome visitors to the Sugar Pine Mine where Oath Keepers are gathering. (Source: Josephine County Oath Keepers.)

What the Oath Keepers will do now is anyone鈥檚 guess, considering that guards on the dirt road leading up to the staging area are reportedly turning away anyone without specific permission from the Oath Keepers.

The Sugar Pine Mine is an old claim dating, its owners say, to 1865. It is located on land administered by the BLM, though Barclay and his peers claim, much like Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy did, that federal jurisdiction doesn鈥檛 extend to their claim. Also like Bundy, Barclay claims that his title to the mine preceded Oregon and federal jurisdictions and that federal officials hadn鈥檛 sent them proof that the BLM had obtained surface rights to the mining claim.

Whiting explained that the owners鈥� complaints about nonresponses to document requests were a matter of impatience: 鈥淭hey filed a bunch of FOIAs and we鈥檙e like any government agency that鈥檚 inundated with FOIAs, it鈥檚 just the nature of the business. We answered two last week, two this week, and another one is coming next week.鈥�

As for the mine owners鈥� fears that BLM would destroy their property, Whittington said it鈥檚 just a groundless charge. 鈥淭he idea that we would go in on Friday and wipe everything off the claim is just not true,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t has no basis in reality.鈥�

He reminded Hatewatch: 鈥淭hese are public lands. The road going through their claim is a public road. Even if they did have surface rights, BLM could still come in there and inspect the mining claim to make sure they were following the law.鈥�

Whittington said that so far, BLM employees in the field haven鈥檛 had any ugly incidents. However, office workers manning their phones in the past week have had to deal with a barrage of threats from anonymous callers angered after reading the Internet accounts from Oath Keepers and other 鈥淧atriots.鈥�

鈥淲e take threats to BLM employees and other federal employees seriously, and we will investigate those threats. As long as those threats are under investigation, then we are not going to comment on the particulars of those threats. There have been threats, but they have all been by phone,鈥� Whiting said.

In the meantime, rumors are beginning to circulate of dissension within the ranks of the gathered Oath Keepers 鈥� a familiar scenario that also manifested itself at the Bundy Ranch after a few weeks of forced togetherness among the gathered 鈥淧atriots鈥� there, who eventually broke apart amid acrimony and pointed guns.

As the Thursday event approached, even Rick Barclay was sounding eager for his would-be defenders to leave.

In an , he denounced the scene near his mine: "What you're seeing is mostly a spectacle caused by social media and 'keyboard commandos' whooping it up.鈥� He seemed eager to draw a curtain on the drama.

"As soon as I get my court arrangements made, the Oath Keepers are leaving," he said. "It's OK. It's going to be OK."