Ammon Bundy, the anti-government activist who led the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016, declared that he supports the Black Lives Matter movement. He also expressed support for “defunding the police because yes the police need to be defunded.”
You must have a problem in your mind if you think that somehow the Black Lives Matter is more dangerous than the police. You must have a problem in your mind if you think that Antifa is the one going to take your freedom. … you must be hypnotized by these social media code words or by conservative talk show hosts.
I am not in favor of abolishing the police, but I am in favor of minimizing their power. Law enforcement is a necessary element of a free and civil society and I am wholeheartedly in favor of having a law-abiding peacekeeping force that ensures the peace and safety of its citizens. … What I want is what most rational and free-thinking people want — I want freedom to live the life that I want without fear of my government oppressing me or physically assaulting me. Patriots want that. And guess what, many people within the BLM movement just want the same thing.
Even though I was very upset at what Bundy did at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, I applaud him for acknowledging that his views and the BLM movement are two sides of the same coin.
3 Comments
It’s refreshing to see some sort of ideological consistency within the “don’t tread on me” types. I do think it bears mentioning that the Bundy family (thinking of his dad’s standoff) is pretty emblematic of the problem though. They were stealing from the U.S., and federal law enforcement showed some serious restraint while having firearms aimed at them. Even with Ammon’s own Y’all Qaeda takeover at Malheur, it took ages for Feds to becomes seriously (i.e. violently) involved.
In other words, when he says “live the life that I want without fear [of oppression],” he’s talking about ignoring laws he doesn’t like. Not the freedom to not be harassed and executed by cops because he looks a certain way.
Still, politics and strange bedfellows, I suppose. File this guy with the Lincoln Project under “I’ll take your help now, but will never forget your actual positions.”
I hope all have seen the lates police atrocity where they made four girls age 17 to 7 get out of what they thought was a stolen car, made them “lay” sic down on the pavement, two of them handcuffed. It took four police to guard those girls. Of course, their skin color was black. Aurora Colorado on Sunday.
EBDoug, turns out they were looking for a stolen motorcycle. The people the cops abused were in an SUV.