June 22, 2019

WHERE'S JANET RENO WHEN YOU NEED HER:

Militia threat shuts down Oregon Statehouse amid walkout (SARAH ZIMMERMAN and GILLIAN FLACCUS, 6/22/19, AP)

One of the groups, the Oregon Three Percenters, joined an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016. Dozens of people occupied the remote Oregon refuge for more than a month to protest federal control of Western lands. The standoff began to unravel when authorities fatally shot the group's spokesman and arrested key leaders as they headed to a community meeting.

"The Oregon State Police has recommended that the Capitol be closed tomorrow due to a possible militia threat," Carol Currie, spokeswoman for Senate President Peter Courtney, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press late Friday.

The governor's office also confirmed the threats.

Oregon State Police, in a statement, said it has been "monitoring information throughout the day that indicates the safety of legislators, staff and citizen visitors could be compromised if certain threatened behaviors were realized."

Also late Friday, Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek, both Democrats, condemned comments made by Sen. Brian Boquist, a Republican from Dallas, Oregon, that urged the state police to "send bachelors and come heavily armed" when they come to bring him back to the Capitol.

"His comments have created fear among employees in our workplace," the leaders said in a joint statement. "We will always defend free speech and welcome frank policy discussions, but threats like these are unacceptable."

Posted by at June 22, 2019 6:56 PM

  

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