Republican strategist John Weaver on Tuesday warned that President Donald Trump is appeasing “ultra right militia” groups by pardoning two ranchers who sparked the armed takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge.
In an expected move on Monday, the president announced that Dwight and Steven Hammond would receive full pardons for the arson on federal lands, which encouraged Ammon and Ryan Bundy to instigate the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Writing on Twitter, Weaver ominously predicted that “bad things will flow” from the pardons.
“What a dangerous thing for this ‘president’ to do,” he said, “giving oxygen to ultra right militia who don’t respect the law or the constitution and present a danger to the Republic. Bad things will flow from this.”
Civil rights attorney Joshua Engel replied, agreeing with Weaver.
“I prosecuted some of the ‘sovereign citizen”/”Militia’ folks; they are dangerous people who threaten judges and police and would not submit to the jurisdiction of the courts,” he wrote. “The President should be working against those who are avowed enemies of the Constitution.”
Ed. Note:
You can read more about the lawlessness of the Hammonds and their Malheur Refuge defenders in our archive here.
