Here is a brief post as a follow-up to my post in February 2016 of articles related to the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. As of October 2016, the trial of those who participated in that occupatio is underway. I came across this post by Patrick Lynch that appeared in the newspaper for Sandpoint, Idaho, the Bonner County Daily Bee, on October 16, 2016.
Mr. Lynch writes about how how his relatives who live near Burns, Oregon (the town nearest to the preserve told him, " . . . that their community was literally torn apart as a result of the armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge." He went on to write that, " . . . they did not think their community culd heal, and that they were afraid of who they culd even talk to at the grocery store. The conclusion was, "They felt their community had been destroyed by the armed occupation. They didn't know why they could trust any more."
This is a most unfortunate result of the armed occupation of this remote part of Oregon that took place early in 2016.