Editorials & Other Articles

Eugene

(61,937 posts) Mon Apr 4, 2016, 05:11 AM Apr 2016

Standoff Sheds Light on Conservative Sheriffs Group

Source: Associated Press

Standoff Sheds Light on Conservative Sheriffs Group

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE, Wash. — Apr 4, 2016, 3:10 AM ET

The actions of two rural Oregon sheriffs during an armed standoff at a national wildlife refuge were striking: one worked with federal officials to end the siege while the other questioned the FBI's authority and offered words of support for the occupiers.

Sheriff Dave Ward of Harney County, where the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is located, cooperated with federal and state police, urging standoff leader Ammon Bundy and his followers to stand down and respect the law.

Meanwhile in Grant County, immediately to the north, Sheriff Glenn Palmer called the occupiers "patriots." When Bundy and others were arrested during a Jan. 26 traffic stop, they were on their way to his county. An Arizona rancher who police fatally shot when they say he reached for a gun shouted he was on his way to meet Palmer.

Palmer is a member of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a group that bills itself as "the last line of defense" against a federal government they contend overreaches on gun control and other issues. They see sheriffs as the ultimate law enforcement authority in their dispute with the federal government over control of federal lands.

The group's founder said they are recruiting people to run against sheriff's that don't support their cause and that the group's website includes lists of county sheriffs and whether they need to be "recalled or replaced."

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/standoff-sheds-light-conservative-sheriffs-group-38129487

7 replies

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Standoff Sheds Light on Conservative Sheriffs Group (Original Post) Eugene Apr 2016 OP

These sheriffs are bad enough, but think of the people that elect them. Hoyt Apr 2016 #1

Ill tell ya 2naSalit Apr 2016 #2

Along with the Koch payment system that supports these groups. Ford_Prefect Apr 2016 #4

The FBI 2naSalit Apr 2016 #7

Palmer should be fired nikto Apr 2016 #3

Palmer is under investigation for his actions by Oregon DOJ and Federal officials. Ford_Prefect Apr 2016 #6

This message was self-deleted by its author maindawg Apr 2016 #5

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)

1. These sheriffs are bad enough, but think of the people that elect them.

Reply to Eugene (Original post)

Mon Apr 4, 2016, 05:18 AM

Apr 2016

2naSalit

(86,743 posts)

2. Ill tell ya

Reply to Hoyt (Reply #1)

Mon Apr 4, 2016, 06:51 AM

Apr 2016

It can be pretty bad.

This association wayward Sheriffs needs to be exposed and squashed.

Ford_Prefect

(7,917 posts)

4. Along with the Koch payment system that supports these groups.

Reply to 2naSalit (Reply #2)

Mon Apr 4, 2016, 07:04 AM

Apr 2016

They have a third party, hands off financing system that has put money into the Militia movement and other groups like the this one which resist federal authority. They also have arranged meetings between interested parties with similar agendas.

For reasons that have never been clear at all the FBI, Treasury Dept. and SEC don't take an interest in this level of the Koch organization. FBI for a long time had a large Mormon contingent, so who knows.

2naSalit

(86,743 posts)

7. The FBI

Reply to Ford_Prefect (Reply #4)

Mon Apr 4, 2016, 07:32 AM

Apr 2016

Stlll have a large mormon contingent.

Someone needs to bust the kochtopus up into millions of pieces.

nikto

(3,284 posts)

3. Palmer should be fired

Reply to Eugene (Original post)

Mon Apr 4, 2016, 06:55 AM

Apr 2016

Ford_Prefect

(7,917 posts)

6. Palmer is under investigation for his actions by Oregon DOJ and Federal officials.

Reply to nikto (Reply #3)

Mon Apr 4, 2016, 07:30 AM

Apr 2016

http://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/grant-county-sheriff-glenn-palmerdoj-investigation/

(Oregon) DOJ Launches Investigation Into Grant County Sheriff
--snip--
The state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training has received at least nine complaints against Palmer. “The number of complaints is a little odd,” said Linsay Hale, director of the agency’s professional standards division. “Typically we don’t get a volume like this on one particular situation or one particular individual.” The DPSST recommended the Oregon Department of Justice investigate the sheriff.

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Palmer is under investigation for his actions related to the occupation along with other activities deemed by some as inappropriate for a senior police officer.

-- snip--

A Contentious History With Federal Agencies
Palmer’s approach to the occupiers is just one example of a leadership style that, for years, has set him apart from other Oregon elected officials.

Palmer challenges federal land policies and practices, refuses to enforce laws that he believes are unconstitutional, and fosters a following of sheriff-empowered citizen deputies who report to him. He’s part of a movement of self-described “constitutional sheriffs,” who view their position the highest executive authority within a county with the power to remove or bar federal agents from their jurisdiction. Palmer is the only current Oregon sheriff listed as associated with the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association.

--snip--

His 16 years in the sheriff’s seat have been unusual from other law enforcement officers in a number of ways. Last fall, he deputized local citizens to create a document called the Grant County Public Lands Natural Resources Plan, an effort to give him and potentially other county leaders more say in how federal lands are managed. Palmer surprised leaders of Grant County’s governing board when he brought them his plan in September and asked them to adopt it.

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Palmer appears to have carved out quite a little empire in the county and the region. Be careful what you wish for, I say.

Response to Eugene (Original post)

maindawg This message was self-deleted by its author.

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