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A BAND OF armed anti-government activists occupying a federal wildlife reserve in rural Oregon dug in for a fourth day today, after the ranchers they claimed to be defending denounced the siege and turned themselves in to the law.
The loose-knit band of farmers, ranchers and survivalists – who have dubbed themselves “citizens for constitutional freedom” – began the siege in protest at the jailing of Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven, 46, convicted of arson for setting fire to federal land.
They have vowed to be peaceful so long as police don’t take action, but say they are armed in case of armed intervention by the authorities.
Up to a hundred protesters are believed to be holed up at the snowy visitor’s centre for the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, which they took over to show solidarity with the Hammonds, and demand that a court rescind an order for their arrest.
The FBI is working with local law enforcement to bring a peaceful end to the standoff.
The rancher father and son who triggered the armed siege have firmly distanced themselves from it, and yesterday turned themselves in to begin serving their five-year sentence, which they condemned as “far too long.”
They were being held at a federal prison in California, and announced they would seek rare clemency from President Barack Obama.
It was unclear whether their surrender to authorities would end the siege.
Police demanded that the remaining activists vacate the reserve.
“The Hammonds have turned themselves in. It is time for you to leave our community,” Harney County Sheriff David Ward told reporters.
“Go home, be with your own families and end this peacefully.”
He denounced the fact that “a peaceful protest became an armed and unlawful protest.”
The Oregon protest is led by 40-year-old rancher Ammon Bundy. His father, a Nevada rancher named Cliven Bundy, was at the centre of a previous armed standoff with government authorities in 2014, that time over grazing rights on public lands.
Bundy told reporters he was fighting for freedom for the Hammonds, saying they were harassed for refusing to sell their ranch to the government.
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If a driver hits a bridge they should have their licence revoked for a minimum of 6 months, and the cost of the repair should be billed to the driver’s employer. Any recurring incidents should be met with a more lengthy licence suspension.
@Alberto Balsam: some chance of that. A HGV driver crushed a cyclist causing them life changing injuries because he didn’t check his mirror before moving h off. Last week Judge Martin Nolan didn’t see cause to even disqualify him from driving.
All bridges have clearance height signs on them,and as a professional truck driver they are required to know the height of their vehicle. This is careless driving and should be punishable offence paid for by the driver and company responsible.
How about this for a radical idea, erect heavy duty steel goal posts braced with a cross bar and 45° angle bracing against the direction of travel, positioned at 50 metres from, or just after the last possible alternative route from each side of low bridges, set at the exact bridge height, so drivers that don’t know their trailer height hit those first.
@Dvsespaña: it has been recommended to DCC and Fingal Country Council and they both chose to ignore the advice.
@Dvsespaña: ah stop now, using a simple easy solution is not the way of any government or council in this country. Where are the years of consulting fees and committee payments going to materialize from then???
Why not have a system I have seen in France. Before the bridge have a heavy plastic/ rubber curtain across the road the same height as the upcoming bridge and if your vehicle hits that you know you won’t get under the bridge.This allows you time to stop.
Solution: stop vehicles hitting bridge.
@Sherry Adams – Norn Iron Drag Artiste: burn those bridges.
Engineers will still have to inspect the bridge so the delay won’t be much shorter.
We all get distracted while out and about it human nature, really 100 meters away from a bridge should be an automatic boom gate that will only open if you below the hight restriction.
Build better infrastructure.
@Foscam Dl: do you mean higher bridges.
@paulie: No. Lower roads.!
Most hit bridge in the country is in Portlaoise, but no let’s start with Dublin. Ya couldn’t even make this up
@DvdF: not to minimise your local
Issue, but impact is greater in Dublin
@DvdF: actually the most hit bridge is in Mulhuddart in Fingal.
Groundbreaking
Cameras are no substitute for proper safety inspection after a bridge has been hit.
have your say