![]() “If I understand correctly, you've never spoken to the miners?"Īccording to Budd, at that point others in the small crowd joined in. When Strahan retorted: “I’m not here to answer your questions, Joseph,” Rice nonetheless persisted. “Have any of you ever talked to the miners?” he demanded to know. Joseph Rice, coordinator of the county’s Oath Keepers chapter and one of the leaders of the Patriot encampment outside of Grants Pass, near the road leading to the disputed mine, began heckling the speakers as they took questions from reporters. ![]() What he called the presence of "nutty, tough-acting, gun-toting thugs" is driving away visitors by reinforcing the perception that southwestern Oregon is a dangerous place. "Over the last few years, I've gotten more and more questions from my customers about the safety of coming to Josephine County to recreate," sporting goods business owners Dave Strahan said, describing how his work required him to travel the region widely. And that in itself tells you that what’s happening here is wrong.” “But that’s where we find ourselves today. One thing I think we all agree on is that we should not be afraid or intimidated within our own communities to speak to our neighbors. “I think we all know that here in Josephine County, we’re very diverse folks, and you can find people of just about every stripe. “I want to acknowledge that it takes courage to be here today,” Budd said in introductory remarks to the press. The news conference, held in response to the rally organized by the mine’s supporters outside Bureau of Land Management offices in nearby Medford on Thursday, was organized by a local man named Alex Budd, who told Hatewatch he simply was concerned about what he was observing in the community and on the conspiracy theory corners of the Internet, where the hopes of another Bundy Ranch-style armed standoff run high. "Certainly the miners are entitled to get their fair day in court and not have anything done to them until after the legal process, but they don't need gun toting people coming around, threatening the whole community," said Jerry Reid, a former dean of Rogue Community College. The community residents – who included a sporting-goods business owner, a former dean at the local community college, and several local church leaders, each of whom read a prepared statement – spoke to reporters outside the Josephine County Courthouse in Grants Pass. Perturbed by the influx of armed militiamen bristling with guns and angry rhetoric into their normally quiet little town, residents of rural Josephine County, Oregon, are fighting back, asking the assorted “Oath Keepers” and other “Patriots” who have arrived recently to ostensibly defend a local miner to pack their bags and leave.Īs if to prove their point, a number of Oath Keepers showed up on the scene last week and heckled local residents, intimidating them into retreating through the courthouse where they had stood to hold a news conference on Friday.
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