What made Ammon Bundy go from Arizona businessman to leader of the Oregon standoff?
God, patriotism and militia support led him to Oregon wildlife refuge standoff against the federal government, he said.
- Arizona business owner Ammon Bundy, whose family won an armed standoff against federal authorities in 2014, is leading the siege in Oregon
- Bundy, his brother and at least three other Arizonans took over a federal wildlife refuge in order to force federal authorities to relinquish control of federal lands
- The protestors were driven by a mixture of religion, patriotism and anti-government fervor
- Bundy's occupation isn't getting support from religious leaders, lawmakers or national militia leaders
UPDATE:Ammon Bundy and others involved in the siege of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon were arrested and one man was killed as law-enforcement officials moved against them on Jan. 26.
Weeks before Ammon Bundy led the siege of a remote Oregon wildlife refuge facility, he started plotting a fight against federal authorities. Again.
He was convinced that he and a handful of "patriots" could win. After all, Bureau of Land Management agents had backed down a little more than a year ago in an armed standoff at his family's ranch.
Ammon is the son of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who drew national attention during his standoff with federal officials over unpaid grazing fees.
What drove the Arizona business owner to think he could defend a family he'd never met in a small ranching community on a windswept range he'd never visited was a mixture of religion, patriotism and anti-government fervor. In videos posted on YouTube and other social-media sites this month, he would explain that he was there because American values and a Western way of life were under threat.
God told him the cause was righteous, Bundy said. And militia members told him they would back him up.
Several of those who responded to Bundy's initial call to arms, including at least three men from Arizona, shared similar motivations on social-media websites and in homemade videos. One member of Bundy's Arizona cadre is an anti-Muslim activist; another has a criminal record. They explained they were in Oregon to defend the U.S. Constitution against the government.
But if Bundy's group was driven by the power of religion, faith in the law and ideals of militias, support from those areas has been far less certain.
Bundy's Mormon church has condemned the actions as a violation of its theology. Politicians who once once spoke in favor of the Bundy family have distanced themselves. Federal and county authorities are calling them lawbreakers. And the Oath Keepers, a self-described constitutionalist group of military personnel, police and first responders, say Bundy acted without local consideration and that his stand is "not in direct defense of anyone."
The Oregon ranch family whose fight with federal prosecutors inspired Bundy's siege has said it doesn't want his help. The Hammond family issued a statement last week saying Bundy isn't speaking or acting on its behalf.
The situation also might be getting tense at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters in southeastern Oregon, where Bundy is entering his second week of occupation. Even before the first week ended, competing militia groups were squaring off.
On Wednesday, members of a Tucson militia group reportedly forced its way into the compound and confronted Bundy's group, leading to a fistfight that sent one man to the hospital.
Residents in the nearby town of Burns, where occupiers come and go unchecked by law enforcement, mostly want the siege to end. Hundreds of county residents packed an exhibit hall at the fairgrounds Wednesday night as the sheriff called on the on the occupiers to go home. Pictures of the event showed a majority of residents raising their hands when the sheriff asked who wanted the occupiers to leave.
Bundy rejected their pleas and has said he is prepared to hold out for years. He said he wants to return federal land to the people and will stay until his work unwinds what he calls unconstitutional land transactions.
At Ammon Bundy's Arizona business
At Bundy's vehicle maintenance shop in Tempe this week, employees watched events unfold with some surprise — and admiration.
"He's one of the best people you'll ever meet," said Ken West, 67-year-old manager of Valet Fleet Service. "He's very God-oriented. He believes in family and he believes in the Constitution."
West described Bundy as a good family man with six children and a strong work ethic. He said Bundy built the business, which concentrates on preventive maintenance for tractor-trailers, by working 18 hours a day until he established himself.
Records show Bundy got help to jump-start his business six years ago from the federal government. Records show Bundy borrowed more than $530,000 through a federal program in 2010. The Small Business Administration loan cost taxpayers about $22,000, records show.
Bundy also owns a related company called Haybo Truck Leasing in Phoenix.
Leader in Oregon standoff has Arizona ties
West said Bundy surprised him with a decision to move to Idaho last year after nearly 10 years in the Valley. But "he's still taking care of business," West said.
West said he supports Bundy's actions in Oregon, adding that most people don't understand his cause.
"He's fighting for our constitutional rights," he said. "I'm very concerned. I hope it all gets settled down."
Bundy has said in media interviews that dozens of defenders stand with him at that wildlife refuge. And his call has inspired others ready to join him.
Why the Bundys went to Oregon
Ammon's brother, Ryan Bundy, who is helping lead the siege, told the Associated Press the group wants to force authorities to relinquish control of federal land and give it to local authorities. He said they want land rights to be returned to the people for ranching, mining and recreation.
In videos and on social-media sites, Ammon Bundy explained why he decided to intervene on the Hammonds' behalf and what he hopes to accomplish.
Dwight and Steven Hammond, father-and-son ranchers, were convicted of setting a fire that burned more than 130 acres in 2001. Federal prosecutors accused them of trying to cover up evidence of poaching. The Hammonds claimed they were creating a back burn to reduce the risk of wildfire.
The Hammonds were convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, but a federal judge reduced Dwight's term to three months and Steven's to a year in 2013. Protests arose after an appeals court this year reinstated the original sentence and ordered the Hammonds to return to prison and serve out the remainder of their terms.
Ammon Bundy said he woke up several weeks ago with an "overwhelming urge" to help the Hammonds. He said he researched their case, began writing letters to Oregon officials and sought God's direction.
"I began to understand how the Lord felt about the Hammonds," Bundy said in a YouTube video. "I began to understand what the Lord felt about Harney County and this country. I clearly understood that the Lord was not pleased with what was happening to the Hammonds. And that what was happening to them, if it was not corrected, would be a type and a shadow that would happen to the rest of the people across this country."
Bundy said the Hammond case mirrored his family's own fight with the federal government.
Authorities attempted to seize Cliven Bundy's cattle as payment for more than $1 million in back fees. The Bundys, backed by armed militia members, forced the Bureau of Land Management to abandon its plans and withdraw from the confrontation.
Ammon Bundy, who moved from Phoenix to Idaho about six months ago, said he drove to the Hammond ranch to talk about his plans — and his certainty that they could force the government to stand down.
"I knew ... if they just had the courage to stand, that they would be able to be free. Like I am free, like my father, my brothers and my mother are free, and the ranch," Bundy said in the video.
In his YouTube video, Bundy said he reached out to several militia groups, including the Pacific Patriot Network, the Oregon Constitutional Guard and the Oath Keepers, and "brought them into the conversation." He said he followed God's instructions, wrote a "redress of grievances" letter and had more than eight hours of discussion with Harney County Sheriff David Ward.
Bundy called for protesters to join him, saying that "what was happening in Harney County would happen to all the counties across the United States and would go into all ends of the Earth if there was not a stand made."
Bundy's group broke off from a Jan. 2 protest march outside the Hammonds' home in Burns and laid claim to the wildlife refuge headquarters, which was closed for the New Year's holiday.
A Bundy supporter in Arizona
Ron Washum, 63, a computer repairman from Fountain Hills, celebrated the victory at Bundy Ranch in 2014.
"This is the same sort of situation," he said. "They (federal agencies) are trying to run ranchers off the land."
Key figures in Oregon standoff have Arizona ties
Washum acknowledged that he does not have any experience with land issues. But he said he is convinced the Bureau of Land Management wants to take land from private citizens in order to obtain mineral rights.
"If the government doesn't follow the laws, why should the people?" he said.
Washum refused to describe the Oregon stand as an occupation or a siege, calling it instead "more of a show of resistance."
#DaddySworeAnOath: Twitter mocks Phoenix resident Jon Ritzheimer over support of Oregon protesters
Washum said he has met Ammon Bundy and his brothers. But his connection to the siege is through Jon Ritzheimer, a Peoria man who catapulted himself into national headlines in the past year for his anti-Muslim protests in Phoenix.
Ritzheimer organized an armed protest outside the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix in May. The FBI issued an alert for Ritzheimer in November after he posted a video online threatening the publisher of the Islamist Post for an article that described him as "the American Taliban." In the video, Ritzheimer brandished and cocked a gun and said he was travelling to New York for a confrontation.
Ritzheimer, a former Marine who owns a business promoting anti-Islamic merchandise called Rogue Infidel, is a key member of the siege. In YouTube video this month, he can be seen holding a copy of the Constitution and stating, "We need to stand our ground together."
In another video, which went viral after people mocked it on social media, Ritzheimer posted a goodbye video to his kids, saying, "Daddy took an oath" and that he was willing to die in Oregon.
Washum said Ritzheimer and others didn't go to Oregon hoping for violence.
"The guys who are up there didn't go up there to stir up trouble," he said. "They are there to defend."
Arizona Republicans distant from Bundy
But even Bundy's onetime allies appear to be questioning his cause.
Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, traveled to the Bundy ranch in 2014 and compared the family's stand with Chinese dissidents actions at Tiananmen Square, where Chinese troops fired on unarmed civilians. She said she disagrees with protesters who deny the authority of the federal government.
Townsend released a statement on behalf of the Hammonds last week, saying Dwight Hammond told her the Bundys’ interference is not welcome and he worries it will hurt the cause of standing up for property rights.
Townsend said she contacted the Hammonds after Ryan Bundy shared the ranchers’ contact information with her.
Townsend, who chairs the Federalism and States Rights’ Committee in the Arizona House, said she talked to the Hammond family as she sought information about the standoff. Townsend emphasized she has not taken a side in the standoff, but that Dwight and Susan Hammond are disdainful of the occupation.
“I am worried that our family will be associated with their actions, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. I wish they hadn’t come here,” Dwight Hammond said in the statement Townsend released. "They have diminished our credibility by coming to our place. Coming to support us is one thing, but coming to make a disturbance is altogether different.”
Susan Hammond added the family is "not above bucking the storm if it is not illegal,” according to the statement.
"The Federal government has overstepped their bounds for years in Harney County," Susan said in the statement. "The people’s civil rights and private property rights have been abused. However, I cannot make a statement about what the Bundys are doing because every time you hear something, it is different and it is important not to rush to judgment until all the facts are known.”
Townsend was one of five Arizona legislators who went to the Bundy ranch in 2014.
So was Kelli Ward, a former Republican state senator from Lake Havasu City, who stepped down to run for U.S. Senate against John McCain.
"I will always support our First Amendment rights including free speech, peaceful assembly, and the right to non-violently protest," Ward said in a statement about the siege. "As Americans, we enjoy the right to speak our minds without threat of government persecution, arrest, or incarceration. We don't have the right to use force or to threaten violence against others."
Ward said there is too much federal control of state lands, especially in the West. But she said "we need to address this overreach in a Constitutional manner that follows the law."
Republic reporters Mary Jo Pitzl and Dan Nowicki contributed to this article.