The standoff began on Jan. 2 after Ammon Bundy — son of the infamous Cliven Bundy — led a group of armed protesters to occupy the Harney County refuge in protest of the imprisonment of ranchers Dwight and Steve Hammond. The two men are accused of arson for setting an illegal fire which the men claimed was to burn off invasive plants, and on Monday surrendered to serve their prison terms.
Today the leader of the small armed group said that they will go home when a plan to turn over management of federal lands to locals is implemented.
By Jan. 3, conversation about the standoff was just as much about the issues Bundy and his followers were protesting as the way the group is talked about in conversation and in the media.
Al Jazeera wrote about the perceived double standard on reporting of the issue — many posited that if the protesters were black or Muslim, they would be referred to as terrorists or thugs. This led to a number of mocking hashtags, the most popular being #YallQaeda and #VanillaISIS.
It's going to be tough to beat #YallQaeda for my favourite hashtag of 2016.
— Chris Boutet (@chrisboutet) January 5, 2016
By Monday, it had become clear that the group — initially believed to be 150 in number but in reality probably less than 20 — were in dire straits. The protesters hadn’t brought enough supplies, prompting one of them to put out a call for “supplies and snacks.”
“The tree of liberty shall be fertilized with ramen and Cheetos” #YallQaeda need your help! pic.twitter.com/62Nh9Mb12c
— Fundraising for Good (@WhiteDoGooder) January 5, 2016
Someone caught a photo of #YallQaeda strategizing their #YeeHawd … everything seems to be going according to plan! pic.twitter.com/AXV1s5mOGS
— Colleen's Daughter (@ModestSuccess) January 5, 2016
What a bunch of babies. #YallQaeda pic.twitter.com/ul68aiCvsI
— MacLeodCartoons (@MacLtoons) January 5, 2016
That same day, the Hammonds turned themselves in, prompting the sheriff in the area to demand that the protesters leave. Federal authorities are also planning to cut power to the reserve, which will quickly expose the group to freezing temperatures.
On Tuesday, the FiveThirtyEight added even more fuel to the mockery by showing that the ranchers, who are also demanding free grazing rights for public land, can buy said rights for an astonishingly low price. While grazing fees on private lands have skyrocketed, Bureau of Land Management fees are much lower and have actually gotten cheaper in recent years.
REMINDER: The Armed #YallQaeda Ranchers Who Want Free Land Are Already Getting 93% Discount pic.twitter.com/DDYxVZOGuC
— The Baxter Bean (@TheBaxterBean) January 5, 2016
However, in a Tuesday opinion piece, Al Jazeera’s Natasha Lennard points out that while it’s easy to make fun of the ranchers, the possibility of a long, possibly violent standoff is no laughing matter:
“Black children get shot for holding toy guns; white men can stage an armed siege without intervention. And that’s not funny,”
