– The #Oregonstandoff –
So far, there has been no visible police presence at the reserve, where several armed men in vehicles guarded the entrance while others kept watch from a lookout tower.
School was cancelled in the area for the week, and the county courthouse was closed Monday “for security reasons.”
On the Internet, public opinion was sharply split on what was quickly dubbed the #Oregonstandoff, with many branding the takeover an act of domestic terrorism, while others saw an act of resistance to government oppression.
A Gallup poll released last month shows a majority of Americans view “big government” as the biggest threat to the nation in the future, when asked to choose between that, big labour and big business.
The theme has been embraced by the Republican party’s contenders for the 2016 presidential nomination, who so far have been relatively silent on the siege – with the notable exception of Ted Cruz who urged the protesters to stand down peaceably.
“Every one of us has a constitutional right to protest, to speak our minds,” Cruz told reporters in Iowa. “But we don’t have a constitutional right to use force and violence and to threaten force and violence against others.”
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