At Community Meeting, Overflow Crowd of Local Residents Wants Militia to End #Malheur Occupation (VIDEO)

At the Portland Oregonian, "Residents near Oregon standoff like militants' message, but still want them to leave":

BURNS – Cowboys, mothers, retirees and dozens more from Harney County offered support Wednesday for the anti-government message offered by militants occupying a federal compound outside of town.

But they still asked the group of protesters to leave.

One speaker after another among the hundreds gathered for a community meeting said it was time to talk the way to a solution. When a rancher volunteered to accompany the sheriff to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, others shouted out their willingness to go as well.

About 20 protesters took control of the wildlife refuge headquarters on Saturday. The group is led by Ammon Bundy of the activist Nevada ranching family who came to Oregon to spare two local ranchers from prison.

Many local residents at the gathering said they supported the point the protesters are trying to make with their occupation – that the federal government is overreaching -- and they praised the militants for bringing national attention to federal land management issues that residents have faced for years.

Bundy "has given Harney County our biggest and best platform ever to get our message out," said rancher Mitch Singer. He went to the refuge to meet with the protesters and urged locals to pick up on the political battle.

Merlin Rupp, who has lived in the county 70 years, said he also went to the refuge to see what was happening. "They ain't hurtin' a damn thing down there," he said, though he added it was time for militants to go home.

Vanessa Leathers-King said she was in a group of 30 to 40 locals who headed to the wildlife reserve for the same reason. "That's the cleanest I've ever seen the refuge," she said.

Area businessman Tim Smith said the new Harney County Committee of Safety met with the militants as well. The committee formed last week at a community meeting organized by the protesters.

Six local residents agreed to serve on the committee to press grievances against the government, but the community has viewed it with suspicion because of its origins. Besides Smith, the committee includes a retired fire chief and two ranchers.

Smith said the safety committee reflects the divide in the community over the standoff – three committee members signed a letter demanding the militants leave but three others wouldn't.

As for the occupiers, Smith said, "We do not believe there is any threat to this community from this group."

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