Rod Minott of KCTS-Seattle reports. With the Federal Building as a symbolic backdrop, a group of about a dozen people in Helena, Montana, last Friday marked the first anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing by rallying against armed extremists. We abhor the vilification of government workers as a threat to people and an assault on our democracy, and we urge all Montanans to stand up and be counted against the acts of political hatred and division. The measure targets the Montana Freemen, a group of anti-government militants who reject state and federal law. About 18 of them remain holed up on a farm in Eastern Montana, where the stand-off against federal agents has now lasted one month.
Authorities believe the Freemen are heavily armed.
While Montana already has a law that bans paramilitary training, the proposed ballot measure would outlaw the filing of bogus property liens, a tactic used frequently by the Freemen. The initiative would also allow anyone harassed or threatened by extremists to sue for monetary damages. Evan Barrett heads the ballot drive. Silence is consent, and if we stand by silent in the face of this kind of extremism, those who perpetrate that kind of violence and activity will believe that we're on their side, and most mainstream America and mainstream Montana is not on the side of those who would perpetrate violence. That attention had been at its most intense one year ago following the Oklahoma City bombing.