........”two men were charged under anti-terrorism laws....” and ........”The militia groups say the Hammond’s were illegally prosecuted for setting what they claim was a controlled fire because the federal government has no authority at the county level”.....
What is the backstory here? Did they set fires on their own land and were charged with “terrorism”? That does sound fishy.
It has been done before in areas where the Feds crave to expand so called park land and owners are averse to selling. Back in the 70s and 80s these things resulted in Park Service faux drug raids that killed the landowners and obliterated their houses and outbuildings whereupon the properties were seized. Half a dozen of these became causes celebres. This progression seemed to have culminated in the Ruby Ridge and Koresh operations, though land was not the target in those. I know not whether the seizures stopped for a few years or we just quit hearing about them until this one.