Free Republic

Four of the seven remaining Oregon standoff defendants who were set to go to trial Feb. 14 have decided to accept negotiated deals and are expected to change their pleas during hearings in federal court Monday. Sean Anderson and his wife, Sandra Anderson -- among the last four holdouts during the 41-day occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last year -- as well as Dylan Anderson and Darryl Thorn are set to enter guilty pleas to a single misdemeanor trespass charge and have the remaining felony and misdemeanor charges dismissed. They're expected to face one year of probation and...

I have disagreed with Senator Ron Wyden on practically every political question there is, but he always has struck me as a decent and honest man, and so it is with a heavy heart that I write these words: Senator Wyden must resign his seat in light of disturbing new information about his past that has come to light. The shocking revelation: Senator Wyden has been, for more than a decade, a willing accomplice to a plot to undermine the American political order and to overthrow the Constitution by infiltrating agents of radicalism into the highest reaches of the federal...

Immigration arrests at the Multnomah County Courthouse and the Multnomah County Jail have come under scrutiny in recent weeks. (Oregonian/OregonLive file photo) The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office is conducting an internal investigation into whether county policies were violated when immigration agents arrested a man at an appointment with sheriff's deputies, a spokesman said. The man was arrested Dec. 21 when he went to the Multnomah County Justice Center for a required appointment with sheriff's deputies, said his lawyer, Kasia Rutledge. He was required to meet with the deputies once a week as a condition for his pre-trial release, Rutledge...

One of the leaders of disorderly anti-Trump protests in Portland, Oregon is facing sexual abuse charges after a police investigation into his relationship with a teenage boy, local news outlets are reporting.Micah Rhodes, who was expected in court Monday, is a leader of the protest group Portland’s Resistance. The 23-year-old Rhodes is already a registered sex offender, according to KOIN, and was previously arrested for disorderly conduct in connection with anti-Trump protests after the election.Rhodes was first taken into custody at an anti-Trump protest on January 25.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A 23-year-old registered sex offender, who has participated in several recent protests as a leader of ‘Portland’s Resistance,’ is now being accused of sexually abusing a teen boy. Micah Rhodes faces 4 counts of second-degree sexual abuse, according to the Portland Police Bureau. On Monday, the Oregon State Police Sex Offender Registration Unit confirmed Rhodes is a registered sex offender. His name does not appear on the pubic state-run website because he is not considered predatory. It’s also absent because when Rhodes was convicted, his case was settled in juvenile court. Rhodes became a registered sex...

Anti-Trump Protesters attacked Pro-Trump protesters at the Portland International Airport tonight. It the video you can tell it was ten on four… Ten thugs against four Trump supporters. You can see them CHASE DOWN and BEAT the Trump Supporters. The leftist mob start screaming at the man has he lay unconscious on the ground! They were screaming, “That’s right Nazi boy!” as the man lay on the ground!

Rumors of detentions of people by immigration officials at the Multnomah County Courthouse building have swirled this week. (Oregonian file) Unconfirmed reports of a immigration crackdown at Oregon's busiest courthouse in Portland prompted condemnation from defense attorneys and a joint statement from top Multnomah County officials expressing "grave concern" about the resulting fear. Here's the joint statement issued Saturday: Like many of you, late Friday we heard reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detaining people who come to the Multnomah County Circuit Court Courthouses. We immediately reached out to court officials. In the past two weeks, there has...

Portland police responded quickly and decisively to a group of protesters blocking traffic in the city Wednesday, running one of them right into the ground in dramatic footage posted online. About a dozen police in riot gear approach the scene of the protest in the video posted to Facebook by a local outlet, where agitated bystanders had gathered around the protesters as they blocked traffic. One man had climbed onto the front of the bus. “Here they come,” one onlooker says excitedly.

Full title: President Donald Trump vows to 'crack down' on sanctuary cities. These Oregon officials aren't backing down President Donald Trump vowed to crack down on sanctuary cities Wednesday, signing an executive order that could strip federal funding from governments that say they won't help federal authorities enforce immigration law. But Oregon officials say they aren't backing down. Here's a round-up of government leaders who say they're committed to remaining sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants. Jessica Vega Pederson (center): "I will not allow fear-mongering to tarnish the contribution that my family and I have made to this country." Stephanie Yao Long/StaffStephanie...

In a little-noticed action on Inauguration Day, the Oregon State University board of trustees voted overwhelmingly to sell most of OSU’s $8.8 million in fossil fuel stocks. The action capped a four-year campaign by faculty and students under the banner of OSU Divest to rid the campus of its stake in carbon-­emissions-heavy energy such as oil, gas and coal. “I was thrilled. It’s been four years,” said OSU education professor Ken Winograd, who added that it was a coincidence that the divestment vote came on the day that President Trump, a climate skeptic, took office.

The vast majority of residents living in California would like see sanctuary cities barred, a state home to multiple jurisdictions which refuse to abide by federal immigration laws. Roughly 74 percent of California residents want to see an end to sanctuary city policies... The issue to end sanctuary cities in the state crosses racial and party lines, with 65 percent of Hispanics registering their agreement, while 70 percent of independents, 82 percent of Republicans, and 73 percent of Democrats feel the same.

Authorities have arrested a man in the Mexican state of Puebla who is wanted in the traffic collision deaths of Marion County Deputy Kelly Fredinburg and another man in 2007, according to the Oregon State Police. "It has been nearly 10 years since the tragic loss of Deputy Kelly Fredinburg," Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers said in a news release issued Saturday. "While no one has ever given up hope that the individual responsible for this tragedy would be apprehended, it has been an emotional, trying and difficult journey to reach this point." Fredinburg, then 33, had worked for the...

A federal prosecutor has filed a formal criminal information charging Marcus Mumford, Ammon Bundy's lawyer, with three misdemeanors. It accuses Mumford of creating a disturbance by impeding or disrupting official government duties by "verbally and physically interfering with" deputy U.S. marshals in their "transportation of a person in their custody." The second charge is failure to comply with signs that prohibit the disruption of official government duties. The third charge is failure to comply with the lawful direction of a federal police officer..... The information replaces the initial citations against Mumford. Marshals tackled Mumford, stunned him with a Taser and...

Oregon rancher receives government request to survey his property – read his brilliant response! letter-screen-shot So many people cave in and bend over backwards to accommodate the most ridiculous requests of federal and state governments, but this story is a reminder of how we all should respond when bureaucrats come knocking at our doors. Recently, Oregon ranchers Larry and Amanda Anderson received a letter by the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife asking for permission to survey their land in order to track a nearly endangered species. The letter requested use of the landowners' creek to document the amphibian life...

A small business owner in Oregon has a message for CNN, ignorant liberals and Bruce Springsteen: “We’ve had it with you idiots.” Kevin Kerwin is the proprietor of Kevin the Geek Computer Repair store in Lake Oswego. He’s also one of the few conservatives around town. Click here for a free subscription to Todd’s newsletter: a must-read for conservatives! “Oregon is a very beautiful state, but it’s infested with liberals,” Kevin tells me.

BURNS--A knock on the front door awakened Susie Hammond.... She struggled out of bed, hobbled by an aching right hip, and limped to the front of her small house..... "Susan?" one of them said. "My name is Ammon Bundy." So began Hammond's passage from 75-year-old matriarch of an eastern Oregon ranching clan to reluctant symbol of the rural West's revolt against federal ownership of vast resource-rich rangeland. Bundy often invoked the story of Hammond's husband, Dwight Jr. and their youngest son Steven, convicted of setting fires on public lands and ordered back to prison to serve out five-year sentences..... Susie...

What is the worth of a public employees union? Well not much these days according to the actions of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU announced last week that its members must be prepared for a thirty percent (30%) budget reduction including an immediate ten- percent (10%) reduction in 2017. Of course the SEIU union bosses blamed it all on President-elect Donald Trump but there is really more to it than that. Private sector union membership has been on the decline for decades. It is the result of a combination of things – mechanization, international trade agreements, and a...

We recently received a disappointing ruling in the case of Bill Diss, a Portland, Oregon public school teacher who was fired after he objected to facilitating a Planned Parenthood sex education program in his classroom. The judge granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, which means the case cannot go before a jury. Life Legal is appealing the decision.Bill Diss became “enemy number one” with his local Planned Parenthood affiliate when he led opposition to a new PP mega-facility in downtown Portland.When Planned Parenthood employees wanted to come into Diss’ classroom to recruit students for their “Teen Outreach Program,” or...

Sermon delivered by Rev. Bill Sinkford on Dec 5, 2016: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In the Christian liturgical calendar, this is the second Sunday of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, when the spiritual task is to prepare for the birth of hope…prepare to welcome hope into our hearts. I have, needless to say, translated the Christian language some of you will remember into more broadly accessible terms. Preparing to welcome hope. Although our liberal religious tradition, from its earliest days, rejected the literal truth of the miracle stories that came to be told about Jesus and his birth, the...

Last week, administrators at the University of Oregon made it clear to professors that they would be disciplined if they offended students on the subjects of race, gender, sexuality, or religion. This is a concerning new development considering that this new warning from administrators suggests that professors can be disciplined based upon what students subjectively choose to find offensive. Discipline for remarks made by professors is not limited to bigoted remarks or deliberate racism, but rather any incident that a student may find offensive. [Snip] According to Eugene Volokh of The Washington Post, the following acts of expression could be...