“Easter Rising”
The Irish learned long ago not to trust the gov where a “meeting” could turn into a massacre.
That’s why the IRA has always had two “wings” (my word, not theirs): the army, and the negotiators.
This way if the negotiators are killed or arrested, you still have an army that can fight.
The ranchers were sending their leaders out to the town hall meetings - big mistake because the leaders were also active participants in squatting on the protected area.
IRA style, the negotiators would not have specific operational knowledge or participation (cell mentality) so neither would there be cause to arrest (other than being associated w/a group) nor would there be a lot of actionable intel obtained from their interrogation.
In the 70’s, the provisional IRA had Sinn Fein as their political wing. They have since put down arms and accepted the peace process, though there have been other IRA groups since then who are militant, but follow the same bi-lateral approach.
While I know the IRA were popular with my Celtic brothers in Boston I don’t think Americans would cotton to an IRA style American group.