Nevadans meddle in Oregon’s business

Pistol-packin' political firebrand Michele Fiore made the big headlines last week in Oregon, but two other Nevada legislators were on the scene in the waning hours of the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge — nearly 700 miles outside their Assembly districts.

Some would consider that beyond their jurisdiction, but I've come to the conclusion they believe their political area code has no bounds.

Fiore and fellow Republican Assembly members John Moore and Shelly Shelton summoned their best judgment and decided it was a good idea to travel to Oregon to help resolve the standoff started by wayward wranglers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, the sons of Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy. The lawmakers reached their decision in the wake of the shooting death of Robert LaVoy Finicum, an Arizona rancher who also thought it was the right thing to do to travel to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the dead of winter to rally in support of Dwight and Steven Hammond, ranchers serving prison sentences for burning federally protected land adjacent to their property.

The Hammonds didn't invite the Bundy brothers, Finicum or any of the other occupiers of the wildlife refuge to come to their neck of the woods, but that is a trifling fact when you're doing the heavy lifting of upholding the U.S. Constitution and giving daily news conferences.

Finicum had intimated that he wouldn't be taken alive, and he wasn't. He died in a hail of government gunfire. Ryan Bundy was wounded in the arm. Brother Ammon is lucky to be breathing jailhouse oxygen. The rest of the Constitution cowboys are headed to unfriendly places where they don't let you wear your hat indoors and few are likely to solicit their opinions.

Fiore and evangelist Franklin Graham volunteered to help negotiate the Thursday surrender of the refuge's final holdouts. Moore and Shelton were there in support of the cause. The assemblyman and Shelton's husband, Tony, gave a few details of the adventure Saturday during Fiore's head-slapping "Walk the Talk" radio show on KDWN, 720 AM.

Fiore spoke briefly and then turned the microphone over to Moore, whom she called a "rock star" for his efforts in Oregon. After accepting gushing praise, Moore blasted law enforcement and failed to acknowledge that he hadn't been invited by either the residents of Harney County or embattled Sheriff David Ward.

"As an American and as a human, it was my responsibility to do that, to try and help prevent the further loss of life unnecessarily," Moore said. "And when I saw the video of Mr. Finicum, that solidified my resolve to do whatever I could do to ensure that those peaceful protesters that were basically camping out in the middle of nowhere out there in that refuge, that they were not harmed by the FBI, the sheriff's department up there, the private contractor/mercenary company that they called in to deal with the situation, as well as the Oregon State Police."

Former military man Moore called law enforcement "unprofessional" and "in over their heads."

"As a result it took 41 days for them to somehow, for this to be brought to conclusion," he said. "It took three legislators from Nevada to travel up there, and we accomplished in 24 hours what the FBI and all the other folks were so-called professionals in this, they couldn't do in 41 days."

As for Finicum's fate, "He was murdered, in my opinion, and I will stand by that statement to my last breath."

Shelton wasn't available for a radio interview, but in a Jan. 27 Facebook post she made her opinion of the Finicum shooting clear. She compared him to Moses and Jesus:

"From Moses who killed an Egyptian for abusing his people, to Jesus who died on a cross as a condemned criminal, many of those who operate outside the box and promote love and justice over the current form of government are treated as outcasts and many times murdered. ... Today we were reminded that the power of evil is still alive and well as LaVoy Finicum was gunned down and murdered in Oregon."

For the record, Oregon has yet to send the Nevada legislators a thank-you note for their efforts as freelance negotiators.

Maybe the card is lost in the mail.

— John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Contact him at 702-383-0295 or jsmith@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith