Examining the Burns, Oregon occupation

Guests: John Freemuth, Ryan Lenz, Stuart A. Wright

It’s been six days since the Bundy brothers and their supporters took up arms and entered a federally-owned building in Harney County, Oregon in a dispute over land rights. The clash over who has ownership of large swathes of the American West has a long history, as does the existence of rebellious anti-government self-styled militias. Today, we’ll take a look at the history of the huge amount of federally-owned land in the West when we speak with public land policy expert JOHN FREEMUTH of Boise State University. Then, we’ll talk with RYAN LENZ of the Southern Poverty Law Center and STUART A. WRIGHT of Lamar University about the antecedents to this occupation and the motives of the occupiers.