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At the time of this paper coming out, militants in Oregon have taken over a wildlife refuge while carrying arms. They are upset over federal regulations and want to be restoring the land to its owners, according to Koin6 public news, as the government has attempted to seize the land for some time. There was also a fire, and according to some it was started by the protesters as an act of terror. Others thought it was the people who owned the land stopping another fire with their own fire. The long and short end of it is some American people said “stop being mean Mr. Government.” The American government said “nu-uh” and now we have an armed protest.

Most of you don’t care about this issue, and that’s fine. But what’s important to note is the media’s rapid demonization of the protest despite its lack of violence by those who view themselves as Liberal. Despite the fact that the protesters are in the middle of nowhere, the only problem is that the protesters are white Conservatives with guns. When the Ferguson uprising was happening the media always tried to classify the looting and burning that accompanied the protesters as “peaceful.” But fast-forward to now, and they are quick to jump the gun.

These two different reactions by the media could be due to a number of reasons. One might be race, the other might be political leaning. The media is left wing and is sympathetic to a left-leaning protest. The only other option is that these ranchers turned protesters actually remembered their right to bear arms. They aren’t being bullied by the government like the Ferguson protesters were. That makes the government mad. The government likes being a bully. It makes them uncomfortable when you can defend yourself against it. They are mad because these people might actually get what they want. At the very least I hope ‘Black Lives Matter’ takes a page out of this playbook and peacefully protests while armed next time.