'Don't Tread On Me' Flag Appears On BLM Building Near Burns

A Dont Tread On Me flag flies at the entrance of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, near Burns, Oregon. A similar flag was spotted at the BLM building in Hines, Oregon, late Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016.

Late Sunday night the Gadsden “Don’t Tread On Me” flag suddenly appeared at the Bureau of Land Management building outside of Hines, Oregon. The flag was hanging below the U.S. flag on the agency flagpole shortly before midnight. Law enforcement arrived shortly after people began to notice it. The flag wasn’t present Monday morning. The flag was designed by American general Christopher Gadsden during the American Revolution, and now is often associated with anti-federal government political movements. Since Saturday, activists with the Pacific Patriots Network  (PPN) have arrived in Burns to protest the shooting death of LaVoy Finicum, spokesman for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation who was killed in an officer-involved shooting on January 26th. Since the beginning of the occupation, PPN organizers have tried to insert themselves as intermediaries between law enforcement and the militants, delivering letters with demands and proposals for peaceful resolution...more