Oregon occupiers were charged under law originally aimed at Civil War secessionists
Oregon militants who occupied a national wildlife refuge were charged under a law originally enacted 154 years ago to target Confederate sympathizers.
Police arrested the group’s leader, Ammon Bundy, and four others on Tuesday as they traveled to a community meeting where Bundy was slated to speak. Other arrests followed. All were charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers from discharging their official duties through force, intimidation or threats, the Oregonian reports.
The law was originally intended to target Confederate sympathizers who seized federal buildings as states seceded from the union, according to Pennsylvania State University Civil War expert William Blair. Before the law passed, those who seized courthouses, post offices and other federal buildings could only be charged with treason, Blair told the Oregonian.
An academic article indicates that historians haven’t identified anyone charged in the Civil War era under the law. It has also been rarely used in the modern era, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Anders Folk told the Oregonian. His Westlaw search found fewer than 30 prosecutions over the last 50 years.
Among those prosecuted under the statute were environmental and anti-war activists.
