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OSINT Analysis of Militia Communications, Equipment and Frequencies (wordpress.com)
An anonymous reader writes: On January 2, 2016, the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, United States, were occupied by armed members of rump militias in one of the longest-running law enforcement standoff in American history. The Radiomasterreport blog, using publicly available information, wrote an OSINT Analysis of Militia Communications, Radio Equipment and Frequencies. The research results has astonishing conclusions: far-right patriot militas openly carrying +3000$ AR15 rifles and US military body armour also use cheap 30$ unsecure chinese Baofeng walkie talkie radios with no encryption whatsoever. Any simple ham radio operator , police scanner owner, or even some folks with a Software Defined Radio can receive those militia communications.
have no concept of operational security. And now to Ric Romero with the news!
Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
Encryption is prohibited for amateur radio communications.
Have gnu, will travel.
Not really much of a standoff when you have local residents bringing you food and those inside the facility are able to come and go as they pleased. Hell, the leader of the group even left to go visit family in Boise at one point. That being said, as a 2nd Amendment supporter myself, these guys committed treason and openly engaged in an act of war against the US government by occupying federal property by force of arms. I believe that this action was no different than Jon Brown's Raid and the perpetrators should be punished accordingly.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
This is what the FBI has to say about the definition of domestic terrorism which you will note does not include the need for casualties:
"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:
18 U.S.C. Â 2332b defines the term "federal crime of terrorism" as an offense that:
Link for reference
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
So the takeover of an abadoned building in the middle of nowhere
Not really abandoned. Most likely it was just shut down for the season. The refuge contains a large breeding area for birds and is a major migration stop, with over 320 different species of birds. So it's busiest seasons are most likely spring, summer, and fall. At most they might see a few hikers in winter, so there's really no need to fully staff the park then.
But generally when an armed group takes over a building that is owned by the government it is generally called terrorism, yes. Some definitions of terrorism (important clauses bolded):
UN General Assembly: Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them.
U.S. Code Title 22 Chapter 38, Section 2656f(d): Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.
I'd say the bill fits, they need to wear it.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Yet USMC recruits qualify with the M16 at 500 yds with iron sights. The push for optics on standard issue military weapons was a response to the increase in close quarter combat brought on by a decade of urban war in the middle east. Many of these optics (like the very popular Trijicon ACOG) have little to no magnification (1x or 4x fixed magnification) You don't need a $1500 scope to be effective, you don't need a scope period.
For that matter, a $3000 dollar AR is no more lethal or accurate than an $800 dollar AR at the ranges that the vast majority of their owners are ever likely to shoot in either a self defense or hunting use. I have an AR I bought shortly before Sandy Hook from a local builder for $800 (goes for $1200+ now). It has proven to be extremely accurate, shooting decent factory ammo in 1/2 MOA groups at 100 yards and 1 MOA groups out to 300 yards. So, in the 5 shot groups I usually shoot when testing handloads or new factory ammo, that's 5 shots in approximately 1/2 inch at 100 yards and 5 shots in approximately 3 inches at 300 yards. When you are aiming at a man sized target with a vital area in say, a 12 inch circle, how much accuracy do you reallllly need? Even the crappiest AR available for sale will do 3 MOA at 300 yards, giving you a 9 inch "hit zone". A lot of the guys with expensive AR's are either compensating for poor shooting skills, trying to impress their friends, or are doing competition shooting (particulary 3 gun, with the requirement of shooting on the move having, the most inherently accurate rifle possible helps compensate).
The other day I was going to a store right next to an Army recruitment center, and there were a couple of nuts standing outside it with ARs "protecting" it. One looked like he was at least 65 and if there was an attack he would have a heart attack from the stress before he could even get his rifle up. The other guy was carrying what was clearly intended as either a hunting or target shooting model with a longer, chromed barrel and had a standard rifle hunting scope mounted to it. In a real attack someone with iron sighs would have shot him 5 times before he could even acquire a target through that hunting scope, not to mention that a hunting scope would be useless at ranges that close.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
If you look at what the Hammonds have done over the last twenty years or so, what the "militia" up there has done, etc; These clowns got off easy.
Because they quote "scripture" and wear cowboy boots, they have gotten the soft approach from law enforcement, and everyone knows it.
Just imagine if something similar had taken place, except the "militia" was composed of African Americans, say, in Oakland or Memphis? It would have been a blood bath from the get go.
Also, why do these militia/patriot types think its their prerogative to use lethal force or violence to get what they want? WTF?!? That is what criminals do. Isn't this obvious enough?
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
Devil's advocate: What's wrong with playing by the rules?
Radio bandwidth isn't unlimited, and it doesn't take much for one person to make entire frequencies unusable for everyone else in a large area. The government, in this case, keeps the tragedy of the commons from happening, because without regulation, some company, somewhere, will take a band just so their devices would work, and ensure nobody else's would.
You can certainly get an AR for well under $1,000. However, decent optics can cost about as much as the rifle. Rifles are only useful if you can actually hit the target. So, that is at least $1,500. You can also customize the AR platform with all sorts of "tacticool" goodies (lights, lasers, handles, etc.). Such upgrades also cost a premium. Still, $3,000 seems like too much for most people, but I am sure that you could spend $3,000 if you really wanted to.
My dad once told me, "When your clubs are what's keeping you from a lower handicap, it's time to spend more money on them." He also insisted that I learn wing-shooting with a single-shot .410. My golf game still won't be helped much by new clubs, but I'm pretty damned sure that I can get more out of an off-the-rack piece than most of the wannabe's will with their $3000 AR's. It has always amazed me, tools like that, who look like they should be trusted with anything more lethal that a pointed stick, walking around gun shows, or at the range, with arms you just know will be, well... let's just say it, wasted.
And the violence committed was?
A group of people standing in your office protesting is a sit in. A group of people standing in your office protesting with guns is an occupation and a hostage situation. By entering the facility with weapons they made the implicit threat (and following statements such as Bundy's and Finicum's made it explicit) that you are willing to use those weapons. That's the violence.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Perhaps, but I don't see where their actions provoked a state of terror in the public or was violence perpetrated against a noncombatant or bystander. At most this is trespassing, breaking and entering, refusing a lawful order and resisting arrest with a possible "while using a firearm" enhancer..
Their actions were intended to force a particular response,was carried out in a violent way, and had a political purpose. And it was perpetrated against you. Your tax dollars help fund the wildlife refuge and their actions prevented people from the ability to use the facility and caused damage to the facility (removal of fences, cameras, etc).
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
The second amendment says nothing about the right to encrypt communications, so why do it?
Boy do you have your lines crossed...
Are Hams territorial about protecting their spectrum space from nuts like you? Yeppers.. We have a game called "fox hunting" which we play often to find and report the unlicensed we hear. But look at it like a community watch organization, where individuals are paying attention and reporting suspicious activity to the police. That's all we do.
Do we register? Yes, the FCC knows my name and address and I am required to identify my transmissions so they can trace them back to me. But your license plate on your car does the same thing. Are you covering up your license plates? No? Don't like the local police pulling you over all the time eh? Well, why do you think that cop behind you is typing into his computer all the time? He's running your plate, finding out if the car is stolen, if you have insurance and a current registration.
However, these guys are NOT on the ham bands. They are on the FRS bands for the most part. These bands have the same general range, the radios are cheaper and are easier to use than their Ham variants. Plus, the hams would be "up in arms" if they heard some local yahoo jawing it up on their spectrum who obviously wasn't a ham.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Actually, no, this isn't terrorism. They're not holding anyone hostage or actually trying to "terrify" anyone. Terrorists set out to kill people, usually people who are unarmed and unable to retaliate who are behind the "lines" of a conflict in order to inspire terror.
When AQ blew up the WTC, they were terrorists. When ISIS beheads non-combatants and aid workers, they are terrorists. When people walk into stadiums and open fire to create terror, they are terrorists.
These guys are armed tresspassers trying to make a point. There's laws for that. We don't call criminals who kill a cop who was killed while they were in the commission of a robbery "terrorists". We call them murderers and cop killers. But they're not terrorists, or that term has lost all useful meaning.
A $1000 rifle is good enough for playing dress up and getting shot.
Who are the hostages in this situation?
Metaphor much? The possession of firearms takes this from a peaceful protest to a violent, forceful act.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
"For that matter, a $3000 dollar AR is no more lethal or accurate than an $800 dollar AR at the ranges that the vast majority of their owners are ever likely to shoot in either a self defense or hunting use."
.308 bolt action rifle or if you can find one a good quality nagant (you've got about 5 shots before barrel expansion becomes a problem but arguably if a sniper has shot more than 5 rounds it's time to move on especially in the kind of fighting against a superior force a militia is likely to be engaged in). A 50 cal is even better but the ammo is much much much more expensive and you probably don't have anyone in your group who is a good enough sniper that the round is needed.
Or a $500 AK given a couple hours of love to smooth the action and clean it up. But a $3000 AR is one with a gas system conversion that makes it MUCH more reliable than the $800 AR but not more reliable than the $500 AK. So if trying to arm hundreds of men on private funds, save the $300 vs the $800 AR and save the $2500 vs the $3000 AR and just buy the AK and run through a couple youtube videos worth of cleaning it up (take maybe 2-4hrs). Spend the rest on ammunition, which for real militia scale self defense is going to be a much more serious bottleneck.
As for the $3000 AR, that is pretending the AR is a sniper weapon and that puny round is not a sniper weapon. You'd be better off putting high quality optics on a
"All I did was point a gun at the shopkeepers head and say that I would murder him in front of his family if he didn't give me all the money in the register. I didn't commit any violence. I was just exercising my right to freedom of speech."
Yes, they have committed multiple felonies, but I don't see being terrorists in that list myself..
They committed a violent action (and yes, occupying a building with firearms is a violent action) with a political purpose to coerce the government to free prisoners. That's pretty much the definition of terrorism.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
The possession of firearms takes this from a peaceful protest to a violent, forceful act.
Really? Against whom were they violent, and in what way did they use force? Please be specific. Is a cop being violent and forceful (by virtue of carrying a firearm) when standing next to you in line at a coffee shop? Am I being violent and forceful if I have a duck gun in my truck when we're both in the same parking lot? How about if I'm the only one in the parking lot (or in an empty building)? Please point out where they used violence, and who they forced to do what. Specifically.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Every political crime, even if it is with a gun, isn't terrorism. I don't really think anyone feels particularly terrorized by their actions.
It is terrorism because it is intended to coerce the government to undertake a certain action and is driven by an (in this case political) ideology.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Yes, they have committed multiple felonies, but I don't see being terrorists in that list myself..
(and yes, occupying a building with firearms is a violent action)
I never knew that bringing my firearm into my house was a violent action and made me a terrorist. Man I've even contacted my congressman vie E-mail while armed (my loaded handgun in it's holster) sitting on my couch... OK, OK... You've proven to be a leftist wing-nut now, unless you care to walk back what you just said and perhaps refine what you really mean.
Be careful, because if you live by the sward, you are going to die by it too. Carefully consider things like the Occupy protests and unpermitted protest marches or even riots because the line you draw for one thing has to legally apply to all things equally or you are really just objecting to the politics of the issue and are not interested in the legalities. (Which, by the way, is a common problem for some of us who choose to react based on emotion, which is a personality trait more common on the left end of the political spectrum than the right, and something I find dreadfully annoying.)
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
So, sitting around with legally owned and carried firearms is violent, as far as you're concerned?
No, it's the part about threatening to use it on people.
Do you carry a multi-tool or a pocket knife (with which you could, at any moment, cut someone's throat)?
Yes, I do, and I have never threatened to use it to harm anybody.
For that matter, have you ever sat in a restaurant SURROUNDED by people with steak knives? That must have been terrifying for you.
I have yet to experience anybody in a restaurant proclaiming that they will use their knife to kill me if they have to. If anybody did make such a proclamation, I think calling the cops would be appropriate.
So it seems as though the part you are missing is the *threat* part I mentioned.
They are legal. But they are capable of frequencies outside the amateur band so as always it's on the operator to follow the rules. There are guides out there to tell you how to adjust the settings to lock them down to legal use. There are also guides telling you how to open them up to their full capability.
The US isn't the only country in the world and the radio rules aren't the same across all of them. Really, the hardware should always be made to maximum capability with responsibility falling on the operator to use the radio legally. The rules could change tomorrow or you could move with your radio to another country or up to space where you are exempt and of course there are always circumstances which trump FCC or even congressional authority.
When I ask google, it tells me:
violence, n., behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something.
In light of this fact, I'm not sure I follow your logic.
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
Century Arms AK's do the trick and are inexpensive. Shop around, you can get one for $500-700. Give it a good cleaning as there will be metal shavings in there, check youtube for what to polish to make the mechanism more smooth if needed, a more modern tactical stock is preferred but not essential. There are pricey ones but the cheap ones get the job done as well. The youtube trail will show you all the things you CAN do to modify it, there are a couple cheap upgrade parts you'll encounter learning to disassemble and reassemble that make life easier on that front. Don't put a scope or dot sight or any of that crap on it. Mine came well sighted in right from the factory but the iron is adjustable if needed. The iron sights that come on the gun have an adjustment for the distance of the target if making long shots so you don't have to calculate the drop of the bullet. Maybe use a couple dabs of glow in dark paint on them.
My wife had never shot before, I went to a local range here in the city and they had a CA one that was completely beat to crap and never cleaned available as a rental. Said it was mostly shot by kids who though the AK's look cool with the curved clip. It was an indoor range so 50 yards was most you could do but I had no problem putting two test holes in the 2" red and then making a single quarter sized hole in the center of the red on the paper with the rest of the first clip at 50 yards using the iron. If you are missing your shots, it is far more likely you need to invest in upgrading the shooter than the gun. No shame in that, we can always learn from other shooters and practice our way to being better shots. Also, hitting the paper on a 6" round target at any range means a kill shot, not the center.