Pete Santilli's Malheur (Burns, Oregon) FBI False Flag Conspiracy Theory

Mick West

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In a video posted Jan 13th, Harney county volunteer fire chief Chris Briles announces his resignation, citing what he views as unconstitutional obstruction by Judge Steven E. Grasty regarding Briles' participating in a "Committee of Safety". During this speech he gives an account of how he confronted some individuals who were acting suspicious, got evasive answers from them, then ran their plates to discover (he claims) that they were "undercover FBI agents".

The poster of the video, Pete Santilli is a conservative broadcaster with close ties to various militia organizations, and a history of entertaining or promoting a variety of outlandish conspiracy theories. He's also organized several rallies, including the rally in Oregon that eventually turned into the Malheur occupation. He also claims to be responsible for the "Pacific Patriots Network" militia arriving (heavily armed) on Jan 9th to "provide security".

The description of the video:
Published on Jan 13, 2016
As Pete Santilli has been reporting for weeks now; the FBI is known to covertly stage possible false flag scenarios and Santilli has therefore been openly calling for the Sheriff to ask the FBI to leave Harney County. Essentially, the FBI has a history of setting up fake terrorist attacks in order to justify utilizing lethal and overwhelming force to overpower their targets --- in this instance, they are premeditating the murders via a "false-flag-terror" event of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupiers & their supporters. (The FBI may create a terror attack by one of their operatives, and then blame the militia. This will be a pretext to executing lethal resolution of the Constitutional Crisis on Burns, Oregon)

For many days now, we have seen the FBI covert deploy many resources upon the community such as human operatives, electronic surveillance & harassment, media propaganda and psychological warfare. It was not until today that a prominent community leader has presented indisputable testimony that FBI has been caught potentially staging a false flag event involving the local armory.

Former Fire Chief and Committee of Safety member gives a detailed account whereby he was informed that "militia were buzzing around the armory..." and he decided to investigate. As the Chief describers, when he ran the license plates of the subjects vehicles, it was confirmed that the suspicious subjects were undercover FBI.

Also, due to the Constitutional corruption of Judge Steven E. Grasty, Mr. Briles submitted his resignation to the Judge.
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Undercover FBI agents being in town does not sound unlikely. It's a very touchy situation. The FBI has jurisdiction as there's crimes being committed on Federal property. However they don't want to escalate the situation - there's been a general reluctance to use force in such situation since the events of the Waco siege in 1993, and the Ruby Ridge siege in 1992. The two events created a great deal of anger, conspiracy theories, and led to the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995.

So even 20 years after those events, the FBI (and Federal authorities in general) seem to have a very cautious approach. This was evident in the Bundy Standoff in 2014, where federal Bureau of Land Management agents attempted to confiscate cattle belonging to Cliven Bundy. Several armed militia members arrived over several days, there was a tense standoff with guns pointed, and the Feds eventually backed off, allowing Bundy to continue as before. While this may have been wise it probably led to the occupation at Malheur, as the Bundys would expect the Feds to hold off and avoid confrontation, which is pretty much what they have done so far.

So what is Santilli's theory? He's suggesting that the Feds are trying to manufacture an excuse, a "false flag" event, that would justify them "executing lethal resolution" - i.e. he's saying the Feds would pretend the Milita was shooting at them, so they could shoot at the Militia.

Santilli is a big promoter of "false flag" theories. He promotes the idea that no children died at Sandy Hook, and the entire event was staged with actors. He also entertains the most bizarre ideas about 9/11, with the towers supposedly being destroyed by some kind of energy beam.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/05/29/the-lunatic-world-of-gun-rights-radio/194254#santilli

look at the falling World Center Towers on 9-11, and ask yourself; how does falling steel and concrete turn to dust in mid air? What I have learned is something that has forever changed me as it will you. The World Trade Center towers were turned to dust in mid air by a very powerful energy source.
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Santilli's talk of "electronic harassment" hints at the idea that the FBI beams voices into people's heads to make them think they are crazy (as is mocked by the "tin-foil hat" insult) .

So I think it's rather worrying that someone with such extreme and bizarre views is so deeply involved in organizing and promoting this situation.

Santilli is getting some pushback on several fronts. Firstly the local townspeople seem to be aware of what he's doing, and they don't like it. He was ejected from a Harney County public meeting on Jan 11 for disrupting the meeting. As he was escorted out people booed him, called him a "parasite", and reportedly threw garbage at him.

Secondly the Bundy militia did not seem at all happy with him organizing the PPN "security detail".
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-n...sf/2016/01/heavily_armed_security_detail.html
Bundy's message: "We don't need that. We don't want it and we're asking you to leave," MacFarlane told reporters at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
MacFarlane said he had just met with Bundy and other leaders of the occupation.
They're "alarmed" by the arrival of Pacific Patriots Network members, some carrying rifles, and concerned about the perception they convey.
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And there's also some pushback from the other end of the spectrum. Other conspiracy minded conservative broadcasters have accused him of being an "FBI Informant", and suggested that Santilli is the actual agent provocateur within the Malheur group. And then, of course, those people are in turn accused of being part of yet another conspiracy.

Any way you look at it, it's a mess. The Malheur occupation is an event with a long and complex history leading up to it, and has become the focal point for a wide variety of people whose grievances and motivations are all over the map. The FBI is faced with a difficult choice between allowing illegal actions, and escalating things by use of force, which very likely will lead to people getting killed. Unfortunately it seems some of those involved in the occupation actually want an escalation. And despite Santilli's promoting the theory that the FBI is planning a "false flag", I think it's more likely that Santilli himself will ultimately be more responsible if the Malheur occupation descends into violence.
 
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Briles has clarified his story about the undercover FBI guys:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles...ent-posing-as-militia-ex-fire-chief-clarifies
An allegation that undercover FBI agents were caught posing as militia members in southeast Oregon splashed around the Internet this week, but the story’s purported source says he made no such claim.
Chris Briels, who recently resigned his position as Harney County fire chief, says Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, whose Wednesday press release sparked concern about a throwback toFBI infiltration and dirty tricks against activists, must have misunderstood him.
Fiore’s release said Briels had determined “men posing as ‘militia’ were the FBI.” Briels tells U.S. News he did indeed catch undercover FBI agents in small-town Burns, near where armed protesters are occupying a federal wildlife refuge, but that they were not posing as militia.

“They weren’t posing as anything other than dishonest people,” he says. “They were perceived as militia by the locals, but they weren’t posing out there with a shirt that said ‘I’m militia.’”
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Briles has clarified his story about the undercover FBI guys:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles...ent-posing-as-militia-ex-fire-chief-clarifies
An allegation that undercover FBI agents were caught posing as militia members in southeast Oregon splashed around the Internet this week, but the story’s purported source says he made no such claim.
Chris Briels, who recently resigned his position as Harney County fire chief, says Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, whose Wednesday press release sparked concern about a throwback toFBI infiltration and dirty tricks against activists, must have misunderstood him.
Fiore’s release said Briels had determined “men posing as ‘militia’ were the FBI.” Briels tells U.S. News he did indeed catch undercover FBI agents in small-town Burns, near where armed protesters are occupying a federal wildlife refuge, but that they were not posing as militia.

“They weren’t posing as anything other than dishonest people,” he says. “They were perceived as militia by the locals, but they weren’t posing out there with a shirt that said ‘I’m militia.’”
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I don't understand. Why did he resign then? Was it because the FBI had undercover agents involved at all?

Did he expect them to be wearing "I'm FBI" shirts and introducing themselves to the armed occupiers of a government building whom they were surveilling?
 
Pete Santilli arrested. (along with the Bundys and others. one man dead)
In addition to Ammon Bundy, those arrested were: his brother Ryan Bundy, 43; Brian Cavalier, 44; Shawna Cox, 59; and Ryan Payne, 32 - apprehended during the traffic stop on U.S. Highway 395 Tuesday afternoon. Authorities said two others — Joseph Donald O'Shaughnessy, 45, and Peter Santilli, 50 — were arrested separately in Burns, while FBI agents in Arizona arrested another, Jon Eric Ritzheimer, 32.

Each will face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats, authorities said. Authorities released few other details

https://news.yahoo.com/arrests-oregon-standoff-leaders-leaves-084844536.html
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timeline of events Tuesday
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/01/oregon_standoff_ammon_bundy_re.html
 
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