Latest Breaking News
In reply to the discussion: Militant broadcaster brands 15-year-old girl a ‘prostitute’ for crying in fear at Oregon town meetin [View all]branford
(4,462 posts)I also don't doubt that the siege is costing the taxpayers, although it was my understanding that the building was empty and the refuge's administrative were largely dormant during the winter, the location is too remote to really affect government services or affect the regional economy, and there seems to be more reporters in the area than citizens and law enforcement.
All protests, no less acts of criminal civil disobedience such as BLM blocking highways and bridges, OWS's weeks long occupation of public and private real estate in downtown Manhattan and other metropolises, or bigot militia on federal preserves or BLM land, have steep financial costs. As a free and open society we balance these costs with other important interests, particularly safety of law enforcement, the general public and even the alleged criminals.
Right now, with no lives in imminent danger or other exigent circumstances warranting more direct, and potentially dangerous and politically precarious, action, law enforcement has chosen a strategy of patience, believing the environment and loss of interest over time will resolve this matter peacefully. Unless things demonstrably change, I agree with and support this policy.