Oregon Standoff Defense Lawyer Says Defendants Considered "Domestic Terrorists"

Those arrested in connection with the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge are considered by some law enforcement officials to be "domestic terrorists," according to court papers filed late Wednesday.

"Government disclosures in this case establish that some elements of our government consider him and other individuals involved in the MNWR protest to be 'domestic terrorists,'" the lawyer for Joseph O'Shaugnnesy, Amy Baggio wrote.

So far none of the 27 people indicted in the case have been charged with terrorism questions whether some evidence gathered under the auspices of terrorism laws should be admissible.

To back up her claim that they are being treated as domestic terrorists, Baggio quotes Senator Harry Reid, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as referring to them as "domestic terrorists."

She also writes that reviewing "24,500 pages of discovery reveals multiple law-enforcement references that suggest citizens charged in this case have been labeled 'domestic terrorists.'

"For example, 17 of the charged defendants have a note in their NCIC prints from the Terrorist Screening Center that each is 'an individual identified as having possible ties with terrorism.'"

Baggio also writes that one of the documents turned over in discovery was an application to block five cell phones used during the final days of the occupation.

"The application includes an allegation that the officer is submitting the request because he has probable cause that the users of the phones have committed a federal crime of terrorism," she writes.

The FBI’s Search Warrants executed at the MNWR in February 2016 and related property reports describe the matter as “Domestic Terrorism – Militia Extremism," according to Baggio.

"Beyond these concerns specific to the case, however, broader concerns exist based on public disclosures regarding how the government is using (laws to fight terrorism) to gather information as to all Americans, and querying and sharing that information as relevant to ongoing criminal investigations," Baggio writes.