Oregon occupier seeking $666,666,666,666.66 in damages from the government
One of the armed occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon has filed a criminal counterclaim against federal officials, saying she "suffered damages from the works of the devil" and deserves a settlement of $666,666,666,666.66.
Shawna Cox, 59, of Kanab, Utah, is accused of conspiring against the government, and she's one of a handful of the occupiers facing federal charges allowed to be home under house arrest. On Wednesday, she filed an eight-page countersuit, The Guardian reports, claiming she went to the refuge to come "to the assistance of economically vulnerable individuals who were being harassed, threatened, intimidated, persecuted, and incarcerated by arrogant, narcissi [sic] Federal Government officials who have organized together to hijack and steal our Constitutional form of government from the people of the United States of America."
Officials say Cox was a spokeswoman for the group that occupied the refuge from Jan. 2 until last week. She was also in the car with another occupier, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, before he was shot and killed during a traffic stop last month. Cox alleged in her complaint that "State and Federal employees organized together to attempt to murder me," and claimed that the occupation was a legal way to challenge the government.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Could Trump run for a third term?The Explainer Constitutional amendment limits US presidents to two terms, but Trump diehards claim there is a loophole
-
Political cartoons for November 28Cartoons Friday's political cartoons include economic diagnosis, climate distractions, and more
-
What does the fall in net migration mean for the UK?Today’s Big Question With Labour and the Tories trying to ‘claim credit’ for lower figures, the ‘underlying picture is far less clear-cut’
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
