Sons and supporters of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who rebuffed agents from the Bureau of Land Management and FBI as they attempted to confiscate his cattle in 2014, traveled to Burns, Oregon in an act of civil disobedience to bring attention to the jailing of father-and-son ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond, on federal terrorism charges.

Whether or not you agree with the actions of the Bundy family and their supporters in taking over a vacant federally owned building on the Malheur Wildlife Reserve near Burns, most Americans would wish for a peaceful resolution to the “standoff.”  But from the beginning of the standoff, the Bundy Ranch Facebook page has been spattered with posts calling for the Oregon protesters and their families to be slaughtered.  Since the killing by law enforcement officers of LaVoy Finicum, a rancher from Arizona who acted as spokesman for the “occupiers,” the vicious rhetoric has only intensified.

Prior to deleting violent and obscene posts, administrators of the page have been capturing disturbing screen shots of calls for violence against the Bundys, their supporters, and ranchers in the West.  Although some of the posts can be attributed to internet trolls and others looking to incite online warfare, the following post by somene identifying himself as the ordinary-looking James Brent made it clear he wanted all the protesters dead.

What would cause an ordinary-looking guy to pray for the deaths of an entire group of Americans who were peacefully protesting government overreach?  James Brent’s Facebook page reveals his profession: San Jose State University professor.  He studied political science at Ohio State.

The San Jose State directory confirms that James Brent, the man “praying” for the Bundys to be shot and killed, teaches political science at a California university. Unless someone with a grudge is impersonating him, this appears to be his genuine identity.

But other posts make merely “praying” for the Oregon protesters to be “shot and killed” seem tame.

ABC’s Martha Raddatz, who pressed Ted Cruz about his promise to “carpet-bomb” ISIS, may want to question S.D. Wardell and Carter Wayne Allen about their desire to carpet-bomb Americans.

Renee Wheeler and Sherry Hartin apparently think the ranchers are worse than the ISIS terrorists currently ravaging Syria and Iraq, calling for their elimination post-haste.

Aaron Ancheta fondly recalled the brave acts of Janet Reno during the finest hours of Clinton’s term as president.

Edwin Hooper called for killing families and waterboarding children.

Dave Haney suggested murdering the Oregon protesters with “ricin laced food.”

Following the killing of LaVoy Finicum by law enforcement officers, numerous gleeful and sadistic posts celebrating his death were posted on the Bundy Ranch Facebook page, like this one by Marcella Moine.

This post by Martyn J. Hall is particularly giddy.

Derek Jimenez, Jerry Lee Jackson, and Matthew John showed great pleasure not only in the death of LaVoy, but also in the thought that the remaining protesters would be shot to death.

The managers of the Bundy Ranch Facebook page have had their work cut out for them, ensuring that the visible posts on the page are civil.  This pitched incivility seem to have rattled even the sheriff overseeing operations in and around Burns, Oregon and the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.  Sheriff David Ward was quoted in the February 12 Washington Post, making this plea to warring factions in his community:

We can’t continue to go on tearing each other apart and hating each other because of differences of opinions. Get off Facebook. Write a letter. Leave out the insults. And if you’re so persuaded, turn off the computer and get on your knees and pray for your leadership, because there’s no way we’re going to fix this country if we’re all mad at each other and fighting over everything[.]

Most Americans would agree with Sheriff Ward.  There is always space in a free society for disagreement and peaceful protests.  Let’s hope America’s “safe space” for peaceful disagreement isn’t overrun with obscene calls for the killing of Americans whose only crime is to defy federal overreach.