The Bundy clan and their supporters have, for the most part, avoided conviction for taking over government buildings in Oregon, pointing firearms at federal officials in Nevada and streaming it all live online.

Although numerous people who took part in those events entered negotiated guilty pleas, all who went to trial were either acquitted of all charges or given a relative slap on the wrist.

Now, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., is responding.

The congressman -- Oregon's only Republican in the delegation -- visited Intel's Hillsboro facilities with House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday for tax reform talks. During a press conference, The Oregonian/OregonLive asked Walden what, if anything, Congress should do to deter future would-be insurrections on federal property.

Here's Walden's full response:

"Laws are in place. Those that violate the law should be prosecuted. I've said that from day one.

"In the case of who engaged in the armed takeover of the wildlife refuge, they were prosecuted under the law. And some plead guilty and are actually in jail. Others were prosecuted by a jury of their peers and were not found guilty. The case in Nevada just this week went to a jury and a jury reviewed all the facts and came to the conclusion they came to.

"It's important that we respect the rights of the people who work in those facilities, and it was very problematic for the federal employees who were there at the wildlife refuge, the Bureau of Land Management office. It was very problematic for the city of Burns and Harney County.

"However these protests take place, they need not be armed, they need not be violent, they need not be vile."

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman