Warm welcome home for Dwight, Steven Hammond

(Update: More comments from Hammonds, supporter)

More than 100 people gathered at the Burns Airport erupted in cheers Wednesday as father-and-son ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond stepped off a chartered jet in a celebratory homecoming, one day after President Trump issued a pardon and they were released from federal prison.

Friends, family and supporters waved American flags, held up ‘Welcome’ signs and handed out bumper stickers that thanked President Trump for freeing the pair and clearing them of charges after a resentencing to prison that many felt were unfair.

The father and son, along with Dwight’s wife, Susie, addressed reporters and the crowd welcoming them home after landing in a jet owned by Lucas Oil.

“We’re doing a lot of decompressing and getting back to our families,” Steven Hammond said, adding that the first thing he wanted to do was hug his family.

NewsChannel 21 asked the Hammonds if they had a message for Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and the president. The congressman helped convince the president to issue the presidential pardon.

“I hope to fully understand the appreciation that they deserve,” Steven Hammond said. “Trump has, as far as I know, been responsible for the ‘buck stops here’ stamp. God bless him.”

The father and son said they went into survival mode while serving their time in a California federal prison, and thanked supporters for the thousands of letters they received.

“There’s time when you get to that point, a letter means a lot,” Steven said, his voice choked with emotion.

The family also said they were very appreciative for the support they received in Harney County and across the nation.

Amy Sheen, a Harney County native, called it “the biggest surprise and shock” that the president pardoned the Hammonds.

“I was born and raised here,” she said. “It’s a very small community. We’re in the middle of nowhere, and having the president acknowledge and pardon folks clear out west — it’s an amazing thing. I think we all hoped for it, obviously. But for it to actually happen, this is one of the greatest days in American history.”

There were lots of tears and hugs, red, white and blue signs and bumper stickers — and of course, plenty of American flags.

“There’s no way to thank everybody enough, and know who is the last one to tip the scale,” 76-year-old Dwight Hammond said. “But the last one that tipped the scale can’t be fully appreciated without appreciating everybody before him.”

“And a tremendous amount of people here today that’s been working, helping, sympathizing and fighting their own battles,” he added.

The pair’s return to prison sparked the 41-day standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, of which the Hammonds denied any involvement.

“The standoff — I believe they had good intentions,” Steven Hammond said Wednesday. “I don’t know how it was received. I was out of the picture at that point.”

The attorney for the Hammonds said he is considering going to court to get the family’s grazing rights restored.

Lawyer Morgan Philpot said in a telephone interview Wednesday with The Associated Press that his firm is exploring potential civil lawsuits on behalf of the family to make sure they have their rights over land restored to them.

A news conference with family members outside of Burns was canceled Wednesday when they came across a roadblock for a wide-load vehicle on a highway. Philpot said the family had gone through a lot and was tired, and instead went home.

The Hammonds told us they plan to pick up the pieces where they left off in early 2016 and keep on ranching in Harney County.