A high school freshman received a standing ovation at a town hall meeting in Burns, Oregon after she tearfully spoke out about her fear of a militant group led by Ammon Bundy. Her short and subtle speech touched the entire crowd.

Although many residents stepped up to the microphone to express their frustrations during the meeting at the Burns High School gym, it was 15-year-old Ashlie Presley who really “stole the show.” Presley and her classmates were forced to start one week late this year due to security concerns over militants who staged an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

“I am 15 and I’m a freshman in high school,” Presley began, choking up before she could finish her first sentence. The freshman took a deep breath and continued: “Being here with all this honestly has scared me. And it shouldn’t.”

“I should not have to be scared in my own hometown,” Presley said.

The 15-year-old, who is the daughter of a local judge, explained that she tells her friends “everything is going to be okay.”

“I shouldn’t have to be scared, and none of us in Harney County should have to be scared in our hometown,” she concluded, wiping tears from her face.

Over 100 armed American militants have stormed the Wildlife Refuge determined to take a stand against federal government tyranny. In short, the militants are outraged about a mandatory minimum sentence received for arson by a local rancher and his son. The ranchers, Dwight Hammond, Jr., 73, and his son Steve, 43, were convicted of federal arson charges, stemming from a pair or fires on federal land near their ranch.

What a brave teen!

SHARE the love, pass it on.