Ammon Bundy, the man spearheading an armed occupation of a federal building in Oregon, caused a stirred on Wednesday when he reportedly compared himself to civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

Bundy has been leading an armed group of white militiamen known as the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom. He is also the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who led an armed standoff with the federal government back in 2014 and notoriously suggested that African-Americans were better off as slaves.

Like his father, the younger Bundy claimed to be following directions from God and cited his faith as the inspiration behind his anti-government movement, reports The Associated Press.

Bundy's standoff with the government began Saturday, when his group seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a federally owned wildlife outpost in remote Oregon. The group took over the building to protest the imprisonment of local ranchers, Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven, 46, who were convicted of setting fires that spread to government land.

The occupiers have vowed to remain in the building until federally owned land is returned "back to the people," reports NBC News.

The FBI has not made an attempt to take back the isolated building and said Sunday it aims to bring a "peaceful" end to the standoff.

Bundy raised eyebrows when he compared his fight against the U.S. government with that of Parks in a tweet sent early Wednesday morning. The message came either from Bundy himself or someone posing as the protest leader.

"We are doing the same thing as Rosa Parks did. We are standing up against bad laws which dehumanize us and destroy our freedom," tweeted @Ammon_Bundy.

The tweet led to a firestorm of backlash from Twitter users who condemned the comparison.

Twitter users also noted that Parks and the civil rights movement used peaceful tactics of civil disobedience to fight against legal segregation. On the other hand, Bundy has threatened that he and the occupiers will resort to violence if the government intervenes in their occupation.

"If force is used against us we will defend ourselves," he said, according to The Chicago Tribune. The same twitter account also tweeted on Wednesday an ominous warning to law enforcement agencies that any attempt to stop the occupation could lead to bloodshed.

He later added, "Don't point guns at us and we won't point guns back. This can still end peacefully."

Meanwhile, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward denounced the occupation and publicly pleaded with the occupiers to leave the area, especially since the Hammonds began serving their four-year prison sentences on Monday.

"The Hammonds have turned themselves in," he said, reports CNN. "It is time for you to leave our community. Go home, be with your own families and end this peacefully."

The protesters, however, said they have no intention of leaving anytime soon.