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Resistance See other Resistance Articles Title: Oregon standoff: Final holdouts say they just want to go home Highway 395 is blocked at Seneca between John Day and Burns, Ore., by Oregon State police officers the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Authorities say shots were fired during the arrest of members of an armed group that has occupied a national wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than three weeks. The FBI said authorities arrested Ammon Bundy, 40, his brother Ryan Bundy, 43, Brian Cavalier, 44, Shawna Cox, 59, and Ryan Payne, 32, during a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 395 Tuesday afternoon. In a statement Tuesday, the FBI said one individual “who was a subject of a federal probable cause arrest is deceased.” A group of men stay warm by a fire at the occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on the sixth day of the occupation of the federal building in Burns, Oregon on January 7, 2016. The leader of a small group of armed activists who have occupied a remote wildlife refuge in Oregon hinted on Wednesday that the standoff may be nearing its end. AFP PHOTO / ROB KERR / AFP / ROB KERR (Photo credit should read ROB KERR/AFP/Getty Images) BURNS, OR - JANUARY 07: Dwayne Ehmer carries an American flag as he rides his horse on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 7, 2016 near Burns, Oregon. An armed anti-government militia group continues to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Headquarters as they protest the jailing of two ranchers for arson. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters is shown Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, near Burns, Ore. Cheers erupted at a packed community meeting in rural Oregon when a sheriff said it was time for a small, armed group occupying a national wildlife refuge to "pick up and go home." (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Burns, Oregon, standoff Militiamen stand on a road at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, January 4, 2016. The leaders of a group of self-styled militiamen who took over a U.S. wildlife refuge headquarters over the weekend said on Monday they had acted to protest the federal government's role in governing wild lands. Ammon Bundy, a leader of the group, told reporters outside the occupied facility on Monday that his group had named itself "Citizens for Constitutional Freedom" and was trying to restore individual rights. Bundy and law enforcement officials declined to say how many people were occupying the refuge headquarters. REUTERS/Jim ... BURNS, OR - JANUARY 05: Ammon Bundy, (R) the leader of an anti-government militia, walks back to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters after speaking to members of the media on January 5, 2016 near Burns, Oregon. An armed anti-government militia group continues to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Headquarters as they protest the jailing of two ranchers for arson. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) BURNS, OR - JANUARY 05: Ammon Bundy, the leader of an anti-government militia, carries a copy of the U.S. constitution in his pocket as he speaks to members of the media in front of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters on January 5, 2016 near Burns, Oregon. An armed anti-government militia group continues to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Headquarters as they protest the jailing of two ranchers for arson. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A militiaman stands on a road at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, January 4, 2016. The leaders of a group of self-styled militiamen who took over a U.S. wildlife refuge headquarters over the weekend said on Monday they had acted to protest the federal government's role in governing wild lands. Ammon Bundy, a leader of the group, told reporters outside the occupied facility on Monday that his group had named itself "Citizens for Constitutional Freedom" and was trying to restore individual rights. Bundy and law enforcement officials declined to say how many people were occupying the refuge headquarters. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY ... Ranching Standoff US-UNREST-MILITIA-PROTEST Buildings at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge are seen near Burns, Ore., Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016. Protesters are occupying the refuge to object to a prison sentence for local ranchers for burning federal land. (AP Photo/Rebecca Boone) LaVoy Finicum, right, a rancher from Arizona, shakes hands with a member of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, near Burns, Ore. The group calls itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom and has sent a "demand for redress" to local, state and federal officials. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Members of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, drive by during a media tour Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, near Burns, Ore. The group calls itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom and has sent a "demand for redress" to local, state and federal officials. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) A watch tower is manned at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, January 3, 2016. A group of self-styled militiamen occupied the headquarters of a U.S. wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon in a standoff with authorities, officials and local media reports said on Sunday, in the latest dispute over federal land use in the West. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart ... A U.S. flag covers a sign at the entrance of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon January 3, 2016. A group of self-styled militiamen occupied the headquarters of a U.S. wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon in a standoff with authorities, officials and local media reports said on Sunday, in the latest dispute over federal land use in the West. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart ... Ammon Bundy, one of the sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, speaks with reporters during a news conference at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, near Burns, Ore. Bundy, who was involved in a 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights, told reporters on Monday that two local ranchers who face long prison sentences for setting fire to land have been treated unfairly. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Ranching Standoff Media gather outside the entrance of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge Headquarters near Burns, Oregon, January 3, 2016, where an armed anti-government group have taken over a building at the federal wildlife refuge, accusing officials of unfairly punishing ranchers who refused to sell their land. The standoff has prompted some schools to call off classes for the entire week. AFP PHOTO / ROB KERR / AFP / ROB KERR (Photo credit should read ROB KERR/AFP/Getty Images) US-FARMING-UNREST Previous SlideNext Slide 1/31 SLIDES © Keith Ridler/AP Photo Ammon Bundy, the leader of an armed group occupying the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, was arrested along with four others on Jan. 26 near Burns. Shots were fired and one person in Bundy's party died. Another militia member was arrested in Burns, according to the FBI. BURNS, Ore. — The number of armed occupiers of a remote wildlife refuge continued to dwindle Thursday as just four people appeared to be holding out by late morning, surrounded by a large show of federal law enforcement that has blocked off roads to the area. “We’re the grunts that get stuck behind because nobody informed us of what’s going on,” one of the four, Sandy Anderson, said in a phone interview with the Los Angeles Times. In interviews with the Times, Anderson and two others, including her husband, Sean, conveyed a complicated position: They said they would leave peacefully — but only if they are assured they will not go to prison. They said they had not spoken with an FBI negotiator since about midnight. They noted that since the occupation began Jan. 2 many people had been able to freely come and go from the refuge. That changed Tuesday, when several leaders of the occupation were arrested during a traffic stop north of Burns and one of them was killed. In the hours afterward, law enforcement set up roadblocks around the refuge but allowed several people to leave without arrest. Some were arrested, however, including three on Wednesday. Others chose not to leave, at least initially. The small group remaining Thursday repeatedly said they faced what they viewed as an impossible choice: being arrested — wrongfully in their view — or being killed by law enforcement. A law enforcement checkpoint blocks the road at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge January 28, 2016 near Burns, Oregon.© Matt Mills McKnight/Getty Images A law enforcement checkpoint blocks the road at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge January 28, 2016 near Burns, Oregon. “Why can’t I get in my vehicle and drive home like I’ve done four other times since I got here?” said Sean Anderson, 47, of Riggins, Idaho, who was at the refuge along with wife Sandy, David Fry, 27, of Ohio and another man, Jeff Banta. “Because I didn’t leave the night they told us to do that? I hope my life and my wife’s life and Dave’s and Jeff’s are worth more than that.” Earlier Thursday, the group believed only Sean Anderson faced arrest. But they said in the interviews that a fifth person, whose first name they said is Jake, was arrested after he left early Thursday with the belief that he would not be. By late Thursday morning, the four remaining presumed they would face the same felony charges others have who have been arrested in relation to the nearly monthlong occupation. The FBI has not confirmed the arrest of anyone named Jake in the last 24 hours. In a release late Wednesday, the FBI did not say those remaining would not face arrest, only that law enforcement would “continue to work around the clock to empty the refuge of the armed occupiers in the safest way possible.” Earlier Wednesday, Greg Bretzing, the special agent in charge for the FBI in Oregon, said at a news conference that “the armed occupiers were given ample opportunities to leave peacefully. They were given the opportunity to negotiate. As outsiders to Oregon, they were given the opportunity to return to their homes and have their grievances heard through legal and appropriate means. They chose, instead, to threaten the very America they profess to love with violence, intimidation and criminal acts.” On Thursday, Sean Anderson echoed his wife’s concerns. “We were the grunts and now we’re the shining stars who stayed,” he said. “We’re either going to accept the charges or they’re going to kill us.” When a reporter noted that their choice was not necessarily between going free and dying — that they could yield to law enforcement and the judicial system, as others who left the refuge had — they rejected the notion. “You think we’re going to put ourselves into a corrupt court system?” Sandy Anderson said. They also pointed to the shooting death during the traffic stop Tuesday of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, one of the leaders of the group. Fry has been posting live videos from the refuge for several weeks. “We’re asking them just to just drop the charges and we’re willing to go — and nobody dies,” he said on a video early Wednesday. “But if they’re not willing to do that, we’re all just kind of willing to stay here.” Fry said that in the chaotic two days since one of the occupiers was killed by law enforcement during a traffic stop, many people had been allowed to leave without arrest — some departed so quickly they left behind their guns — and that the same option should be offered to those who remain. “Everybody feels it’s unfair,” Fry said. “Right now, we’re trying to tell the negotiator guy: Why don’t you just give us the other option, that first option, just let us leave if we’re willing to leave?” Fry said the occupiers were willing to let the FBI check their guns to see if they were stolen. “We’re being reasonable,” he said. “We’re trying to be peaceful, you know? And they keep saying can’t do that. He has to be charged is what they keep saying.” The developments came hours after Ammon Bundy, the leader of the standoff who was among several people arrested Tuesday, urged his colleagues-in-arms to “stand down” Wednesday. By late Wednesday, several protesters still inside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge were heeding the request, as three more people were arrested and several others were allowed to leave freely, according to the FBI and other sources. The FBI, which began setting up checkpoints around the refuge early Wednesday, said eight people had left through the checkpoints, including the three who were arrested. One of those detained, Duane Leo Ehmer, 45, of Irrigon, Ore., had become a symbol of the occupation. He made a custom of going on morning “patrols” carrying an American flag while riding his horse, Hellboy. Another, Jason Patrick, 43, of Bonaire, Ga., had become an unofficial leader of the remaining group after the arrest of much of the occupation’s top leadership in a traffic stop a day earlier. Officials identified the third person arrested Wednesday as Dylan Wade Anderson, 34, of Provo, Utah. “Each chose to turn himself in to agents at a checkpoint outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge,” the FBI said in a statement Wednesday night. All three face the same charge faced by the eight taken into custody Tuesday: a federal felony count of conspiracy to impede federal officers from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats. “The FBI and our partners continue to work around the clock to empty the refuge of the armed occupiers in the safest way possible,” the agency said. Earlier in the day, at least some at the refuge were still expressing defiance. “There are no laws in this United States now! This is a free-for-all Armageddon!” a heavyset man holding a rifle yelled into a camera transmitting from the refuge. He urged others to join those at the protest site, adding that if “they stop you from getting here, kill them!” But that was before Bundy, arrested with other protesters Tuesday in a law enforcement operation that killed one of their comrades, called for those remaining in the high-desert refuge to “go home and hug your families.” Bundy and several codefendants appeared in U.S. District Court in Portland on Wednesday afternoon and were ordered held without bond. “Right now, I’m asking the federal government to allow the people at the refuge to go home without being prosecuted,” Bundy said in a written statement read after the hearing by his attorney, Mike Arnold. “To those remaining at the refuge, I love you. Let us take this fight from here. Please stand down. Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is ours for now — in the courts.” The standoff took shape in early January when about 15 men and women took over the wildlife refuge after a march in support of Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steve Hammond, a father and son who had been sentenced to prison for setting fires on federal land Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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