The armed men plan to hold a meeting Friday in Burns, about 30 miles from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, to explain themselves and inform residents when they will leave.
Advertisement
Militia spokesperson LaVoy Finicum said Tuesday they plan to meet with the community at 7 p.m. Friday to discuss the goals of the occupation and when the militia plans on leaving the refuge.
Finicum, a rancher from Arizona, covered himself with a tarp and waited with his rifle for federal agents – who never arrived – on December 5 after a false rumor of an impending crackdown circulated among occupiers.
The group of ranchers is sitting out a protest in Malheur Wildlife Refuge for 10 days through cold temperatures and dwindling food supplies in a bid to change federal laws on land management.
At a community meeting Monday night, Harney County Sheriff David Ward once again called for the Bundy brothers and their group to depart in peace.
“We can work through it like adults, peacefully, with a united front”, Ward said.
“How long will this go on?” said Ammon Bundy, leader of the group that seized the headquarters of the refuge in southeastern OR last Saturday.
Since January 2nd, a group of armed militants have taken over a federal building at the Masher Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
The armed protesters haven’t just claimed the refuge – they’re changing it.
“We’re gong to send Mr. Bundy the bill”, Grasty told the crowd. “That wasn’t 100 percent unanimous, there was a small group who didn’t support that”, she said.
Initially, the group used the conviction of a pair of local ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond, who are serving five years in prison for arson, as their cause célèbre, saying they wouldn’t leave until they are free.
Rokala said that the point of the petition is to call upon officials to condemn threats of violence against employees of federal land agencies.
The Citizens for Constitutional Freedom group engaged in the standoff have renamed the federal center the Harney County Resource Center to draw attention to their desire to have public lands removed from federal control and be placed under localized supervision.
Advertisement
Two Washington state representatives were among a delegation of western legislators that traveled over the weekend to eastern OR, where protesters have taken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in an armed occupation.
