A “security detail” of armed men wearing military attire showed up Saturday morning to support Ammon Bundy and his group’s occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge only to be told to leave, according to The Oregonian.
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Dwight Hammond and his son Steven Hammond have distanced themselves from Bundy’s group and reported to prison Monday.
Members of the community in Burns, Oregon, have asked the the armed group to leave, but its leaders have said they have no immediate plans to do so.
Some of the men carrying rifles told journalists they were there to help with security for the group that has occupied the headquarters of the refuge since January 2.
“We will take that offer”, Bundy said on Friday. One of the original occupiers of the refuge, LaVoy Finicum, said earlier on Saturday that the network’s help is appreciated, but “we want the long guns put away”.
A man standing guard pushes a videographer aside after members of the “3% of Idaho” group along with several other organizations arrived at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore., on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016.
Bundy has repeatedly rejected calls to leave buildings at the refuge despite pleas from the county sheriff, from many local residents and from Oregon’s governor, among others. While the standoff in rural OR was prompted by the jailing of two ranchers convicted of arson, experts say the issue at the core of the dispute runs much deeper and concerns grazing OR timber rights as well as permits to work mines on government land in Western states.
He stressed that Bundy didn’t request that the group come, and stressed their presence is unwanted.
Citizens for Constitutional Freedom is demanding the federal government relinquish its claim on about three-quarters of the land in the county, and then “return” it to local residents.
Ammon Bundy has been demanding that federal land in Oregon’s Harney County be turned over to local residents to be managed. A judge later ruled that the terms fell short of minimum sentences requiring them to serve about four more years.
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He said he intends to meet with standoff organizers as well as local public officials and law enforcement to come to a “peaceful resolution”.
