A federal grand jury has indicted Ammon Bundy and some of the men and women who joined him at the armed occupation of an OR wildlife refuge, authorities said Wednesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoff Barrow said Wednesday that the indictment also includes “others”, perhaps a reference to the remaining occupiers. The judge overseeing the hearing ordered prosecutors to turn the indictment over to the defense within 24 hours. The indictment was sealed, so we don’t know exactly what the militants are facing, but an earlier criminal complaint charged those involved with conspiracy to impede federal officers.
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Thursday some or all of the charges, as well as the names of those charged, should be made public.
The next arraignment is scheduled for February 24. They were accused of using intimidation to prevent federal officers from doing their work at the refuge in sparsely populated southeast Oregon.
During the hearings Wednesday, prosecutors were expected to offer evidence to establish probable cause for the arrests.
Oregon Public Broadcasting said four armed militants are still at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, near Burns.
From jail, Bundy asked through his attorney for the occupiers to stand down, and Patrick was himself arrested soon after.
“That’s an unusual thing and it’s unfortunate in a case like this, where numerous people distrust the government to begin with”, Lisa Hay added.
Bundy, the son of controversial Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, led a group of followers to the refuge January 2 and took over the headquarters, demanding the release of two local ranchers from prison and local control of federal land in Harney County. The remaining occupiers are: David Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio; Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nevada; and Sean Anderson, 48, and Sandy Anderson, 47, a married couple from Riggins, Idaho. The remnants of an armed group occupying the refuge to protest federal land policies say they won’t leave until they get assurances they won’t be arrested.
Defense attorneys for Bundy and his peers staunchly maintain that the group was not committing a federal crime when converging upon the refuge, but engaging in an act of civil disobedience. Robert “LaVoy” Finicum was killed by authorities and Bundy’s brother Ryan was shot in the arm during a confrontation at the traffic stop.
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Shawna Cox, an occupier, was allowed to go back home to Utah while the charges pending against her worked their way through the justice system. The judge denied the request.
