The group’s leader, Ammon Bundy, and 15 other people “prevented federal officials from performing their official duties by force, threats and intimidation”, according to a sealed indictment filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of OR and unsealed Thursday.
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Ammon Bundy, the leader of the occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge argued that the protest wasn’t violent and there was never an armed standoff.
The holdouts want assurances they won’t be arrested if they leave.
The grand jury’s indictment detailed what it called “overt acts” by the defendants – such as warning the sheriff’s office of “extreme civil unrest”, taking over the refuge with the threat of firearms, and threatening to harm anyone who attempted to remove them from the Malheur refuge.
Soon after, the younger Bundy and his followers took over the refuge, demanding the federal government turn public lands over to local control and free two ranchers imprisoned for setting fires.
As the occupation drags on, additional officers have been sent to the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex that straddles the Oregon-California border, as well as to the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada and Modoc National Wildlife Refuge in northern California.
Among the four still at the refuge and refusing to surrender is David Fry, who has vowed to stand his ground.
The Bundy brothers and nine others were arrested last week in OR, majority during a confrontation with Federal Bureau of Investigation and state police on a snow-covered roadside where a spokesman for the group, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, was shot to death.
Preserves throughout the USA have also been placed on a heightened alert.
Refuges in southern OR, northern California and Nevada are increasing security measures. The decision to monitor from a distance the OR occupiers opposing federal land policy has not changed since January 2, but USA officials are stepping up the pressure outside the refuge and in the courtroom. The occupiers have said Finicum had his hands in the air when he was shot. He was carrying a loaded 9mm handgun, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. “They described their life inside the refuge and said they had enough food and fuel to continue the occupation for an extended time”.
Finicum’s death led to protests this week by those supporting the occupation, while local residents rallied to urge the holdouts to leave, further dividing the strained community.
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Federal authorities are showing worry that tensions could pop up elsewhere.
