The FBI said Wednesday it has moved to contain the last few occupiers of an OR wildlife refuge who were part of a protest that began more than a month ago over federal land policy.
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The remaining occupiers are believed to be: 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.
“Come out with your hands up”, a law enforcement official was heard saying.
The FBI said that it moved in after one of the remaining occupiers drove an all-terrain vehicle past the barricades set up by the protesters.
“The only way we’re leaving here is dead or without charges”, Fry said, telling the Federal Bureau of Investigation to “get the hell out of or”.
The Oregonian reported Bundy will face a conspiracy charge of interfering with a federal officer related to the stalemate at his ranch in 2014. “You’re going to hell”.
There were stretches of silence as the confrontation unfolded on air. “You let Obama bring terrorists into this country”.
“What the association will do is look at all the facts: We’ll gather evidence and information, and then if we think there is a violation of the state sheriffs’ (association) bylaws or ethics, then we would take whatever would be the appropriate action”, said Brian Wolfe, the sheriff of Malheur County.
Sean Anderson said they would leave the Malheur complex on Thursday morning, in a live broadcast on the internet.
Our weapons are at our side.
Fiore announced earlier this week that she was headed to OR on Wednesday ahead of a Thursday meeting involving lawmakers from several states who are members of a group called the Coalition of the Western States.
“They killed LaVoy and they’re about to kill us”, one of the occupiers said on the stream. Christian evangelist Franklin Graham and others had offered to intervene.
The occupiers have repeatedly accused the federal government of persecuting them and they have attacked President Barack Obama for trying to “take away guns from people who are depressed”. He said they all expected to be killed. “It’s not self-inflicted wounds either”, Mrs. Anderson said.
“They don’t want a peaceful resolution”, a woman who identified herself as Sandy Anderson.
Four people have remained at the refuge following the arrests of group leader Ammon Bundy and others on Highway 395 on January 26. They have posted video reports off and on, showing their camp of pickup trucks and ATVs arranged in a rough circle, with tarps and tents providing shelter.
Occupation leader Ammon Bundy often repeated a catchphrase that “Harney County is the place and these are the people”.
Bundy and other members of his group were arrested during an incident along a highway last month.
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The FBI is not commenting on negotiations.
