An sign of the National Wildlife Refuge System is seen at an entry of the wildlife refuge, where some vehicles are seen used to block access to the inside of the refuge, about 30 miles southeast of Burns, Ore., Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016.
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A spokesman for the armed group occupying a national wildlife refuge in OR says it wants authorities to look into claims that local ranchers have been intimidated by the federal government. Dwight Hammond previously said he and his son are planning to peacefully report to prison despite the protest.
But witnesses at their trial said that Steven Hammond had illegally slaughtered deer on federal property during a hunting expedition and then handed out matches in order to “light up the whole country on fire”, according to a Justice Department statement.
The occupation came after several hundred demonstrators marched through Burns, Oregon, to protest against the pending imprisonment of father and son Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, who a federal court decided must return to prison after their time served for setting fires on public land to protect their property from wildfires was deemed insufficient.
A statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation says they are “working with the Harney County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police and other local and state law enforcement agencies to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation”. And the protesters feel that the federal government has overreached in convicting these two ranchers of arson.
The federal government’s land ownership has always been a contentious issue, particularly in the western part of the United States.
Bundy and his father Cliven held a month-long armed standoff with federal authorities in 2014 over unpaid fees the government said they owed for letting their cattle graze on federal land in Nevada. The group says the land belongs to local residents and managers at the federal refuge have been trying to push nearby ranchers out.
A group of armed militia members continue to occupy a federal wildlife refuge building near Burns, Ore. Their attorney said, “Neither Ammon Bundy nor anyone within his group/organization speak for the Hammond family”. Saturday afternoon, a group from the protests took over the wildlife refuge.
Marco Rubio agreed that there were too many land control policies earlier today, but condemned the event and said the protesters’ speech would do much better if it was not “outside the law”.
Reporters have seen about 20 people at the remote national facility.
Some reports have said that as many 150 men were taking part in the occupation of the refuge buildings, but a Guardian reporter saw less than a dozen cars parked at the site on Saturday.
Bundy told a press conference on Sunday that some of the occupiers were armed but did not plan violence.
“We intend to go to work in assisting the people of Harney County in claiming their rights, using their rights as free people”, he announced.
“All comfort, all wealth… comes from the Earth, and we can not have the government restricting the use of that to the point where it puts us in poverty”, Bundy said.
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If the situation turns violent, Ryan Bundy contends that it will be because of the federal government’s actions. They were to be sent to back to prison after federal prosecutors won an appeal that resulted in their resentencing to longer terms.
