Armed group occupies Oregon wildlife refuge

An armed anti-government group vowed on Sunday to continue to occupy a federal wildlife refuge building in rural Oregon indefinitely, in protest of the government‘s treatment of two local ranchers.

Federal officials said that they were monitoring the takeover, but there did not appear to be an imminent plan to confront the protesters.

The Oregon state police warned local residents to stay away from the wildlife refuge Sunday “for their safety” and said it was working with other law enforcement agencies to bring the occupation to an end.

“These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States,” the Oregon police said in a statement Sunday.

The occupation began Saturday afternoon following a peaceful demonstration in which more than 100 people marched through downtown Burns, Oregon, to protest the prison sentences of two ranchers convicted of arson, Dwight Hammond (73) and his son Steven (46). The Hammonds have been ordered to report to prison in California Monday after a federal judge ruled that the sentences they had served for arson were not long enough under federal law.

After Saturday’s rally some of the protesters traveled 30 miles southeast of Burns and took over the unstaffed headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, an area in Harney County operated by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service.

The group appeared to be led by Ammon Bundy, a Montana rancher whose family became a symbol of anti-government sentiment in 2014, when his father inspired a standoff between local militias and federal officials seeking to confiscate cattle grazing illegally on federal land. In a statement captured on video, Mr Bundy said Sunday that his group was “prepared to be out here for as long as need be.”

A lawyer for the Hammonds said, however, that they did not welcome the Bundys’ help. “We pose no threat to anybody,” Ammon Bundy said. However, in an interview with The Oregonian earlier Saturday evening, Mr Bundy and his brother, Ryan, said they would not rule out violence if law enforcement officers tried to remove them from the building.

NYT