Sheriff to meet armed group , ask them to leave

Their father, Cliven Bundy, along with a band of armed men, stared down federal agents trying to seize his livestock in Nevada in 2014. Ammon Bundy and his brother, Ryan Bundy. Law enforcement had yet to take any action Tuesday ag…

“Because of that, there are no planned meetings or calls at this time”, the Harney County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Schools were closed following the seizure of the refuge because of safety concerns in the small town in eastern Oregon’s high desert.

As one can imagine, Clivan Bundy has a lot of supporters from anti-government and militia groups, and his son Ammon seems to be leading the militia that stormed that bird sanctuary in Oregon – Inviting “patriots” from all over the country to join them in a lengthy armed occupation.

“The protesters have no right to this land”.

The armed anti-government protesters, who took over the federal building on Saturday, have vowed to continue their occupation even as local officials told the group to leave. “Those individuals illegally occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge need to decamp immediately and be held accountable”, she said.

Ammon Bundy is demanding that the refuge be handed over to locals.

A few days ago Bundy said the group would eventually leave.

“Settler pressure and violence eroded the tribe’s claim to land that was nominally reserved to it”, Jedediah Purdy wrote in the New Yorker. Bundy believes that the USA government acted in violation of the constitution, and wishes for the land to be given to citizens of Harney County. Starved and battle-worn, the Paiute signed a “Peace or Death” treaty with the USA government in 1868 – they would cease hostilities and move onto a reservation in exchange for federal protection. Some later returned and purchased property in the Burns area, where about 200 tribal members now live. The leader of an American Indian tribe that regards an OR nature pre… They lead hard lives, many working odd jobs to try to make ends meet.

Harney County Sheriff David Ward arrives to a community meeting at the Harney County fairgrounds Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, in Burns, Ore.

Spokesmen for the Idaho group said they are there to keep the situation peaceful and reassure the community that it isn’t in danger.

The events leading up to the current siege of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge are complex and hard to follow, but it started after two ranchers named Hammond were convicted on arson charges stemming from a series of fires on federal land near their ranch.

Pearson said the national monument, which is co-managed by the BLM and the National Park Service, received guidance from federal officials, but operations and security at the site hasn’t been altered. “We won’t leave until these lands have been turned over to the their rightful owners”, Bundy said.

The congressman (pictured below) expressed sympathy for the protesters, who are angry about what they view as the U.S. government’s intrusion on public lands. The Paiute are guaranteed access to the refuge for activities important to their heritage – hunting, fishing, gathering reeds for basket weaving and precious seeds. The tribe also hunts and fishes there.

“We will continue to protect our visitors and our employees”, Pearson said. “They need to go home and get out of here”.

“Rodrique said the tribe never ceded its rights to the land”.

“I’m here to offer safe passage out”, the sheriff said. “Everybody in the United States owns that land….” We’re here because people were being ignored.

Bundy spoke about the case of two local ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond, who have distanced themselves from the occupiers.