3 more arrested as Bundy urges refuge occupiers to leave

Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy and Peter Santilli were arrested in Burns, about 30 miles from the refuge.

Ammon Bundy has told the protesters remaining at an OR wildlife refuge to “stand down” and go home while he remains jailed after a shootout with authorities that killed a fellow activist and wounded his brother. Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. “This fight is now in the courts”, the statement said.

Among the militant leaders who laid claim to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum had emerged as a folksy spokesman for their cause. There is a huge law enforcement presence in the region, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has now set up checkpoints outside the refuge.

Bundy followers gave conflicting accounts of how Finicum died.

Now, a third account offers additional, possibly contradictory, details about what happened when Finicum tried to drive around a roadblock and became stuck in a snowbank.

Bundy’s lawyer read out a statement from his client: “To those remaining at the refuge: I love you”.

Federal authorities arrested 3 more people connected to the Malheur occupation Wednesday afternoon, the FBI announced. Raymond Doherty told KOIN-TV (http://is.gd/AgNSdm) that he was about 100 feet back and couldn’t see who specifically was shooting. At Wednesday’s initial court appearance for seven of the suspects in Portland, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman said they are a danger to the community and, with no ties to OR, flight risks.

According to charging documents, a source told a Harney County officer that the group had explosives and night vision goggles and weapons, and that “if they didn’t get the fight they wanted out there they would bring the fight to town”.

The Malheur takeover, which started January 2 with at least a dozen armed men, was a flare-up in the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion, a decades-old conflict over federal control of millions of acres in the West. Protesters say they are defending the Constitution.

The criminal complaint stresses that point. Authorities released few other details.

Authorities said the new security involves a series of checkpoints along key routes into and out of the refuge and was made out of an “abundance of caution” to protect the public and law enforcement.

“Multiple agencies put a lot of work into this to put the best tactical plan that they could to arrest them peacefully”, said Ward. Since the establishment of checkpoints, a total of eight people left the refuge and of those, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released five and arrested three.

At the earlier news conference, Bretzing also defended the FBI-led operation that resulted in the arrest of Bundy and other leaders, and in the death of Finicum.

“He said, ‘Shoot me or leave me alone …” “The arrests were without incident”.

“It appears that America was sacked upon by our government”, the occupiers said on the Bundy Ranch Facebook page. The most expressive was Ryan Bundy, who looked at the press and asked “How are you guys?” when he entered the courtroom.

She said that when Finicum was first pulled over, he insisted – before driving away – that he be allowed to speak to the county sheriff.

When agents approached the truck driven by Filicum, he drove off with officers in pursuit.

A law enforcement source described the fatal encounter to CNN, which reported that Finicum attempted to drive away from a traffic stop at high speed before crashing his pickup into a snowbank along USA 395. He says they’re working to safely remove those who are still occupying the site.

“We used to could walk up to them and talk with the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in a friendly manner… but the tenor has changed”, Finicum said. “We’re unarmed, ‘” Briana Bundy said in an interview with the AP.

Authorities say a man died when officers opened fire during a traffic stop Tuesday.