16 are federally indicted in takeover of OR wildlife refuge

Barrow said the indictment was returned against the 11 people who have already been arrested and others, perhaps a reference to the last four holdouts at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

The standoff began January 2, with the group demanding the federal government turn public lands over to local control and free two ranchers imprisoned for setting fires. He again asked the occupiers to give up, but insisted that the refuge should remain closed until it can be taken away from the federal government.

According to the indictment, an Idaho couple is among those left at the refuge.

It also notes that the occupiers refused to leave and “threatened violence against anybody who attempted to remove them”.

The indictment says two conspirators traveled to the area in October to warn the local sheriff of “extreme civil unrest” if certain demands weren’t met.

If convicted on the conspiracy charge, each of the defendants could spend up to six years in prison.

Bundy and 10 others were arrested last week in OR, a lot of them during a confrontation with Federal Bureau of Investigation and state police on a snow-covered roadside where a spokesman for the group, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, was shot to death.

Four remaining occupiers of a federal wildlife refuge in OR have been indicted over the monthlong armed takeover, along with a dozen others.

However, the indictment remained sealed and further details on the charges were unavailable.

One of the protesters who stood with Finicum at the OR refuge hopes to attend the funeral.

“They’ve kind of put the call out nationwide”, Alldredge said.

The holdouts have said they are not leaving without a guarantee they won’t be arrested.

The refuge has been closed since late December, after federal workers began reporting threats and suspicious activity. Hundreds gathered to protest and support the armed occupation of a national wildlife preserve.

Gavin Shire, chief of public affairs for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said national wildlife refuges across the nation and other sites run by the agency are exercising extra vigilance.

Meanwhile, the government has beefed up security at the national wildlife refuge as the standoff has created tensions in the region and shows no sign of ending soon. On the audio recording, Bundy claims to be in solitary confinement.

A hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at U.S. District Court in Portland.

Brian Cavalier, Duane Leo Ehmer and Peter Santilli are expected in court Thursday afternoon.