Occupiers of USA wildlife refuge indicted

The ceremonies came as four people continued to occupy the federal property in southeastern Oregon.

Ben Tenney, a Kanab, Utah, resident, gives his condolences to the daughter of Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum outside the church where services were being held in Kanab Friday, Feb. 5, 2016. “You have already killed enough”, Bundy says in the 90-second recording.

The FBI says Finicum, a spokesman for the armed group, reached for a gun in his jacket pocket.

A federal grand jury has indicted 16 people for their roles in the OR wildlife refuge standoff, charging them all with a count of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States.

Ammon Bundy – a Mormon and the main leader of the refuge occupation -has said he was following divine orders when he and his followers seized the refuge January 2.

Two of those arrested have since been released on condition that they wear electronic tracking devices while awaiting trial, leaving 10 of the former protesters, including the Bundys, still in custody. During those arrests, one occupier was shot dead.

He is the son of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who has been involved in a high-profile dispute over grazing cattle on federal land in that state.

The three-page indictment says the defendants brandished firearms and refused to leave the refuge, threatening violence against anyone who attempted to remove them. After the funeral, organizers have planned a memorial horse ride to a local middle school for a benefit concert. Given the anti-federal sentiment expected among the crowd, Alldredge said local law enforcement agencies have pleaded with the FBI and other federal agents to stay away.

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

Sheriff’s officials and the Utah Highway Patrol were on hand to ensure the events were peaceful.

Among the four still at the refuge and refusing to surrender is David Fry, who has vowed to stand his ground.

Defense attorneys have said their clients engaged in civil disobedience and are being punished for political speech. “This is what you get when government officials ignore the people”, Bundy said in the message, arguing that the occupiers had “exhausted all prudent measures to get government officials to investigate the abuses to the Hammond family”.