What We Know: Last occupiers of nature preserve surrender

Meanwhile, Cliven Bundy, who was at the center of the 2014 standoff at his ranch in Nevada, was arrested late Wednesday in Portland after encouraging the OR occupiers not to give up. Ammon Bundy was the leader and primary spokesperson for the occupiers. The indictment of 69-year-old Bundy, a spiritual grandfather for the ultra-conservative federal lands movement, signaled a determination to clamp down on the wider anti-government militia movement. Federal authorities may have feared Bundy’s presence would draw sympathizers to defend the holdouts.

At least 25 people have now been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to impede employees at the wildlife refuge from performing their duties. He’s accused of leading supporters who pointed military-style weapons at federal agents trying to enforce a court order to round up Bundy cattle from federal rangeland.

— January 29: 2016: Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy, Ryan Payne and five others appear in federal court in Portland, where a judge denies their release.

The Malheur occupation had also been a protest against federal control over millions of acres (hectares) of public land in the West. But some experts said the FBI’s strategy of letting the tensions die down before moving in ensured there would be no bloodshed.

“This was beautifully executed”, said Brian Levin, a criminal justice professor at California State University, San Bernardino.

“I am relieved that this unlawful standoff has finally come to an end”. Bomb squads planned to sweep buildings for explosives, and specialists must try to determine whether the occupiers damaged any artifacts or burial grounds sacred to the Burns Paiute Tribe – with an eye toward uncovering any violations of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Protection Act and the Archeological Resources Protection Act, he said.

Outside, the videos sometimes showed group members in tents or gathered around a campfire, driving vehicles and setting up barricades. The four will appear before a judge in Portland on Friday.

Authorities say Sean Anderson, 47; his wife Sandra Anderson, 48, both of Riggins, Idaho; and Jeff Banta, 46, of Yerington, Nevada, were arrested around 9:40 a.m. Thursday. More than 60,000 people listened to the 45-year-old’s live-streamed conversation with the holdouts Wednesday as she worked to calm the four remaining occupiers, who at times sounded hysterical as the Federal Bureau of Investigation moved in. Over the next several hours, the occupiers’ panic and their negotiation with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents could be heard live on the Internet, broadcast by a sympathizer of the occupiers who established phone contact with them.

“I declare war against the federal government!”

Cooper was not among the last four holdouts who surrendered Thursday. “Kill me. Get it over with”, he said.

After ranting for a while, he too gave up.

A Nevada lawmaker has been key in getting that agreement.

“It has never been the FBI’s desire to engage these armed occupiers in any way other than through dialogue, and to that end, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has negotiated with patience and restraint in an effort to resolve the situation peacefully”, he said in a statement.

The Oregon standoff began when Ammon Bundy and his followers took over the refuge south of Burns.

“Oregonians across our state are grateful to the Harney County Sheriff’s Department, federal law enforcement, and local and state officials for ending this standoff without additional loss of life”.

She suggested that the Bundys were being targeted by the government and expressed her support in the wake of Cliven Bundy’s arrest.

Bundy was arrested last month as he and other main figures of the occupation were traveling to the town of John Day. Four others were also arrested in that confrontation, which resulted in the shooting death of the group’s spokesman, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum.

“I’m actually feeling suicidal right now”, said Mr. Fry, echoing Finicum, “I will not go another day as a slave to this system”.

Without their leader, all but a handful of the protesters surrendered soon after Ammon Bundy’s arrest.