Franklin Graham Helps End Oregon Standoff

Occupiers that seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in OR on January 2 demanded the USA turn over the land to locals and release two ranchers imprisoned for setting fires.

He gave no indication when a dozen U.S. Fish & Wildlife employees, who work year-round at the refuge, would be allowed to return to the facility or when it would be re-opened to the public.

The nearby town of Burns, which has been caught in the middle as the occupiers protested federal government control of expanses of Western land, was quiet on Friday as residents sought to resume normal life after the 41-day standoff.

After their surrender on Thursday, the last four protesters told authorities that they had left behind booby traps.

Sean and Sandra Anderson, Jeff Banta, and David Fry surrendered Thursday morning and will go before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Portland later today.

During the standoff, the Federal Bureau of Investigation fortified their position with vehicles – but so did the militia. She suggested that the Bundys were being targeted by the government and expressed her support in the wake of Cliven Bundy’s arrest.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy was arrested Wednesday in Portland for his part in a standoff with federal authorities in 2014, the Justice Department said.

In a criminal complaint filed Thursday in Las Vegas, the elder Bundy is accused of masterminding a “massive armed assault against federal law enforcement officers” in 2014 near his ranch near Bunkerville, Nev.

Federal authorities have not said why they chose to arrest the 69-year-old now.

A number of the occupiers were relating their account of events as they unfolded via an independent Internet broadcast, “Revolution Radio”, that is known to be sympathetic to the occupation.

Their surrender came with the involvement of Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore and evangelist Franklin Graham. The FBI credited the two with helping end the standoff peacefully.

The fate of Bundy and other members of the group who remain in custody has been clouded by the four holdouts, who joined the protest after it started but have so far refused to leave.

“I’m making sure I’m not coming out of here alive”, he said at one point, threatening to kill himself. “You guys take everything away from me for doing nothing wrong”. “I think it’s just beginning”, she said in a telephone interview. “I am so glad this is over”.

As of Thursday, 25 people have been indicted for the occupation.

After a time, the last holdout, David Fry, also surrendered.

Video posted online showed the occupiers operating a backhoe, exploring buildings at the site and criticizing the way tribal artifacts were stored there.

They are charged with the same conspiracy count, a felony that would cost them their right to carry guns if convicted. She expected prosecutors to also bring charges such as theft of government resources or threatening federal officials.

“If they tear gas us, it’s the same as firing on us”, said one of the occupiers, who identified herself as Sandy Anderson. “Given what has happened here, I can understand why that would be a priority”.