Harney sheriff meets with occupation leader

Ward was backed up by two other OR sheriffs. Ammon Bundy and Sheriff Ward spoke for 5-10 minutes.

Harney County Sheriff David Ward met Thursday with Bundy.

“He said gracefully that he would give us free passage out of the county and free passage out of the state if we would leave”, Bundy said.

The roots of this goes back to the so-called “Sagebrush Rebellion” of the 1970s.

Although the occupation wasn’t called off, Bundy and Ward are scheduled to meet again Friday. If there is no plan to peacefully end the standoff, law enforcement might be forced to raid the building and remove Ammon Bundy and the rest of the protesters.

Following the meeting, Bundy told reporters his group is sticking by its decision not to leave until federal land is turned back over to the people of Harney County. Bundy said the group will stay “until the people can stand without the chains of intimidation”. “That could be a week, that could be a year”.

Locals said they sympathized with the armed group’s complaints about federal land management policies but disagreed with their tactics.

The younger Bundy suggested Ward wasn’t speaking for everyone in the county.

They took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge over the weekend and have showed no signs of leaving. Three Oregon sheriffs met with leaders of an armed group to try to persuade them to end their occupation of the federal wildlife refuge after many local residents made it plain that’s what they want.

The man behind the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge comes from a Mormon family that has been challenging government authority for at least two decades. According to The Conservative Treehouse, there are between 100 and 150 protestors at the Malheur National Wildlife refuge since news of the takeover.

The armed group broke off from a peaceful protest in support of the Hammonds Saturday, taking over the wildlife refuge.

Barriers went up Friday around the Harney County Courthouse after rumors of a protest.

The group, calling itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, says it wants an inquiry into whether the government is forcing ranchers off their land. Bundy, the son of Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy, has been occupying the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 32 miles south of Burns, since last Saturday. They reported to prison earlier this week. Bundy, who was involved in a 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights told reporters on Monday that two local ranchers who face long prison sentences for setting fire to land have been treated unfairly.

Photo/Rick BowmerCowboy Dwane Ehmer, of Irrigon, a supporter of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, holds a US flag as he talks with a journalist next to a manned watch tower Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, near Burns.