Hearing for standoff leader as he tries to get out of jail

Lawyers for Ammon Bundy say he should be allowed to go back home to Idaho with a Global Positioning System monitoring device and with orders that he not leave the state except for court appearances. Mike Arnold and Lissa Casey said in documents filed Sunday that government prosecutors failed to provide “clear and convincing evidence” those steps would not suffice.

Bundy was denied release last week by U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman, who said he posed a danger to the community and might fail to return to OR for court proceedings.

An Arizona man arrested in the occupation of the OR wildlife refuge remains in federal custody after a judge held off ruling on prosecutors’ request to keep him detained as he awaits trial.

Fry repeated the occupiers’ concerns that if they left they would be arrested.

Officials in Harney County, Oregon rejected anti-government rancher Cliven Bundy’s demand that they resign for their opposition to the militant takeover of a local federal wildlife reserve.

In a statement Tuesday, Harney County said it was responding to demands from the Pacific Patriots Network, which has organized rallies in support of the occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. “But in the meantime, the people of Harney County shouldn’t have to suffer twice – had the disruption and then have to pay the bill”. They want federal officials to leave the area. The FBI has allowed several departing occupiers to leave without charging them.

A spokesman for Graham confirmed that he communicated by phone with both federal representatives and the four remaining holdouts at the refuge.

Ten others also have been arrested in the standoff that began January 2 when an armed group opposed to federal land policy took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Cliven Bundy was involved in a high-profile 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights.

HANDOUT/EPA L-R top row are Ammon Edward Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Brian Cavalier and Shawna Cox; L-R bottom row are Joseph O’Shaughnessy, Ryan Payne and Peter Santilli were all believed to have been those indicted Wednesday.

The four holdouts have been identified as Jeff Banta, 46, David Fry, 27, and a married couple, Sean Anderson, 47, and Sandy Anderson, 48, according to The Oregonian newspaper. They were accused of using intimidation to prevent federal officers from doing their work at the refuge in sparsely populated southeast Oregon.

Federal prosecutors are building a case against Ammon Bundy and his followers to show that the occupation was a threat to residents and federal employees. That’s when Bundy and others were taken into custody.

The Rev. Franklin Graham has spoken with the remaining armed occupiers of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon.