OR occupiers say they’ll reveal departure date Friday

The armed activists occupying a national wildlife refuge in southeastern OR said Tuesday that they plan to hold a community meeting this week to explain themselves and inform residents when they will leave.

Protestors took occupation of a building January 2 and have said they wouldn’t leave until the federal government turns over grazing lands it manages to local authorities.

As the occupation of an OR national wildlife area enters the second week, the armed militia is recognizing that if they are really going to stay there forever then they are going to need some supplies. He said he resigned because he feels intimidated and betrayed by local officials.

Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum said the location has yet to be determined.

So far, there has been only one brief meeting between Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward and the armed occupation’s de facto leader, Ammon Bundy.

The occupiers say they’re supporting two local ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond, who own land adjacent to the refuge and were sentenced to federal prison for setting public land on fire. A small, armed group has been occupying a remote national wildlife refuge in OR since a week earlier to protest federal land use policies.

“The people on the refuge – and those who they have called to our community – obviously have no consideration for the wishes or needs of the people of Harney County”, Ward said in a statement Monday.

Meanwhile environmental groups have announced they’ll hold rallies in OR and Washington to support national public lands and federal workers who oversee them. Puckett says, “They didn’t have my permission to do anything”.

The Citizens for Constitutional Freedom group engaged in the standoff have renamed the federal center the Harney County Resource Center to draw attention to their desire to have public lands removed from federal control and be placed under localized supervision.

Doucette said he will oversee a “grand jury” made up of 25 community members who will meet in secret, but he said the results of their extralegal proceedings will be publicly released.

Shea said he was assured by both local and federal law enforcement that there is no plan to use violence against the armed occupiers.

“It appears that he must be trying to hide something because he’s getting very belligerent towards the Committee of Safety and, of course, towards us”, Bundy said.