Supporters of OR occupier arrive at funeral in Kanab

A federal grand jury has indicted Ammon Bundy and some of the men and women who joined him at the armed occupation of an OR wildlife refuge, authorities said Wednesday.

One, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, who officials say reached for a weapon, was shot dead. “It is time to end this”.

Preserves and other national sites run by the Fish and Wildlife Service are being extra vigilant, said Gavin Shire, the agency’s chief of public affairs.

In court appearances after the arrests, lawyers for some of the protesters have argued that they were conducting traditional acts of civil disobedience – a notion that federal judges involved the case have rejected.

After asking his colleagues to go home last week, Ammon Bundy is now asking the authorities to leave.

Shortly after his arrest last week, Bundy released a statement through his attorney asking the remaining occupiers to go home. He again asked the occupiers to give up, but insisted that the refuge should remain closed until it can be taken away from the federal government.

But he also remained defiant in his message against the federal government, saying that he would like to see the citizens work on “returning these lands back to the people of Harney County and the State of OR as prescribed in the constitution”. The occupiers have said Finicum had his hands in the air when he was shot.

A group called the Pacific Patriots Network had issued a “call to action” asking anti-government activists to protest in Burns, Ore., over Finicum’s death.

The document also revealed that two people traveled to the area last October to warn the local sheriff that there would be “extreme civil unrest” if certain demands were not met. Further, the indictment noted that after the occupation began the group brandished firearms to keep officials from carrying out their duties, threatened violence, and intimidated local residents.

The ceremonies came as four people continued to occupy the federal property in southeastern Oregon.

Bundy is among 12 people in custody for their involvement in the ongoing occupation outside Burns, Oregon.

“Her request is limited to entering a church, offering prayers and condolences, and then returning home”, Cox’s lawyer, Tiffany A. Harris, said in the motion.

In addition to Bundy and the four holdouts at the refuge, those indicted include Bundy’s brother Ryan Bundy, Jon Ritzheimer, Joseph O’Shaughnessy, Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier, Shawna Cox, Peter Santilli, Jason Patrick, Duane Lee Ehmer, Dylan Anderson and Kenneth Medenbach.