Things to know: The armed standoff in Oregon

Duane Ehmer rides his horse Hellboy at the occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on the sixth day of the occupation of the federal building in Burns, Oregon on January 7, 2016.

Bundy repeatedly pressed Ward to address the group’s grievances, which include freeing two imprisoned ranchers and the federal government’s land use policies.

This latest action, like the Bundy affair of 2014, is little more than the recycling of old gripes from a small cadre of ranchers and miners. “We say to you, ‘not a minute too early'”. In 1879 the Paiute people were ” loaded into wagons and ordered to walk under heavy guard” in knee-deep snow until they were off their land, never to return.

For over a year now, university students asking for “trigger warnings” have been portrayed as the single greatest threat to society as we know it; the delicacy with which armed grown-ups bleating about their constitutional right to own things that aren’t theirs is a bit much to take just now. Maliciously damaging or destroying “by means of fire or an explosive, any building, vehicle, or other personal or real property” belonging to the United States.

The leader of an American Indian tribe that regards an OR nature preserve as sacred issued a rebuke Wednesday to the armed men who are occupying the property, saying they are not welcome at the snowy bird sanctuary and must leave.

JIM URQUHART/REUTERS Leader of a group of armed protesters Ammon Bundy, said he was “asked to do this by the Lord” in reference to their week-long occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.

“I think people are afraid”, Sam Glerup, 61, the owner of a local auto towing and automotive shop called Sam’s Service said to the Daily News. “However, the sheriff is keeping all options open”.

Nonetheless, the government appealed the sentences, and now the Hammonds – the father, Dwight, is 73, and his son, Steven, 46 – will serve roughly another four years in prison. The second fire burned all of an acre of public land. The feds appealed the sentence and another judge ordered both Hammonds to serve the full five years.

A lawyer for Hammond family has said that the occupiers do not speak for the family.

“They just need to get the hell out of here”, tribal council member Jarvis Kennedy told a crowd of reporters and local residents who showed up to listen to what the tribe had to say on the matter. They were seated in the second row, and he had them stand to applause.

For now, Bundy is sitting on an offer the sheriff made. The occupiers have even been offered safe escort from the land. “We’re here to pass the baton safely to Harney County”.

“I was asked to do this by the Lord”, said Bundy, a Mormon. Their cause had been the rallying point for self-styled militia members who came by the hundreds to Harney County to protest over the weekend.

A cooperative of Arizona ranchers called the Malpai Borderlands Group, however, has been able to prevent such historic standoffs. The group says it gets its namesake from committees formed during the colonial era to provide protection.

“There are some positives that could come out of this”, Harney County Sheriff David Ward, accompanied by colleagues from two other counties, told Bundy and his group.

Louis Smith, who has lived in Burns for 56 years, said of the protesters, “They woke everybody up, we appreciate that”. One of the six members of the Committee of Safety, Melodi Molt, explained their reason.

“We approved of most of your message but disapprove of your unilateral methods of occupation”, she continued.

Bundy didn’t request the presence of the Pacific Patriot Network, he said, and has “tried to put out the word: ‘We don’t need you'”. On Saturday, a convoy of more than a dozen pickup trucks carrying armed men arrived at the wildlife refuge.

While some focused on the standoff, others focused on the challenges of ranching in a changing world and increased regulations.