Thread: Ammon Bundy, three others arrested SHOTS FIRED

Oregon occupation spokesman killed, eight other leaders arrested

Ammon Bundy, center, at a news conference at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 8.
(Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)



Matt PearceContact Reporter


One person died and eight others were taken into custody Tuesday when authorities confronted an armed protest group responsible for a nearly month long occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon, officials said.
Killed in the confrontation was Arizona rancher Robert "LeVoy" Finicum, who had acted as a spokesman for the group of self-styled defenders of the constitution, according to Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, who spoke with the wife of Ammon Bundy, the leader of the group.
Bundy was among five people initially taken into custody, while his brother, Ryan, was shot in the arm during the incident, Fiore said.
She said Ammon Bundy, who was one of those arrested, told his wife in a phone call that the group had been cooperative. He told her that Finicum was shot three times while he had his hands up in the air, according to Fiore.

“It’s very unfortunate, the only saving grace is there’s six witnesses to it,” said Fiore, a supporter of the Bundy family who called the federal Bureau of Land Management, one of the targets of the protesters' ire, a “bureaucratic agency of terrorism.”
“My perspective is our government has acted lawless and we have got to stop," she said.
In a statement on the arrests, authorities said that shots were fired during the incident on U.S. 395. The injured person, whom Fiore identified as Ryan Bundy, was was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, the statement said.
The highway incident began at 4:25 p.m. when authorities from the FBI and Oregon State Police "began a law enforcement action" to take into custody those associated with the armed occupation of the refuge, officials said in a statement.
The person who died was not identified, and no information was given on the cause of death. Officials said the slain suspect "was a subject of a federal probable cause arrest."
Police said they made a separate arrest of another man, Joseph O'Shaughnessy, of Cottonwood, Ariz., who was taken into custody in the town of Burns, Ore., near the occupied wildlife refuge.
About two hours after the initial confrontation, authorities also arrested Internet radio host Pete Santilli, a supporter of the occupation who has documented the case on his program and via live stream since it began.

What began as a small, peaceful rally in Oregon has become an armed occupation of a wildlife refuge by protesters asserting rights on federal lands.




An eighth suspect, Jon Eric Ritzheimer, 32, was arrested in Peoria, Ariz. at about 8:30 p.m. on a federal charge related to the occupation, the FBI said.
Ritzheimer, an anti-government activist who has organized armed anti-Muslim rallies in Phoenix, turned himself to the Peoria police department and was taken into custody without incident, officials said.
RAll of those taken into custody, including Santilli and Ritzheimer, face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede federal officers through the use of force, intimidation or threats, authorities said.
Leaders of the group have been largely holed up at the wildlife refuge outside Burns since Jan. 2, protesting the federal sentencing of a local rancher and the government's administration of public lands.
They had been expected to appear at a community meeting Tuesday night in the city of John Day, but never arrived.
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In addition to Bundy, a resident of Emmett, Idaho, those arrested included his brother, Ryan Bundy, 43, of Bunkerville, Nev.; Brian Cavalier, 44, also of Bunkerville; Shawna Cox, 59, Kanab, Utah; and Ryan Waylen Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Mont.
“Isn’t this a wonderful country we live in?" Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, father of Ammon and Ryan, said sarcastically when the Los Angeles Times informed him about the arrests and the death.
"We believe that those federal people shouldn’t even be there in that state, and be in that county and have anything to do with this issue. ... I have some sons and other people there trying to protect our rights and liberties and freedoms, and now we’ve got one killed, and all I can say is, he’s sacrificed for a good purpose,” Bundy said.
Ammon Bundy and a group of about 15 other men took over the wildlife refuge after a march in support of a pair of Oregon ranchers, Dwight and Steve Hammond, who had been sentenced to prison for setting fires on federal land.
Armed standoff in Oregon endures, with more questions than answers

The protesters have issued a muddled set of demands for ending the occupation. They demanded freedom for the imprisoned Hammonds and asked that federal land be returned from the U.S. government to local landowners, the county and the town of Burns.
They made it clear they were willing to resort to violence if the federal government moved against them, but also said they did not want such a confrontation.
Firearms were a constant presence at the wildlife refuge. Men walked around casually with assault rifles slung over their shoulders or with handguns holstered on their hips. One day a reporter saw a man, dressed in military clothing with a patch that read “MILITIA,” cleaning an antique Russian rifle.
When asked on Jan. 15 about all the weaponry, Ammon Bundy replied, “That's ridiculous that you would connect walking around with arms to violence. That's what keeps it peaceful.”
Through it all, the protesters won support from around the country, and also among some local residents. But they also angered many. Around Burns, signs popped up declaring: “Bundy militia go home” and “No Bundy caliphate.”
The occupiers repeatedly said they were protesting on behalf of their fellow citizens.
"We're trying to accomplish the task of restoring rights to the people who have lost them or surrendered them," Ryan Bundy said earlier this month.
"We don't want it to end with violence. We're not looking for bloodshed," he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
"We can enforce the Constitution in Harney County, and that's what we intend to do," Ammon Bundy told reporters one day. "We have a lot of plans."

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...126-story.html

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Brent Weisberg
✔@BrentKOIN

BREAKING: Booking photos of Ammon Bundy, 7 others after arrest near Burns. http://koin.com/2016/01/26/malheur-militia-law-enforcement-01262016/ … #KOIN6News
3:40 AM - 27 Jan 2016

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UPDATE

KTVZ reporter Lauren Martinez tweeted a video of her leaving the compound area with the ominous note "@FBI warns media no protection." Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter John Sepulvado tweeted ".@OPB was told by FBI that we were on our own -- essentially stuff is going down and we need to move."

Here are Wednesday's live updates:
2:45 p.m.:
A convoy of semi's just passed by (just before 3 pm) southbound onto Oregon 205 carrying more roadblock equipment and floodlights. The news has Twitter debating how long it will take before the cops bring a giant speakers to blast annoying music at the occupiers.

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Kelly House
✔@Kelly_M_House

Convoy of semis barrels down Oregon 205 just now carrying more roadblock equipment and flood lights. #Oregonstandoff
2:48 PM - 27 Jan 2016

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2:25 p.m.: By midafternoon at the roadblock on Oregon 205, a handful of reporters and satellite news trucks milled about, awaiting any action.The closest thing they found came when four unmarked police vehicles left the barricaded area headed northbound, back toward Burns.

Here are Wednesday's live updates:

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Beth Nakamura
✔@bethnakamura

Heavily armed officers @ Burns airport behind newly erected cement barricade #Oregonstandoff
3:27 PM - 27 Jan 2016

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Also new at the airport: a man outside in his boxers working out with axes in place of Dumbbells. #Oregonstandoff

3:35 p.m.: B.J. Soper, a Redmond resident and member of the Pacific Patriots Network, said he and other community members have organized a vigil to honor Robert "LaVoy" Finicum tonight at the Silver Spur Hotel in Burns at 6 p.m.

3:20 p.m.: The arraignments are over. Ammon Bundy and six others appeared one at a time before the judge. Bundy's appointed lawyer to issue a statement soon. Other defendants had court-appointed attorneys. The judge found each to be a serious flight risk; prosecution said it feared they might return to Malheur refuge for a last stand.

Ryan Bundy, Ammon's brother, appeared relaxed, asked courtroom gallery "How are you?" when led in. Asked judge the same.

The complaint against the seven ran 31 pages.

Bundy, through his lawyer, told the remaining occupiers to "Please stand down" and go home.

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-sta...upants_he.html

Here are Wednesday's live updates:
5:09 p.m.: Les Zaitz is reporting that Jason Patrick, the leader of the refuge occupants for 24 hours, is surrendering, according to Stewart Rhodes of Oath Keepers. Duane Ehmer, the Hermiston cowboy who has paraded his horse around the refuge, also has left, according to sources. Only a handful of occupiers remain at the refuge, and patriot groups are hoping to convince them to give up. Occupation may soon be over.

Here are Wednesday's live updates:

7:10 p.m.: A federal court judge Wednesday ordered Ammon Bundy and six others accused in the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to remain in jail, calling them flight risks and a danger to public safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Burrow argued that they would return to the refuge and "bunker in'' with their followers and stage a last violent stand if released. The government is also concerned about the "dynamic situation involving an ongoing armed occupation," said fellow federal prosecutor, Ethan Knight.

6:32 p.m.:
Soper says he and Patrick plan to head right to LaVoy Finicum vigil when Patrick emerges from the sagebrush. #oregonstandoff
— Kelly House (@Kelly_M_House) January 28, 2016

6:20 p.m.:

rtant][/COLOR]

Live, from inside the Oregon standoff: 'You're going to get to watch us die'
[COLOR=#333333 !important]Thanks to one YouTube user at the compound, tens of thousands of people got an inside view of the militants during what they thought might be their final hours.[/COLOR]

6:10 p.m.: Inside the John Day meeting where Oregon standoff leaders were headed before arrest:
People turned up by the hundreds in John Day to hear Ammon Bundy and others talk about the protest at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in adjoining Harney County.

Some toted signs against the occupation. Far more turned up to express their solidarity with the Harney County protest.

But then some disturbing news arrived. Someone at the podium said there had been a roadblock. Bundy had been arrested. A man had been shot.

6 p.m.: BJ Soper of the Pacific Patriot Network tells The Oregonian's Kelly House that Jason Patrick will emerge from the refuge any minute.

5:58 p.m.: From inside the refuge from a Twitter account that is purported to be that of David Fry, one of the remaining occupiers:

David Fry @RealDavidFry

WE WILL NOT STAND DOWN!! #Oregonstandoff
5:56 PM - 27 Jan 2016

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