Federal law enforcement officials yesterday sought a peaceful end to the occupation of the headquarters of a US wildlife refuge in Oregon launched over the weekend by a group of self-styled militiamen angry over the imminent imprisonment of two ranchers.
The occupation, which began on Saturday, was the latest skirmish over federal land management in the American West and reflected an anti-government stance held by some Americans.
Yesterday morning, a group of about a half-dozen occupiers could be seen outside the facility, with some manning a watchtower and others standing around a vehicle they had used to block the road leading to the building. They chatted quietly among themselves as a large group of media looking on. None were visibly armed.
The occupation followed a protest march in Burns, a small city about 80 km north of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, over the imminent imprisonment of ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr and his son, Steven Hammond.
The Hammonds were found guilty in 2012 of setting a series of fires including a 2001 blaze intended to cover up evidence of deer poaching that went on to burn 139 acres of public lands, according to federal prosecutors.
They were initially sentenced to 12 months in prison, below the federal minimum for arson, but a US district judge in October raised the sentences to five years.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to give details on plans by federal officials for dealing with the occupiers.
Law enforcement officials and the leader of the occupation, Ammon Bundy, declined to say how many people were occupying the refuge headquarters. Bundy is the son of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher whose family staged a 2014 armed protest against federal land management officials that ended with authorities backing down, citing safety concerns.
Ammon Bundy told ABC News yesterday that members of his group were armed.
“It’s important that we stand and people know that we’re serious,” he said. “We understand that in order to truly express our First Amendment rights, we have to have our Second Amendment rights.”
The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects the right to free speech, and the Second protects the right to bear arms.
In a statement, the FBI said it was seeking a “peaceful resolution to the situation,” but offered few details.
“Due to safety considerations for both those inside the refuge as well as the law enforcement officers involved, we will not be releasing any specifics with regards to the law enforcement response,” the FBI said.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service said late Sunday that all of its staff from the facility were safe and accounted for.
A lawyer for the Hammonds sought to distance his clients from Bundy and his armed band, saying they did not speak for the family. Hammond and his son were convicted in 2012 of setting fires which inadvertently spread to public land.
On Sunday evening, they travelled to Los Angeles to surrender to federal authorities, according to their lawyer, W Alan Schroeder. They were to be sent back to prison after federal prosecutors won an appeal that resulted in their being re-sentenced to longer terms.
The occupation was part of a decades-old conflict between ranchers and the federal government over Washington’s management of hundreds of thousands of acres of
range land.