The
occupation of a federal wildlife refuge near Burns, Ore., took a
violent turn on Jan. 26, when a shooting unfolded during a traffic stop.
One member of the armed group was killed and eight were arrested,
including leaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington
Post)
The frenzy of activity marked a sudden escalation in the ongoing standoff that has simmered for more than three weeks, ever since a small group of men and women took control of a remote facility in southeastern Oregon.
Local and federal law enforcement officials had called for the occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to end peacefully, and the FBI said in a statement its response was “deliberate and measured.”
Since the standoff began, Gov. Kate Brown (D) wrote a letter urging federal officials to bring a “swift resolution” to the situation, while others questioned whether the occupiers would have been treated with patience if they were black.
A senior U.S. law enforcement official defended the response, saying the FBI did not want a repeat of bloody sieges in Waco, Tex., and Ruby Ridge. The official said it did not matter who was inside, saying that there was no need to act more hastily because the occupation involved abandoned buildings in an isolated area, no hostages and no one being directly threatened.
“Why would we do that?” the official said Wednesday. “This was a very, very good outcome.”
There had been no visible law enforcement presence around the refuge as the situation stretched on for days and weeks, and occupiers came and went as they pleased, though they said they remained on guard. The group’s leaders had felt comfortable enough to move freely, leaving the refuge’s headquarters to attend meetings with residents and law enforcement officials.
On Tuesday afternoon, with the group’s leaders away from the refuge and traveling on a highway, FBI agents and the Oregon State Police moved to arrest them on federal charges. Five occupiers were arrested on the highway, including Ammon Bundy, the group’s leader. Three other people tied to the situation were later arrested in Oregon and Arizona.
All of the people arrested on the Oregon highway surrendered to authorities except for one man, later identified as LaVoy Finicum, a spokesman for the group who had previously said he would rather die than go to jail. Another official familiar with the encounter said Finicum refused to surrender and he was fatally shot; authorities said Wednesday they were investigating the shooting.
[What we know about LaVoy Finicum, an Arizona rancher]
The U.S. law enforcement official said the FBI picked the time and place they would move to arrest Bundy and the other leaders. “We call the shots, not the bad guys,” the official said. The official also said there were “fractures” in the group’s leadership and described the them as “tired from reacting to strange noises at night.”
Other members of the group remained at the refuge, but before the sun rose over a remote swath of eastern Oregon previously best known for its bird-watching, authorities said they were blocking access to the federal land.
The FBI and Oregon State Police said they had established checkpoints along key routes to the refuge and that anyone who tries to travel inside would be arrested. Officials said people leaving the refuge would have their names confirmed and vehicles searched, but they did not say whether those people would be arrested.
[What we know about the occupied federal building in rural Oregon]
The standoff began on Jan. 2 when a group, led by Bundy, went to the refuge after a protest over the imprisonment of two local ranchers convicted of committing arson on public lands.
The ranchers’ case provoked a heated response in Harney County, where the refuge is located, and caught the attention of a wide swath of anti-government activists far beyond its borders. Among the hundreds who flocked to Burns, Ore., to express their outrage were Bundy and his brother, Ryan Bundy; a smaller group drove to the refuge, about 30 miles away from Burns, and have remained there ever since.
Bundy and his brother, Ryan, were among those taken into custody on Wednesday. Authorities said that one person was injured during the arrests and was treated at a local hospital before being released into the FBI’s custody; the Oregonian newspaper identified the injured person as Ryan Bundy.
The FBI and Oregon State Police have also not said yet how many shots were fired on the highway, who fired them or officially identified the person who was killed.But occupiers and others identified the person killed as Finicum, who had acted a spokesman for the group.
The Facebook page for Bundy Ranch — the site of a confrontation between the Bundy brothers’ father, Cliven, and the Bureau of Land Management in 2014, that involved Bundy supporters aiming guns at federal agents — posted a statement condemning what they described as Finicum’s “murder.”
Arianna Finicum Brown, the daughter of LaVoy Finicum, the de facto spokesman, told the Oregonian on Tuesday that her father “would never ever want to hurt somebody, but he does believe in defending freedom and he knew the risks involved.”
Jason Patrick, an occupier who remained at the Malheur refuge Tuesday night, said the arrests didn’t change his group’s demands. He and another occupier also told The Post that Finicum was killed.
Patrick wouldn’t say how many people remained at the refuge, or who else was with him, but he said they don’t plan to pick up and leave because of the day’s events.
“Right now, we’re doing fine,” he told The Post by phone. “We’re just trying to figure out how a dead cowboy equals peaceful resolution.”
The 54-year-old rancher from Cane Beds, Ariz., had previously told NBC News that he’d rather die than be arrested. On Wednesday, his followers were portraying him as a martyr “who stood for your children’s liberty.”
Talking to The Post in mid-January, Finicum explained that the armed group planned to remain at the refuge, which is operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, until all 187,000 acres of it were “returned” to Harney County and private ownership.
“It needs to be very clear that these buildings will never, ever return to the federal government,” he said at the time, a white cowboy hat perched atop his head, a Colt .45 pistol holstered at his hip.
By Wednesday, as checkpoints were set up and hordes of law enforcement vehicles were seen, people at the compound showed no signs that they were leaving.
The eight people who were arrested Tuesday face federal felony charges of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from performing their official duties through force, intimidation or threats.
It was unclear if any of the people who were at the 2014 showdown involving the Bundy family would face additional charges stemming from that incident.
The three other people arrested on the highway were Brian Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville; Shawna Cox, 59, of Kanab, Utah; and Ryan Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Mont. Later Tuesday afternoon, FBI agents in Burns also arrested Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, 45, of Cottonwood, Ariz., and Peter Santilli, 50, a Cincinnati man known for livestreaming refuge events. Hours later, FBI agents in Phoenix arrested Jon Ritzheimer, 32, who turned himself in to authorities.
[The Oregon refuge occupied by Bundy is one of the first wildlife sanctuaries in the U.S.]
Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said that the situation in his area had led to intimidation; he told a crowd that his parents, his deputies and their families have been followed, and added that someone flattened his wife’s tires.
The situation has drawn new attention to longstanding frustrations with the federal government’s management of land in the West. Bundy had said that the occupiers would only leave when the two local ranchers were freed from prison and the land taken away from the federal government.
[Why veterans look at the Oregon occupation and see ‘loose cannon clowns’]
The news of the arrests was met with relief from conservationists and public officials. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) applauded the law enforcement response in a statement Tuesday night.
“I am pleased that the FBI has listened to the concerns of the local community and responded to the illegal activity occurring in Harney County by outside extremists,” he said in a statement. “The leaders of this group are now in custody and I hope that the remaining individuals occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge will peacefully surrender so this community can begin to heal the deep wounds that this illegal activity has created over the last month.”
In a statement, Harney County Judge Steve Grasty said, “I am relieved this situation is coming to an end, however, I am saddened by the loss of life. I hope and pray that those who remain at the refuge will stand down peacefully.”
Adam Goldman and Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.
Related:
The local sheriff who called on the occupiers to leave
“That’s not how we live our lives.” Local residents expressed frustration with the occupation
[This is a developing story and has been updated and will continue to be updated.]
Mark
Berman covers national news for The Washington Post and anchors Post
Nation, a destination for breaking news and stories from around the
country.
Sarah Kaplan is a reporter for Morning Mix.
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