I think both the country and the world are relieved by this. I was worried this could turn into something really bad for the country like Waco did which was followed by the Oklahoma Bombing. I think the U.S. has really dodged a bullet this time.
The four remaining occupiers at an Oregon wildlife refuge surrendered Thursday morning after hours of tense negotiations, bringing an end to a nearly six-week dem…NBC NewsOregon Occupie
Four Remaining Oregon Occupiers, Surrounded by FBI, Surrender
The four remaining occupiers at an Oregon
wildlife refuge surrendered Thursday morning after hours of tense
negotiations, bringing an end to a nearly six-week demonstration.
Jeff Banta, Sean Anderson, Sandy Anderson and David Fry were taken in without incident after FBI agents overnight surrounded the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, about 300 miles southeast of Portland.
The FBI's decision to encircle the last of the holdouts marked a dramatic escalation to a mostly slow-plodding armed demonstration at the sanctuary.
The ringleaders, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and other protesters were arrested last month, and Ammon Bundy called for the remaining occupiers to give up.
Agents "moved to contain" the holdouts Wednesday after one allegedly drove outside previously-established barricades and then back in at high speed when approached by the FBI, the bureau said in a statement.
RELATED: Meet the Colorful Lawmaker Allied With Oregon Occupiers
The occupation came to an emotionally heated conclusion as Fry, the last to leave, ranted about politics and threatened suicide in a livestreamed conversation with self-described "liberty activist" Gavin Seim and conservative radio host KrisAnne Hall.
"I'm not coming out of here alive," Fry, 27, could be heard saying at one point. "I'll kill myself before you guys (expletive) do it."
Fry said he was unhappy that his taxes were going toward abortions, drone strikes in the Middle East and Obamacare.
"You have a very powerful voice. You have a very powerful passion," Hall could be heard saying, adding Fry would have more influence on the outside.
Nevada lawmaker Michele Fiore and evangelist Franklin Graham, two allies of the occupiers, were also outside the compound.
Related: Who Are the Four Holdouts in the Oregon Refuge?
Thursday's events followed a phone call Wednesday night between the protesters and negotiators that was also livestreamed online. In the call, the occupiers warned that the incident could end in bloodshed.
But an occupier identified as Sean Anderson — one of the remaining four — said that the stragglers would turn themselves in once Fiore and Graham arrived at the wildlife refuge.
In the sometimes fiery phone call, Anderson, 48, repeated that the occupiers weren't technically giving up what they stand for.
"We're not surrendering, we're turning ourselves in," said. "It's going against everything we believe in."
Fiore was also on the phone call, which was streamed by Seim.
"We have to walk to them with our hands raised, no weapons. I told [the FBI] we're going to be carrying American flags," Anderson told the assemblywoman. "In the morning, once we get word that you and the reverend are at the checkpoint, we will proceed with our surrender."
Related: Federal Jury Indicts Arrested Oregon Protesters
As the confrontation unfolded in Oregon on Wednesday, the Bundy brothers' father, Cliven, was taken into federal custody in Portland. It was not immediately clear what charges he faced.
Jeff Banta, Sean Anderson, Sandy Anderson and David Fry were taken in without incident after FBI agents overnight surrounded the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, about 300 miles southeast of Portland.
The FBI's decision to encircle the last of the holdouts marked a dramatic escalation to a mostly slow-plodding armed demonstration at the sanctuary.
The ringleaders, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and other protesters were arrested last month, and Ammon Bundy called for the remaining occupiers to give up.
Agents "moved to contain" the holdouts Wednesday after one allegedly drove outside previously-established barricades and then back in at high speed when approached by the FBI, the bureau said in a statement.
RELATED: Meet the Colorful Lawmaker Allied With Oregon Occupiers
The occupation came to an emotionally heated conclusion as Fry, the last to leave, ranted about politics and threatened suicide in a livestreamed conversation with self-described "liberty activist" Gavin Seim and conservative radio host KrisAnne Hall.
"I'm not coming out of here alive," Fry, 27, could be heard saying at one point. "I'll kill myself before you guys (expletive) do it."
Fry said he was unhappy that his taxes were going toward abortions, drone strikes in the Middle East and Obamacare.
"You have a very powerful voice. You have a very powerful passion," Hall could be heard saying, adding Fry would have more influence on the outside.
Nevada lawmaker Michele Fiore and evangelist Franklin Graham, two allies of the occupiers, were also outside the compound.
Related: Who Are the Four Holdouts in the Oregon Refuge?
Thursday's events followed a phone call Wednesday night between the protesters and negotiators that was also livestreamed online. In the call, the occupiers warned that the incident could end in bloodshed.
But an occupier identified as Sean Anderson — one of the remaining four — said that the stragglers would turn themselves in once Fiore and Graham arrived at the wildlife refuge.
In the sometimes fiery phone call, Anderson, 48, repeated that the occupiers weren't technically giving up what they stand for.
"We're not surrendering, we're turning ourselves in," said. "It's going against everything we believe in."
Fiore was also on the phone call, which was streamed by Seim.
"We have to walk to them with our hands raised, no weapons. I told [the FBI] we're going to be carrying American flags," Anderson told the assemblywoman. "In the morning, once we get word that you and the reverend are at the checkpoint, we will proceed with our surrender."
Related: Federal Jury Indicts Arrested Oregon Protesters
As the confrontation unfolded in Oregon on Wednesday, the Bundy brothers' father, Cliven, was taken into federal custody in Portland. It was not immediately clear what charges he faced.
"They want me to agree to it, and I will for them," she said. "I want everybody to know that we'll never see the light of day again from prison."
The protesters overran the then-empty wildlife refuge 250 miles from Portland on Jan. 2. They demanded the return of federal land they felt had been taken from the public, and the exoneration of two ranchers convicted of setting fires that spread to public land.
Related: Oregon Townsfolk Are Tired of Occupiers
Ryan and Ammon Bundy, ages 43 and 40, were among five occupiers arrested during a traffic stop on Jan. 26 as they drove to a public meeting.
Another vocal member of the group, 54-year-old Robert LaVoy Finicum, was shot dead during that encounter by law enforcement officials who said he ignored their demands to surrender. Finicum's family rejects the FBI's suggestion he was armed.
Cliven Bundy, 74, was arrested and taken into federal custody on Wednesday as the standoff at the refuge unfolded.
Records showed Cliven Bundy was booked into Portland's Multnomah County Jail late Wednesday.
end quote from:
No comments:
Post a Comment