Utahn arrested by FBI as 14 more indicted for armed standoff over Cliven Bundy’s cattle in 2014

Fox13Now |  MARCH 3, 2016, BY MARK GREEN

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A federal grand jury in Nevada has charged 14 more people, including a Utah man, with felony crimes related to the armed standoff over removal of Cliven Bundy’s cattle that broke out between the Bureau of Land Management and armed protesters in 2014.

The charges relate to April 12, 2014 and the standoff near Bunkerville, Nevada, where armed protesters prevented BLM agents from enforcing a court order to seize cattle owned by Bundy.

“This investigation began the day after the assault against federal law enforcement officers and continues to this day,” stated U.S. Attorney Bogden in a press release issued Thursday. “We will continue to work to identify the assaulters and their role in the assault and the aftermath, in order to ensure that justice is served.”

The superseding criminal indictment returned Thursday means a total of 19 people have now been charged. Among the 14 newly charged individuals is 39-year-old David H. Bundy of Delta, Utah.

David Bundy was arrested by the FBI in Utah Thursday morning, and he is scheduled to appear in a federal court in Salt Lake City Friday at 2 p.m.

According to the press release, the other 13 newly charged people are: Melvin D. Bundy, 41, of Round Mountain, Nev.; Brian D. Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nev.; Blaine Cooper, 36, of Humboldt, Ariz.; Gerald A. DeLemus, 61, of Rochester, N.H.; Eric J. Parker, 32, of Hailey, Idaho; O. Scott Drexler, 44, of Challis, Idaho; Richard R. Lovelien, 52, of Westville, Okla.; Steven A. Stewart, 36, of Hailey, Idaho; Todd C. Engel, 48, of Boundary County, Idaho; Gregory P. Burleson, 52, of Phoenix, Ariz.; Joseph D. O’Shaughnessy, 43, of Cottonwood, Ariz.; and Micah L. McGuire, 31, and Jason D. Woods, 30, both of Chandler, Ariz.

Twelve of the defendants were arrested Thursday, while Brian Cavalier and Blaine Cooper were already in federal custody in the District of Oregon.

The fourteen defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, and at least one count of the following: using and carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, assault on a federal officer, threatening a federal law enforcement officer, obstruction of the due administration of justice, interference with interstate commerce by extortion, and interstate travel in aid of extortion.

The release states, “the indictment also alleges five counts of criminal forfeiture which upon conviction would require forfeiture of property derived from the proceeds of the crimes totaling at least $3 million, as well as the firearms and ammunition possessed and used on April 12, 2014.”

Charges against the five previous defendants remain the same. Those defendants are: Cliven D. Bundy, 69, of Bunkerville, Nev.; Ryan C. Bundy, 43, of Mesquite, Nev.; Ammon E. Bundy, 40, of Emmet, Idaho; Ryan W. Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Mont.; and Peter T. Santilli, Jr., 50, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The indictment alleges the 19 individuals conspired to create a massive, armed assault against federal law enforcement officers on April 12, 2014 in order to extort those officers into abandoning about 400 head of cattle that, “were in their lawful care and custody.”

They also allegedly encouraged and led hundreds of other followers during that action, and the indictment alleges Cliven Bundy was the main leader, organizer and beneficiary of the conspiracy. The press release states Bundy’s cattle had been grazing on public lands for more than 20 years while he refused to pay the legally required fees or obtain the necessary permits.

The maximum penalties for the charges in the indictment range from 5 to 20 years each, with some of the alleged offenses carrying fines of up to $250,000.

An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt, according to the release, and all defendants are presumed innocent pending the outcome of a fair trial.

LONE PROTESTOR THREATENS ON-AIR SUICIDE, REFUSES TO LEAVE OREGON REFUGE

Kit Daniels | Infowars - FEBRUARY 11, 2016

IMAGE CREDITS: PUBLIC DOMAIN.

David Fry, the 27-year-old best known for live streaming the last days of the Oregon standoff, is the last remaining Oregon protestor and refuses to leave the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Fry is defying both the FBI and Nevada lawmaker Michele Fiore, the latter of whom has spent most of the morning attempting to convince him to walk out of the refuge peacefully.

“I’m actually pointing a gun at my head right now,” he said during the livefeed. “I’m tired of living here.”

“I told you exactly what I’d do: I’d hold up a pistol and kill myself.”

Fry decided to remain at the refuge as the other three protestors, Sean Anderson, Sandy Anderson and Jeff Banta, walked unarmed and one at a time to meet Fiore, the Rev. Franklin Graham and at least three FBI agents near the entrance to the refuge.

“There’s a lot going through my mind right now,” he added later.

This story is developing.

You can listen here:

Ammon Bundy Speaks to Elected Representatives

YouTube | February 11, 2016



Ammon Bundy speaks to elected Representatives to investigate land rights issues.

FBI surrounds 4 remaining Oregon occupiers with armored vehicles

RT - FEBRUARY 11, 2016

Members of the FBI man an entry as Harney County residents protest the FBI's presence at the Burns Municipal Airport in Burns, Oregon © Jim Urquhart / Reuters

The FBI has surrounded the four remaining protesters occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, local media reported.

According to the Oregonian, the FBI has placed armored vehicles around the area where the occupiers are located.

“At this time, the FBI has moved to contain the remaining occupiers by placing agents at barricades both immediately in front of and behind the area where the occupiers are camping."

"Negotiations between the occupiers and the FBI continue. No shots have been fired,” the FBI said in the statement.

The FBI stated that the situation began when one of the remaining protesters had ridden an ATV beyond the barricades set up by the occupiers. The individual was spotted by the FBI, but as agents tried to approach the driver, he turned around and sped back to the refuge.

Those remaining at the refuge have been identified as David Fry, Jeff Banta, and Sean and Sandy Anderson, who are husband and wife.

The move by the FBI came on the 40th day of the Malheur occupation. It began when a group of armed ranchers and protesters took over the refuge headquarters to protest federal land management and express their anger over the arson convictions of two other ranchers under an anti-terror law.

In an audio live-stream of the standoff posted by activist Gavin Seim on YouTube, the occupiers debated how to proceed. The protesters invoked the Constitution numerous times and held prayers, while worrying over the possibility of the situation coming to a violent end.

READ MORE: Oregon grand jury indicts 16 wildlife refuge occupiers – prosecutors

“They killed LaVoy!” a protester said multiple times, referring to rancher LaVoy Finicum, who was fatally shot during a roadside confrontation between law enforcement and the occupiers.

That confrontation also led to the arrest of multiple protesters, including leader Ammon Bundy.

Bundy militants could be forced to repay $3.4 million to taxpayers over illegal stunt

Raw Story | TRAVIS GETTYS | 04 FEB 2016 AT 11:20 ET

Ammon Bundy speaks at a press conference in Oregon (screen grab)

An Oregon Democrat introduced legislation that would require Ammon Bundy and other out-of-state militants to repay taxpayers for the cost of their armed takeover of a wildlife sanctuary.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer introduced a bill that would require the militants — and the federal government — to pay back costs associated with the occupation, which the lawmaker estimates at $100,000 a day, reported KOIN-TV.

The bill would require the U.S. Department of Justice “to quickly reimburse state and local law enforcement agencies up front for costs associated with responding to the armed takeover.”

The U.S. Attorney General would then be allowed sue the militants to recover those costs.

“It would allow the federal government to go after the armed people who started it,” Blumenauer said. “But in the meantime, the people of Harney County shouldn’t have to suffer twice — had the disruption and then have to pay the bill.”

Blumenauer said the federal government should pay some of the costs to Oregon taxpayers, because he said authorities prolonged the standoff by waiting to arrest or confront the militants.

“The state and local government shouldn’t have to pick up the tab — it’s not their fault,” he said. “The feds need to reimburse and then go after the people who caused it.”

Harney County’s top administrative official previously estimated the occupation cost taxpayers $70,000 a day — and he also wanted the militants to reimburse local taxpayers.

Four militants remained Thursday at Malheur National Wildlife Sanctuary, which Bundy and his comrades took over in early January as part of a scheme to claim ownership of federally owned public land.

A federal grand jury has indicted 16 people in connection with the standoff, and 11 militants have been arrested.

One militant was shot and killed by officers who said he reached twice for a weapon after attempting to flee a traffic stop.

Blumenauer said forcing the militants to reimburse taxpayers would discourage others from attempting similar stunts.

“It must be made clear that armed takeover of government or private facilities, for grievances real or imagined, is absolutely unacceptable and won’t be tolerated,” he said. “It’s not just enough to enforce the law. We should recover damages from lawbreakers who tear up the landscape, degrade wildlife habitat and destroy property.”

Federal authorities have sent additional security personnel to wildlife refuges in southern Oregon, northern California and Nevada to ensure employee and visitor safety.

Officials said no specific threats have been made against the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge or Modoc National Wildlife Refuge.

But the occupation and ongoing protests in Burns, Oregon, have apparently concerned federal authorities that additional actions might be taken by the militants’ supporters.

Ammon Bundy, other armed protesters at Oregon wildlife refuge, indicted

Fox News - FEBRUARY 4, 2016

The four remaining occupiers at an Oregon wildlife refuge all face charges, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.

The indictment names a total of 16 defendants, including standoff leader Ammon Bundy and other occupiers who were arrested last week.

A federal grand jury charged all with felony conspiracy, accused of using intimidation to prevent federal officers from doing their work at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

The armed holdouts have said they wouldn't leave until receiving assurances they wouldn't be charged.

The indictment says two conspirators traveled to the area in October to warn the local sheriff of "extreme civil unrest" if certain demands weren't met.

Authorities arrested 11 people last week on a criminal complaint charging them with felony conspiracy. They were accused of using intimidation to prevent federal officers from doing their work at the refuge in sparsely populated southeast Oregon.

In a criminal complaint, defendants have a right to a preliminary hearing in which they can question the arresting officer under oath about probable cause for the charges.

After an indictment, they are no longer entitled to such a proceeding.

The cancellation of preliminary hearings that had been scheduled for Wednesday dismayed attorneys for the accused.

Lisa Hay, who represents defendant Ryan Payne, said it appears prosecutors moved to scrap the hearings even before the indictment had been handed down. She was also annoyed that prosecutors presented the indictment to the judge and not to defense attorneys.

"That's an unusual thing and it's unfortunate in a case like this, where many of the people distrust the government to begin with," Hay said.

The occupation began Jan. 2, with the group demanding the federal government turn public lands over to local control. The remaining occupiers are David Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio; Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nevada; and Sean Anderson, 48, and Sandy Anderson, 47, a married couple from Riggins, Idaho.

The government is building a case to show the occupation was a threat to residents and federal employees. Prosecutors say the group was ready to use violence to hold on to the refuge.

Defense attorneys have said their clients engaged in civil disobedience and are being punished for political speech. They say the only use of force during the standoff was by police, who shot and killed occupier Robert "LaVoy" Finicum during a Jan. 26 traffic stop. Bundy and others were then taken into custody.

Federal authorities have released aerial video and said Finicum was going for a gun in his jacket pocket.

In a separate matter, an attorney for Shawna Cox -- a defendant allowed to return home to Utah as her case goes through the court system -- asked Wednesday for her client to be allowed to attend Finicum's funeral on Friday. The funeral is in the same town where Cox lives.

Judge Stewart denied the request.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LAVOY FINNICUM: THE FBI’S DROP GUN

Infowars - FEBRUARY 3, 2016

The spokesman for the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon was shot nine times by the FBI.

It should be no surprise the FBI would shoot an unarmed man nine times.This is often their modus operandi, especially with individuals the national police state agency considers political enemies—and the band of constitutionalists at Malheur, no matter how misdirected or naive, were certainly considered enemies of the state.

Now it comes out that the gun the FBI said they retrieved from Finnicum’s body—a body so bullet-riddled it necessitated a closed coffin—was in fact stolen.

The Pacific Patriots Network did a search of the weapon’s serial number and discovered it was stolen, although this crucial fact is not being reported by an establishment media that has consistently portrayed Finnicum and the other activists at the refuge as dangerous terrorists.

The over the top murder of Finnicum and a subsequent video released by the FBI are intended to send a message to the patriot movement and constitutionalists.

The message: if you go up against the federal government, if you question its dictatorial and unconstitutional policies and if you actively resist or engage in behavior to draw attention to its pathological criminality, you will be executed, particularly if you provide the FBI with an opportunity, as Finnicum did when he traveled to a meeting unarmed to resolve the standoff.

THE TRUTH BEHIND FEDERAL LAND GRABS

David Knight & Kit Daniels | Infowars - FEBRUARY 3, 2016

IMAGE CREDIT: PUBLIC DOMAIN

Is the federal government so desperate to monopolize land that it’s literally burning down the forests they are supposed to manage?

Infowars interviewed Oregon logger Tad Houpt, with the Grant Co. Forest Commission, who had organized the meeting where Ammon Bundy, LaVoy Finicum and others were going to speak to 400 people and the Grant Co. Sheriff before Finicum was killed by the FBI and the other speakers were arrested.

“This last summer we had the biggest fire we’ve ever had here, 110,000 acres,” Houpt said. “I was one of the people who got burned out; close to 50 homes burnt.”

He believes this happened because the forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service are “a disaster.”

Houpt also mentioned there were “about 2 tons [per acre] of light fuels [dead trees & other organic matter] on the ground are known to be acceptable and the live trees will withstand the fire,” but he added that “some areas of the federally managed lands exceed 500 tons per acre of fuel on the ground,” i.e. 250 times the safe limit.

“I’m telling you this is intentional,” he said. “If a jet liner crashes there’s an immediate investigation into what caused that jet liner’s crash.”

“These fires are happening all over the western U.S. and there’s no investigation, they don’t even want to talk about what’s causing them and it’s their policies [that] are 100% causing these fires.”

And perpetuating the fire dangers and the resulting economic hardships are the BLM’s arbitrary rules, such as the ban on cutting trees greater than 21 inches in diameter — even if a tree is burned and dead.

Instead of providing lumber and livelihood for loggers, dead trees greater than 21 inches in diameter will be allowed to remain, increasing the fuel on the ground and the danger and intensity of future fires.

This is all part of Agenda 21, which is intended to force people out of rural areas and into large cities where they can be easily taxed and controlled.

Signed in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and later phased in by President Bill Clinton, the United Nations Agenda 21 Sustainable Development program is based on communitarianism, which calls for government to eventually take control of all land use without leaving any decision making in the hands of private property owners.

“It is assumed that people are not good stewards of their land and the government will do a better job if they are in control,” Agenda 21 expert Rosa Koire wrote, who is a Californian Democrat and the author of Behind The Green Mask: U.N. Agenda 21. “Individual rights in general are to give way to the needs of communities as determined by the governing body.”

And if you already live in an urban area, you may already be familiar with some key aspects of Agenda 21:

– The accelerated implementation of toll roads, especially toll roads that discourage driving by increasing prices for traveling alone or for driving in “congested” areas

– The development of expensive and inefficient public rail systems in cities in order to increase centralized government control while also reducing the use of private transportation

– Utilities monitored by “Smart Meters” which can be controlled remotely by public utility companies

– The purposeful lack of easy freeway access in cities so residents remain close to their neighborhoods

Another good example of how Agenda 21 is currently being implemented is to look at the mass construction of “mixed use” condos which feature retail stores on the ground floor with several residential floors above.

These buildings are designed to restrict people from traveling by placing businesses within walking distance – and, interestingly, medieval serfs were likewise not able to travel long distances.

And, despite being fiction, the megacities in the comic series Judge Dredd feature many planned aspects of Agenda 21, a scary scenario even if real cities never completely match these fictional counterparts.

The overall intent of Agenda 21 is to expand government power at the expense of individual liberties by moving the population out of rural areas and packing them into major cities where they are more dependent on city infrastructure controlled by the government.

While Agenda 21 proponents constantly harp that the program is “voluntary,” it is a moot point when so many cities are already implementing Agenda 21 which clearly benefits the government at the expense of its citizens.

“The plan is to restrict your choices, limit your funds, narrow your freedoms and take away your voice,” Koire added.

Gov’t Tells Texas Rancher His Land No Longer Belongs to Him — He Knew It Was Serious When He Claims Official Said These Six Words

The Blaze | Oct. 15, 2015 12:04pm | Dave Urbanski

Image source: KAUZ-TV

Texas rancher Ken Aderholt said he emerged frustrated from a Tuesday night Bureau of Land Management meeting in Fort Worth — full of many of the same unanswered questions and growing concerns about the land that’s been in his family for over 70 years.

Well, it used to be his land.

Aderholt’s family has been running cattle on 1,250 acres of earth in Harrold near the Red River, which borders Oklahoma, since 1941 — and he took on the task himself long ago.

Image source: KAUZ-TV

It’s his livelihood, and it’s his life.

“It has been running through generations and handed on down to me,” Aderholt told KAUZ-TV in Wichita Falls, adding that he’s hoped his two sons could someday take over the family business.

Image source: KAUZ-TV

But Aderholt said the federal government is threatening those dreams — along with the dreams of other landowners in three counties.

He told TheBlaze on Wednesday that the BLM has claimed up to almost half the acreage on his property — including where his home sits — after redefining the boundary line.

Aderhold told TheBlaze he discovered his home was in danger during an early 2014 phone call with a BLM official who laid out what acres now belonged to the agency. When Aderhold remarked, “That’s gonna get my home,” he said the official replied, “You have reason to be concerned.”

And the rancher said he was instructed to list that among other concerns for future consideration as the BLM moves toward finalizing a plan.

Not that it’s much consolation, since Aderhold and other land owners consider theirs private property — which the government “stole from us,” he told TheBlaze.

And all this after years of paying property taxes and having a deed and title in hand.

“The BLM is saying we should have never had a deed to it,” Aderhold told KAUZ. “That Texas should have never produced that deed.”

Paul McGuire, a BLM public affairs specialist, on Thursday told TheBlaze that Aderhold’s understanding of exactly what constitutes public land on his property isn’t a done deal until a land survey is completed — and that the official Aderhold spoke to on the phone isn’t a surveyor and wouldn’t have told him what land was public.

Image source: KAUZ-TV

McGuire added that disputes such as Aderhold’s are coming up because the BLM began the process of revising land management plans in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas almost two years ago. The land in question has been federal for a long time, McGuire added, but never actively managed.

Aderhold could apply for “color of title,” McGuire said, which takes into consideration improvements made over time on federally owned land and could allow him to hold on to it.

In the end, McGuire said, the process for determining what happens to the disputed land is lengthy and complex — a final BLM plan won’t be ready until 2018, he said.

But Aderhold — who said his family has never been bothered by the government in over 70 years — isn’t laying down over what he told KAUZ is “a land grab.”

And it’s a big one: After redefining the boundary to a half mile inland from the river, the BLM has claimed up to 625 of his property’s 1,250 acres, Aderhold said.

Image source: KAUZ-TV

At the moment the BLM is figuring out what to do with the land through a “scoping” process. Aderhold said the agency could designate the land for activities such as birdwatching or horseback riding or exploring foliage. Or it could condemn it. It also could lease it back to him — or to somebody else.

Whatever the outcome, none of it sits right with the rancher.

He said other landowners have banded together and retained attorneys. U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry from Texas’ 13th district has introduced a bill to assist landowners along the Red River.

But in the meantime, Aderhold said the land claim has made life very difficult for him and other property owners — and far beyond simply losing their long-tended acreage.

Titles, Aderhold said, have become “clouded.” Money can’t be borrowed against land, properties can’t be bought or sold and no improvements are being made.

“This affects people’s lives — everyday things,” he told TheBlaze.

KAUZ-TV: Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

This story has been updated.

FBI Releases Video Of Shooting Death Of Oregon Occupier

Zero Hedge | By Tyler Durden | January 28, 2016

On Tuesday, the FBI and state troopers arrested Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan, and several others on their way to a speaking event some 20 miles north of Burns, Oregon.

Robert “LaVoy” Finicum - the self-styled “spokesperson” for the militiamen occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge - was shot and killed by authorities in the arrests.

In the wake of Finicum’s death there were conflicting accounts as to what exactly led police to shoot the 55-year-old Arizona rancher. Some suggested he was shot while his hands were in the air.

On Thursday, the FBI sought to dispel any misconceptions by releasing the following footage of the incident.

Edited version:

Full version:

While there's no sound and the video is shot from an FBI plane making it difficult to discern exactly what happened, it certainly appears as though Finicum reaches into his pocket - twice.

It's true that he emerges from the truck (which had careened into a snow bank after swerving to avoid a police roadblock) with his hands raised, but for whatever reason, he reaches for his hip on two seperate occasions. The second time he reaches down, police open fire. "As state troopers trained their guns on Robert 'LaVoy' Finicum along a secluded eastern Oregon highway, he reached twice for a pocket that police say contained a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun," The Oregonian writes. "That's when they fatally shot Finicum, a video released Thursday by the FBI appears to show." Here's more:

It began as Oregon State Police officers and FBI agents stopped a Jeep and a white pickup as they traveled north on U.S. 395 toward John Day.

Finicum, an Arizona foster parent and rancher who acted as a spokesman for the occupation, drove the truck. It and the Jeep carried key leaders of the occupation that began Jan. 2. They were headed to a community meeting in John Day, with plans to spread their message against federal land control.

Instead, at 4:26 p.m., they were pulled over about 20 miles north of Burns.

Three occupants of the Jeep -- including Ammon Bundy, the son of controversial Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and a leader of the refuge takeover – got out.

In another frame, the video shows another occupation leader, Ryan Payne, getting out of the truck driven by Finicum, with his hands up. Three others remained in the pickup with Finicum, Greg Bretzing, a special agent with the FBI said.

As police stood by with guns trained on the truck, Payne was arrested. Finicum and his passengers remained in the idle truck for about four more minutes as officers hollered for them to surrender, Bretzing said.

That period was blacked out in the [edited] video, which resumed with footage of Finicum's truck speeding away from the scene. As officers trailed in a black SUV and fired shots at the truck, it rounded two bends in the road, then rammed into a snowbank to avoid a police roadblock.

As it came to a stop, the truck nearly hit an officer who was standing alongside the road.

His hands raised, Finicum ran out of the car and toward the snowbank, yelling at police. Then, as police approached with guns drawn, he reached toward the left side of his waist. He began to put his hands back up, then reached down again.

Bretzing said Finicum was reaching toward a jacket pocket that contained a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.

The video shows Finicum being shot, then falling on his back. He raised his arm, then lay still.

"Actions have consequences," the FBI said, and "as the video clearly shows, it was a reckless action."

“On at least two occasions, Finicum reaches his right hand toward a pocket on the left inside portion of his jacket. He did have a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic handgun in that pocket,” special agent Bretzing continued.

There were two loaded .233 semi-automatic rifles and one loaded .38 special in the truck. Although police wouldn't specify how many times they shot Finicum, they did say it was "in the single digits." He received medical attention once all of the truck's occupants had surrendered.

Finicum's death prompted calls from other armed militias for members to go by the "thousands" to Harney County where five occupiers remain holed up in the bird sanctuary.

Four of the five are free to go, while one is facing charges. The group says they'll leave if those charges are dropped.

“If they’re not willing to do that, we’re all just kind of willing to stay here and see what happens," one of the holdouts said. "Are they really going to kill five people for refusing to drop a charge on a man?”

We don't know, but based on the video shown above, it's probably not a risk the men should take.

Where was the FBI during the armed standoff in Oregon? Out of sight, but listening and watching

LA Times | By Nigel Duara | January 28, 2016

A protester keeps watch this month during the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. The FBI kept a low profile but monitored statements the protesters were making on social media and elsewhere. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

As the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon dragged on for most of January, local law enforcement was spread thin and federal agents were nowhere to be seen.

Behind the quiet facade, however, the FBI was running surveillance on the occupation and recording the activists’ public statements, mostly drawn from media reports and the activists' use of social media, while FBI agents encouraged locals to report their experiences with the new strangers in town.

According to the allegations in an indictment and supporting affidavit, the FBI was collecting information that confirmed the occupiers were armed, angry and willing to die.

Three more arrests at Oregon refuge as some holdouts leave voluntarily

The court documents detail how a source told a Harney County sheriff’s officer that the protesters “had explosives, night vision goggles, and weapons and that if they didn't get the fight they wanted out there they would bring the fight to town.” The documents show that authorities grew concerned as the occupiers used increasingly heated rhetoric when discussing their plans and the occupation.


One activist, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, 55, was shot and killed Tuesday in an altercation between some of the occupiers and authorities. Ryan Bundy suffered a gunshot wound to his arm.

On Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman unsealed the government’s criminal complaint against two brothers, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and Jon Ritzheimer, as well as five others arrested in connection with the occupation.

All stand accused of conspiring to use threats, intimidation or force to stop federal officers from doing their duty, a charge also used against tax protesters Edward and Elaine Brown, a New Hampshire couple who holed up in their home in 2007 and engaged in an armed standoff with federal agents for months. It eventually ended peacefully with their arrest.

A significant amount of the FBI’s information used to charge Ammon Bundy came from an activist named Pete Santilli, who was living inside the refuge and broadcasting live his conversations with fellow activists.

To demonstrate a conspiracy, the government has a lower burden than it would with similar charges, such as aiding and abetting, or solicitation. A conspiracy charge in federal court does not require the underlying offense to have taken place, so prosecutors can charge the defendants based on their statements, without proving they actually committed a crime.

That is where Santilli’s broadcasts proved so useful to the FBI.

“We’re continuing the stand at the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve,” Ammon Bundy told Santilli in a conversation on Jan. 2, the day the occupation began. “Let everybody know that.”

Criminal complaint against Oregon protesters

Later, Bundy was recorded telling Santilli, “Malheur, Malheur,” at which point, the FBI affidavit says, Santilli nods and then introduces Bundy, who gives a speech.

At one point in a video, Santilli’s cameraman is recording Bundy speaking to another activist when the cameraman seems to realize he shouldn’t be broadcasting it. The cameraman steps away and bumps into someone. “I was trying to get away from that conversation,” he explains.

The charges filed Wednesday detail activists' behavior in the media and the behavior reported to the FBI by federal employees who said they endured threats from the protesters in town before the occupation.

One employee with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, a prime target of the protesters, said Ritzheimer, an anti-Muslim activist who led an armed protest at a mosque last May, and another man accosted her in a grocery store for wearing a BLM shirt.

“When she turned around, the second individual shouted ‘you're BLM, you're BLM,’ at her,” FBI Special Agent Katherine Armstrong wrote in the affidavit.

“That person further stated to [the BLM employee] that they know what car she drives and would follow her home. He also stated he was going to burn [her] house down.”

Then activists began targeting her, she said. A vehicle matching one she saw Ritzheimer and the other man driving began to appear parked in front of her home and in front of her workplace, she said.

A week later, a white truck with a Confederate flag sticker in the rear window tailgated her and flashed its lights, the affidavit says.

The documents are also sprinkled with repeated references to the occupiers’ principle concerns—upholding the Constitution, protecting the rights of individuals and crushing socialism. It also quotes various protesters using social media to urge “good patriots” to join the occupation.

Oregon stand-off militiaman killed in shootout with the FBI: Traffic stop turns into deadly gunfight, ending with militia's spokesman dead and leader Ammon Bundy arrested along with seven others

Daily Mail | By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER and ASSOCIATED PRESS and REUTERS | PUBLISHED: 21:10 EST, 26 January 2016

Oregon militia spokesman LaVoy Finicum has been shot dead after a traffic stop escalated into a shoot-out that saw Ryan Bundy wounded and eight leaders of the occupation movement arrested.
The group's leader Ammon Bundy was among the militiamen arrested during the encounter on Tuesday afternoon as they drove to attend a community meeting in the neighboring town.

It is the climax of a tense stand-off between federal agents and the activists more than three weeks after they took over a government building in Burns, Oregon, to protest two ranchers being jailed.

According to local media, shots were fired within minutes of the traffic stop, killing Finicum and wounding 43-year-old Ryan Bundy.

It is not clear who opened fire first.

Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, and three other leaders of the occupation - Ryan Payne, 32; Brian Cavalier, 44, and Shawna Cox, 59 - were charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers,Oregon Live reports.

Officials would not confirm the identity of the militiaman shot dead. However, Finicum's daughter Arianna Finicum Brown, 26, confirmed her father's death to The Oregonian, saying 'he would never ever want to hurt somebody, but he does believe in defending freedom and he knew the risks involved.'

Nevada state Rep Michele Fiore told the paper Ammon Bundy called his wife from the back of the police vehicle after his arrest and told her that Finicum was cooperating with the authorities when he was shot. However, other sources said that he resisted arrest.

In an interview with MSNBC three weeks ago, Finicum declared that he would rather die than face arrest.

'There are things more important than your life and freedom is one of them,' he said at the time. 'I'm prepared to defend freedom.'

He sounded a similar note when speaking to CNN earlier this month.

'I'm just not going to prison,' Finicum said. 'Look at the stars. There's no way I'm going to sit in a concrete cell where I can't see the stars and roll out my bedroll on the ground.

'I want to be able to get up in the morning and throw my saddle on my horse and go check on my cows. It's OK. I've lived a good life. God's been gracious to me.'

Finicum, a Mormon rancher from Arizona, was a father of 11 and grandfather of 19 who was married to his wife, Jeanette, for 23 years.

His daughter Challice Finch told NBC News after the deadly standoff that her father and his fellow protesters were 'all committed to not firing on federal agents.'

Speaking to The Oregonian on the eve of his death, LaVoy Finicum noted that law enforcement officials 'have become more hardened' as of late.

'They're doing all the things that show they want to take some kinetic action against us, and we're saying, "Why be so unfriendly?"' the militia spokesman told the paper.

WHO WAS LAVOY FINICUM?

LaVoy Finicum, 55, of northern Arizona, has been the right-hand man to the occupation's leader Ammon Bundy since the stand-off began on January 2.
Acting as spokesman for the group, he gave numerous press conferences to communicate their position.

At one point he personally climbed up a pole to dismantle surveillance cameras in an apparent show of defiance against the government.
But he has not always held such a strong anti-government stance.
Last year, he told the St George News that he complied with federal land controls until Cliven Bundy's stand-off in Nevada in 2014.

The episode, he said, struck a chord with him.

He joined the Bundys and 'did a lot of soul-searching' until he 'realized that Cliven Bundy was standing on a very strong constitutional principle—and yet, here I was continuing to pay a grazing fee to the BLM.'
Finicum's wife of 23 years recently arrived in Oregon, traveling up from Arizona, to celebrate his 56th birthday.

Beyond life as a militiaman and rancher, Finicum was a father of 11 and grandfather of 23 who also found time to write a novel, Only By Blood And Suffering, about a time when guns are no more, cars have stopped working, the market has imploded, and the Chinese control everything.
Joseph O'Shaughnessy, 45, and Peter Santilli, 50, were arrested in Burns soon after the traffic stop and shoot-out.

An eighth group member, Jon Ritzheimer, 32, was arrested in Peoria, Arizona, after turning himself in to the police department, Fox reported.

All of those arrested face federal charges of conspiracy to use force, intimidation or threats to impede federal officers from discharging their duties, the FBI said.

The hospital where Ryan Bundy and LaVoy Finicum were taken, St Charles Medical Center, was placed on lockdown in the wake of the shootout.

Some 25 miles of Highway 395 was shut down in both directions following the incident, a dispatcher for the state department of transportation said.

It was unclear how many people remained in the buildings at the refuge in the wake of the shootout. Late Tuesday night there was no obvious police presence there and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown asked for 'patience as officials continue pursuit of a swift and peaceful resolution.'

Brand Thornton, one of Bundy's supporters, said he left the refuge Monday and wasn't sure what those remaining would do.

'The entire leadership is gone,' he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. 'I wouldn't blame any of them for leaving.'

Thornton called the arrests 'a dirty trick' by law enforcement.

According to Oregon Live, the leaders had been en route to John Day - 70 miles from Burns - to appear as guest speakers at a meeting with hundreds of local residents.

The crowd was informed the group would not be able to make it to the event after the dramatic traffic stop.

Frustrated local and state officials have been increasingly urging the FBI to do something to resolve the situation.

Bundy and his group have held frequent news conferences at the site, traveled to meet with sympathizers and others to espouse their views and some even attended a community meeting last week, where local residents shouted at them to leave.

Federal authorities have taken a hands-off approach so far and say they want a peaceful resolution.

Bundy has been in contact with an FBI negotiator and local law enforcement.

On Friday, Bundy went to the Burns Municipal Airport, where the FBI has set up a staging area, and met briefly with a federal agent.

Bundy left because the agent wouldn't talk with him in front of the media. Sieges by federal authorities in the early 1990s led to deadly standoffs in at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas.

The group took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 2 after a peaceful protest in nearby Burns, Oregon, over the conviction of two local ranchers on arson charges.

Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven Hammond, 46, said they lit fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006 to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.

The two were convicted three years ago and served time — the father three months, the son one year.

But in October, a federal judge in Oregon ruled their terms were too short under U.S. law and ordered them back to prison for about four years each. Among the demands by the Bundy group is for the Hammonds to be released.

The alleged arrests on Tuesday come after an Army veteran was arrested for a DUI while he was heading to join the militia occupying federal land in Oregon.

Joseph Arthur Stetson, 54, was caught on camera threatening to kill cops on Monday as he was driving to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Oregon militia leader Bundy holds first talks with FBI

Published January 22, 2016 | FoxNews.com

Ammon Bundy speaks with reporter at a news conference at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, near Burns, Ore. Bundy, the leader of an armed group occupying the national wildlife refuge to protest federal land management policies, said Friday he and his followers are not ready to leave even though the sheriff and many locals say the group has overstayed their welcome. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

The leader of an armed militia that has occupied a national wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon for nearly three weeks made his first contact with an FBI negotiator Thursday.

The Oregonian reported that Ammon Bundy arrived unannounced at the Burns Municipal Airport, close to where federal officials have set up a staging area. Bundy said that the FBI had begun reaching out to the group two days earlier and claimed to have 14 messages on his phone from the negotiator, whom Bundy knows only as "Chris."

Bundy spoke to the negotiator on a borrowed cell phone as reporters watched.

"I'm a face-to-face kind of guy," Bundy told the negotiator at one point, according to the Oregonian. "You reached out to me ... I'm not sure exactly what you wanted to talk about."

Bundy asked for the release of ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven, who reported to prison earlier this month to finish five year prison sentences for arson on federal land. Bundy and his group occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2 following a protest calling for the Hammonds' release

Bundy said his group is "not going to escalate" the situation, and he agreed to speak with authorities again Friday.

Bundy and the FBI made contact one day after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown expressed frustration with what she described as a lack of action by federal authorities against the group.

In a statement Thursday, the FBI acknowledged the situation has caused "tremendous disruption and hardship" for people in the community and our "response has been deliberate and measured as we seek a peaceful resolution."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Oregon Governor Calls On Feds To End Militia Occupation Standoff

Huffington Post 
01/20/2016 09:04 pm ET

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's governor expressed anger Wednesday over federal authorities' handling of the occupation of a national wildlife refuge by an armed group and said she intends to bill the U.S. government for what the occupation is costing state taxpayers.

Gov. Kate Brown said federal officials "must move quickly to end the occupation and hold all of the wrongdoers accountable."

"The residents of Harney County have been overlooked and underserved by federal officials' response thus far. I have conveyed these very grave concerns directly to our leaders at the highest levels of our government: the U.S. Department of Justice and the White House," she said at a news conference.

Exasperated by a tense situation that has caused fear among local residents since it began Jan. 2, Brown said, "This spectacle of lawlessness must end, and until Harney County is free of it, I will not stop insisting that federal officials enforce the law."

She said the occupation has cost Oregon taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. She didn't say what those costs entailed.

"We'll be asking federal officials to reimburse the state for these costs," she said.

Federal authorities did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Brown had originally called the news conference to discuss her agenda for the upcoming legislative session, but she focused on the occupation by Ammon Bundy and his armed group of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote southeastern Oregon.

People living in the area strongly voiced their views at a community meeting Tuesday night in Burns, 30 miles north of the refuge. It was the most pointed demonstration yet of local residents' desire that Bundy and his group go home.

Several people at the meeting spoke directly to Ammon Bundy, who showed up with his brother Ryan and other occupiers. One woman thanked him for drawing attention to ranchers' complaints about management of federal lands but told him it's time to go home.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

"Ammon, you need to go home to your family, thank you," said Jennifer Williams.

Also at the meeting was Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, who has been at the forefront of efforts among locals to show Bundy and his followers they are not welcome.

"Mr. Bundy walked in with his crowd," Grasty told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They came into a school, packing their firearms, and strategically spread around the room."

Grasty said Bundy — who is not from Oregon — should get the point that he and his followers need to go back to their home states and leave Harney County alone.

"It seems like he's out of touch with reality," Grasty told the AP from Burns.

Reached by the AP on Wednesday, Ryan Bundy said he did not have the impression from the Tuesday night meeting that most people wanted the occupation to end.

"There were a few dissenters, by far not the majority," Bundy said.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officers have been sent to the area but so far have avoided doing anything that might provoke a confrontation. One occupier was arrested for unauthorized use of a vehicle after driving a vehicle owned by the refuge into Burns, and a Montana man who was stopped by Oregon State Police last week for a lighting violation was arrested on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Grasty would like law enforcement to turn up the heat on Bundy and his fellow occupiers — perhaps isolate them by closing off roads leading to the refuge.

"I hope they lock it down. People shouldn't be coming and going. Maybe it's time," he said.

Bundy initially took over the refuge to protest prison terms for two local ranchers convicted of setting fires on federal lands. After the ranchers voluntarily reported to prison, Bundy has justified the occupation by saying he wants federal lands in Harney County turned over to local residents, among other demands. He has also said he is obeying a divine command.

The Oregon Militia Is Turning Out To Be Its Very Own Worst Enemy

By LAUREN FOX TPM Published JANUARY 19, 2016, 6:00 AM EST

AP Photo / Keith Ridler

In what is starting to look like a genius move, the federal government and local law enforcement have mostly kept their distance in the two weeks since an unknown number of out-of-town, rag-tag militiamen stormed the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and vowed to stay until the federal government turned over its land to local ranchers.

So far authorities have declined to confront the men or to put the squeeze on them by restricting movement to and from the refuge or even to turn off the electricity, which might help draw the men out of the compound in the freezing January days.

But the lack of confrontation by federal officials has not only prevented it from becoming the next Waco or Ruby Ridge but transformed it into a peculiar and mundane sideshow, a one-sided standoff where the militiamen's days are marked by visits from wacky outsiders like pretend judge Bruce Doucette coming to sniff out "evidence" against the federal government and from disgruntled community members ready for the men to leave already.

By leaving the would-be revolutionaries to their own devices, authorities have given them enough rope to hang themselves.


In the last week alone, the militiamen have made headlines–not for forcing the government's hand on federal lands or helping free the Hammonds–but for throwing boxes of dildos on the floor in protest against the mocking mail they have been receiving, for getting arrested after allegedly driving an official refuge vehicle into town to get groceries, for ransacking government files and for using government computers.

With each odd incident, the media and the public gets more insight into the individuals holed up at the wildlife preserve and their puzzling and incongruent motivations. It does not appear that all of the men at the refuge subscribe to one ideology or another. A report from the Anti-Defamation League actually chronicles that the men hold a hodgepodge of views and have some varying disagreements on how to tackle the standoff.

By taking a hands-off approach to the incident, the government has actually given the militiamen room to stew, to fight with one another and ultimately, to undermine their cause.

Take for example Jon Ritzheimer, the man who recorded himself throwing boxes of sex toys onto the floor at the compound. Before he appeared in Oregon standoff videos, Ritzheimer was not known for taking up land disputes, but for putting together threatening, anti-Muslim protests and videos. He was well known in Arizona for organizing a protest where more than 200 individuals –many with guns– showed up outside of a Phoenix mosque. In November, he once again came on the FBI's radar for announcing he planned to travel to a Muslim hamlet in New York.

Kenneth Medenbach, the man arrested for allegedly driving a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service vehicle into town, was actually out on bail for another seven-month government land occupation he was allegedly involved in last year. According to the Guardian, he was also convicted of squatting on government land in 1996 when the 62-year-old now chainsaw sculptor resided in a tent on government land and guarded his assumed property with "50 to 100 pounds of the explosive ammonium sulfate, a pellet gun, and what appeared to be a hand grenade with trip wires."

The more outspoken, bold and hungry the militiamen are for attention, the more peculiar their standoff becomes. While federal officials have been wildly criticized for leaving the militiamen to their own devices, those still at the compound are giving feds plenty of evidence to help government officials charge them later.

In one bizarre video released last week from inside the compound, an ISIS-sympathizing, self-proclaimed video gamer from Ohio, David Fry, recorded himself using a Linux flash drive to circumvent password-protected government computers. And there are several photographs of de facto standoff leader Ammon Bundy ripping apart government fencing with his bare hands.

Over the weekend, one of the most outspoken standoff participants LaVoy Finicum– a Mormon rancher who has ceased paying grazing fees and has penned a right-wing conspiracy-ridden cowboy thriller – had several foster children removed from his family's custody back in Arizona.

He claimed the federal government was taking aim against his family in retaliation for his involvement in the standoff in Oregon, but questions have now been raised about his motivations for fostering such a large number of children and whether such an activity is his major source of income.

Another man affiliated with the Oregon militiamen, Californian Darrow Burke, 57, crashed his vehicle outside of Hines, Oregon, in an embarrassing display for the militiamen Sunday. He was cited for driving without a license. A man who in the first few days of the standoff served as Ammon Bundy's bodyguard – and who goes by the name of 'Fluffy Unicorn' – was arrested last week in Maricopa County, Arizona, for an outstanding warrant. One by one, the militiamen's pasts are catching up with them.

Even the father and son pair they claimed to be fighting for – Dwight and Steven Hammond– have turned themselves into authorities and have begun serving five-year sentences for setting fire to federal lands. The Hammond family has said it wants nothing to do with the standoff at the refuge.

The longer this standoff drags on, the more the militiamen do that further undermines that cause and the more the federal government begins to look like they may have made the right move when the opted to deescalate the situation. Isolated from the rest of the country, the militiamen enter the third week of this standoff, free to cross legal lines and incriminate themselves on video tape.

BREAKING: FEDS ADMIT TO STEALING LAND AND MONEY

Infowars.com - JANUARY 20, 2016

Alex Jones reports on unnerving footage in which the feds are caught red-handed admitting to predatory land grabs.

READ MORE: Video: Fed Employees Brag About Federal Land Grabs