Grand jury indicts 16 people for Oregon refuge occupation, including four holdouts still there
PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal grand jury has indicted 16 people in connection with their roles in the Oregon wildlife refuge standoff, charging them all with a count of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States.
The group’s leader, Ammon Bundy, and 15 other people “prevented federal officials from performing their official duties by force, threats and intimidation,” according to a sealed indictment filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon and unsealed Thursday. Each person could face up to six years in prison.
In addition to Bundy, his brother, Ryan, and others taken into custody last week in Oregon and Arizona, the indictment also charges the four people still at the refuge. On Thursday, a defiant Bundy again defended the occupation and called on the authorities blockading it, rather than the remaining occupiers, to leave.
The indictment came a little more than a week after authorities began arresting people involved in the armed occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and, while taking the group’s leaders into custody, fatally shot one of the most high-profile occupiers. Authorities then blockaded the federal refuge in eastern Oregon and, as protesters fled or were arrested, the occupation dwindled to just four people.
The law enforcement response to the occupation had been largely out of sight since it began in early January, and occupiers were allowed to freely travel to and from the refuge. This abruptly changed last week when the FBI and Oregon State Police moved to arrest Bundy while he and others were outside the refuge.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/02/04/grand-jury-indicts-16-people-for-oregon-wildlife-refuge-occupation/?tid=sm_fb
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