Ammon Bundy, the leader of the armed group occupying a federal wildlife refuge near Burns, Oregon, and seven others have been arrested by law enforcement amid gunfire, according to the FBI.
At 4:25pm local time on Tuesday afternoon, the FBI and Oregon State Police “began an enforcement action to bring into custody a number of individuals associated with the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. During that arrest, there were shots fired," the Bureau said in a statement.
The FBI said one person who was “a subject of a federal probable cause arrest is deceased.” The bureau is not releasing any information on the person “pending identification by the medical examiner’s office.”
One person suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He was arrested and is in custody.
Later local press said that the deceased was identified as Arizona rancher LaVoy Finicum, the de facto spokesman for the militia group. Koin 6 news reported that Ryan Bundy was injured, but expected to survive.
The arrested individuals include:
- Ammon Edward Bundy, 40, of Emmett, Idaho
- Ryan C. Bundy, 43, of Bunkerville, Nevada
- Brian Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada
- Shawna Cox, 59, of Kanab, Utah
- Ryan Waylen Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Montana
- Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, 45, of Cottonwood, Arizona
- Peter Santilli, 50, of Cincinnati, Ohio
The FBI also said it had “made a probable cause arrest of Jon Eric Ritzheimer, age 32, on a federal charge related to the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon.”
Oregon Live has reported that “self-styled journalist” Pete Santilli said the FBI has told the protesters at the refuge to leave immediately.
However, investigative reporter Les Zaitz, who was reportedly at the refuge, cited a protester as stating that there is no police presence there.
Images posted on social media purport to show a Bundy militia supporter being arrested by law enforcement. However, the FBI confirmed that this arrest took place separately from the one involving Bundy.
According to OPB News, Bundy and other protesters were scheduled to meet at the John Day Senior Center in neighboring Grant County, but Bundy never appeared.
Highways near Burns have been shut down by the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Harney District Hospital in Burns is also on lockdown, OPB stated.
Bundy and his militia group have been occupying the refuge for weeks now. The group is protesting federal ownership of wide swathes of land in the West and wants to see control of it returned to local and state jurisdiction.
“You need to pick a side. This is really good and evil,” James Stanton, a disabled and retired Navy diver from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico, told RT. “Pick a side, dig in, take a stand or you’ll be struck and down.”
As the standoff enters its 26th day, RT crew took an exclusive look at the interior of the occupied refuge. Local woman showed food supplies, all of them were donations.
“We do have a nation in distress. People are proud to speak up and speak out,” the woman said, “Nationally everybody needs …to say “This is our country, our land. This is our government and we are tired of the way it is being run.”