Leader of armed group wants land transfer, then will go home

Bundy has said his group is prepared to defend itself if necessary.

Patches on the sleeve of one of the occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, January 4, 2016.

Late Tuesday, Bundy told reporters that protesters had received information that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had obtained arrest warrants for some of the armed occupiers, and that authorities were planning to raid the refuge.

An attorney for two OR ranchers whose impending prison sentences led an armed group to take over a national wildlife refuge says they will seek clemency from the president.

An armed group is occupying a remote OR wildlife preserve, saying the Hammonds were treated unfairly.

They say if something similar were to ever happen at the Dayton federal building multiple federal and local agencies would be on tap to assist in keeping the public safe. “There’s no hurry. If there’s not an immediate threat to anyone’s life, why create a situation where there would be?” And because the refuge is a bleak and forbidding stretch of wilderness about 300 miles from Portland, in the middle of winter, the standoff is causing few if any disruptions.

An anonymous source in Washington, D.C. told The Guardian that federal authorities planned to cut power at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near the small town of Burns, Oregon.

Up to a hundred protesters – styling themselves “citizens for constitutional freedom” – are believed to be holed up at the snowy visitor’s centre for the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, which they took over to protest the Hammonds’ imprisonment.

The two Hammonds were convicted in 2012 of arson in relation to a fire they set on private property that spread onto federal land nearby. A judge ruled in October that their prior terms for the arson – three months for the father and one year for the son – were too short under federal law.

These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.

Ammon Bundy said he prayed about the matter and “clearly understood that the Lord was not pleased with what was happening to the Hammonds”.

On the third day of the occupation Ammon Bundy said the group felt it had the support of the local community. Because so far, I mean, you have an armed takeover of a federal building, but the federal government has been pretty quiet.

Some observers have complained, suggesting the government’s response would have been swifter and more severe had the occupants been Muslim or other minorities.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has identified 276 militia groups operating in the US, a 37 percent hike from 2014 when there were 202 groups.

In March 2014, Cliven Bundy was at the center of an armed standoff with federal officials over grazing rights on government land.

Michael Barkun, an emeritus professor at Syracuse University who has studied extremist groups, said not confronting the OR group could embolden others. “It is time for you to leave our community”, he said.

Ammon Bundy told reporters Tuesday at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that ranchers, loggers and farmers should have control of federal lands.

The occupation marked the latest outbreak of anger against the U.S. government over federally owned land in Western states, long seen by political conservatives in the region as an intrusion on property rights and individual freedom.

Supporters wanted more land for cattle grazing, mining and timber harvesting and opponents wanted federal government to administer lands for the widest possible uses, including environmental and recreational.