LaVoy Finicum, a rancher from Arizona, speaks to reporters at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which an armed group of protesers took over Jan. 2. near Burns, Ore.(Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP)
One of the leaders of the armed group that took over a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon 11 days ago says it<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will host a community meeting Friday to explain their position and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>announce when they will be leaving, local media report.
The announcement Tuesday by LaVoy Finicum, a rancher from Arizona, comes against<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a backdrop of growing resentment among residents of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Burns, Ore., to the presence of the group, which<span style="color: Red;">*</span>arrived Jan. 2.
Finicum called the community meeting for<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Friday at 7 p.m. PST to explain why the occupiers<span style="color: Red;">*</span>took over the federal refuge center<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and when they will be leaving,
KTVZ-TV reports. There were no signs, however, of an imminent departure.
"I think there should be a dialogue," Finicum, wearing a firearm and camouflage<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fatigues, told reporters Tuesday,
The Oregonian reports. It was not immediately clear where the meeting would be held.
The armed group, led by Ammon Bundy, son of a Nevada rancher who has been in a longstanding battle with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>federal authorities over grazing rights,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>initially arrived<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Burns<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to show support for two ranchers convicted of burning public land. The group, however, then took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge buildings<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and refused to leave, despite insistent appeals by Harney County Sheriff David Ward.
The group not only has<span style="color: Red;">*</span>refused to budge, it has<span style="color: Red;">*</span>renamed the center the "Harney County Resource Center," to underscore the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>call for local, not federal, control of the land.
Many local residents have grown increasingly unhappy with the takeover by the out-of-state group, however, and expressed their frustration at a community meeting Tuesday night.
"There is an hourglass, and the fact is that time is running out," Sheriff Ward told local residents.
At a similar meeting on Monday,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a 15-year-old high school freshman got<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a standing ovation when she said the group should leave.
"And I just want them to go home so I can feel safe and I can feel like it is home again," a tearful<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Ashlie Presley said,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>referring to the armed men, according to The Associated Press.
"I shouldn't have to be scared, none of us in Harney County should have to be scared in our own hometown," she said.
A lawyer for the Dwight and Steven Hammond, whose conviction for arson triggered the initial protest, said the armed group does not speak for the Hammond family.
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