A Multnomah County Sheriff's Office photograph of Ammon Bundy.(Photo: AP)
Four remaining armed militia members continued their occupation of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>an<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Oregon wildlife refuge Saturday, one day after a federal judge denied bail to ringleader Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan and three co-defendants.
The holdouts at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near the town of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Burns posted videos Saturday where one of them told the camera, "we're not dead yet," according to the Associated Press. The standoff began Jan. 2
The Oregonian identified those remaining at the refuge as David Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio; and Sean Anderson, 47, his wife, Sandy, 48, and Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nev.
Ammon Bundy 40,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of Emmett, Idaho,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>argued during a federal hearing in Portland on Friday that he should be allowed to post bail and go free<span style="color: Red;">*</span>because the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>protest was not violent and there was never an armed standoff, according to media reports of the court session.
"My only desire is to be home with family and take care of my wife and children," Ammon Bundy, who<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was arrested earlier this week,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told the judge.
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But Judge Stacie Beckerman said the protest was not peaceful.
"There are no conditions I could impose that would guarantee the safety of the community or that he (Ammon Bundy) would come back to the district of Oregon for trial," Beckerman said, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Bundy, head of an anti-government group, had been holed up at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge since Jan. 2, when he and his followers seized its headquarters south of Burns as part of a long-running dispute over public land use in the West.
Eleven people have been arrested in connection with the standoff. They have<span style="color: Red;">*</span>been charged with felony conspiracy to use force, intimidation or threats to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>impede federal officers — the employees of the refuge — from discharging their duties.
A spokesman for the militia group, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, 56, was shot and killed during the arrest of the Bundy brothers and others Tuesday. The FBI said Finicum was reaching for a firearm he was carrying when he was shot.
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The confrontation came amid increasing calls for law enforcement to take action against Bundy for the illegal occupation of the wildlife refuge.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Many residents of Harney County, where the refuge is located, have been among those demanding Bundy leave.
In an audio recording made public Friday by Oregon Public Broadcasting, Ammon Bundy once again pleaded<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in a phone call from jail for the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>remaining four holdouts<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to end the protest.
"All those at the refuge, please stand down. This was never meant to be an armed standoff.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Please do not make it about something it wasn’t supposed to be. Go home to your families."
Ryan Bundy, 43, of Bunkerville, Nev.,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>suffered a minor gunshot wound during his arrest. He was treated at a hospital and taken into custody. The brothers are sons of Clive Bundy, who was involved in a high-profile 2014 stand-off with the government over grazing rights.
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Beckerman ruled that Shawna Cox and another protester taken into custody would both<span style="color: Red;">*</span>be allowed to go free pending trial, but only after the occupation<span style="color: Red;">*</span>ends. A ruling on bail for three other defendants was delayed.
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