Oregon Occupation: Federal Grand Jury Indicts Ammon Bundy, Followers

Sixteen people in all were charged with one count of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States, including the group’s leaders, Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan.

 

The Bundys were arrested on Jan. 26. During those arrests, one occupier was shot dead. Eleven of the 16 indicted by the grand jury had previously been arrested on federal charges related to the occupation.

 

Ammon Bundy, through his attorneys, has repeatedly urged the four remaining at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to leave.

 

The armed occupation of the refuge near Burns began on Jan. 2. The group’s stated goals were the release of two ranchers ordered back to prison for burning public land, and that the federal government turn over public land to local control.

 

The occupation lost momentum after the FBI and state police arrested the Bundys and other leaders on a highway on Jan. 26, more than three weeks after the occupation began.

 

Read More: Oregon Occupation: Federal Grand Jury Indicts Ammon Bundy, Followers – NBC News