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Ammon Bundy Arrested, Remaining Oregon Protestors Warned to Leave

By Nick Younker
Published on: 07:03 PST, Jan 27, 2016

Ammon Bundy was among a group of armed militiamen who took over a federal wildlife preserve in Oregon earlier this month, but he was also among several other people arrested yesterday, which also included one person getting killed. But now, the official law enforcement presence in the area has warned those armed people who still remain at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to leave.

According to the New York Times, authorities believe there are children present at the Wildlife Refuge site in one of the occupied buildings. That may be why they have not stormed the compound yet, but there are many reasons why they could have been holding off. Ammon Bundy and the people from his group who were apprehended were arrested off-site.

Bundy and his group of armed gunmen have brought children to the standoff location, which could be the reason law enforcement officials have not cut off any of the utilities to the compound. That certainly does make sense as to why authorities have not moved on them yet.

Officials have allowed the Ammon Bundy group of protestors to come and go as they please over the past two weeks, but they put a stop to that last night. As of today, following the arrest of Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy, area law officials and the FBI have set up roadblocks that seem to be preventing anyone from entering the area or the compound.

These roadblocks could also serve as the final stage of the standoff, with officials just simply waiting them out but still not cutting off their utilities for the sake of the children.

With both Ammon and Ryan Bundy now in police custody, this could be a good indicator that the armed standoff will wrap up soon. Some people have already abandoned their posts at the compound, but others still remain.

Law enforcement has officially called on the protestors to leave the occupied buildings, but there has been no word yet as to whether they will be taken into custody if they do leave, considering Ammon Bundy and his crew have already been arrested while off-site.

According to the Oregonian, the arrest of Ammon Bundy and a few others came when the anti-government group leader was away from the compound in a vehicle. When stopped by authorities, there was a skirmish and one man was killed and another was wounded.

Although the name of the deceased was not released when the incident occurred along the stretch of U.S. 395, which is about 20 miles north of Burns, the daughter of the victim has spoken out and confirmed his identity. Ammon Bundy does not appear to have been injured in the incident.

The deceased is now believed to be that of the spokesman for the armed Bundy group, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum. His daughter, Arianna Finicum Brown, released a statement to the publication about her father.

“My dad was such a good good man, through and through,” Brown said. “He would never ever want to hurt somebody, but he does believe in defending freedom and he knew the risks involved.”

Finicum is the only one who is believed to have died during the incident, but Ryan Bundy was reportedly shot and wounded during the off-site standoff. His injuries were not reported to be life-threatening, and he was later treated at a nearby hospital, then released into police custody.

There have been conflicting reports as to how Finicum was killed. Ammon Bundy called his wife while in custody and told her that Finicum was cooperating with police when he was shot. Other witnesses have said that Finicum charged police officers and was fatally wounded during the act, contradicting the account that Ammon Bundy gave.

Among those arrested in the incident were Ryan Bundy, Ammon Bundy, Ryan W. Payne, Brian Cavalier, and Shawna J. Cox. At this time, they have only been charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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