Standoff over, sweep starts at Oregon site

Police and armored vehicles known as Bearcats block the road to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge at an FBI checkpoint outside of Burns, Ore., Friday, Feb. 12, 2016.
Police and armored vehicles known as Bearcats block the road to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge at an FBI checkpoint outside of Burns, Ore., Friday, Feb. 12, 2016.

BURNS, Ore. -- FBI officials said Friday they haven't found any rigged explosives or booby traps at the national wildlife refuge in Oregon that had been seized by an armed group.

Authorities allowed reporters to get closer to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, where the last four occupiers surrendered Thursday. The tour stopped short of the refuge itself.

The armed protesters had blockaded the road near the refuge using a government-owned heavy front-end loader and two pickups. A group of tents and pickups was clustered on a small rise far beyond the road barrier. Larry Karl, the assistant special agent in charge of the Portland FBI, said the tents made up the "shantytown" where the last four holdouts at the refuge spent most of their time.

Greg Bretzing, the special agent in charge of the Portland FBI, said investigators have begun their sweep of the property. Karl said they hoped to finish the safety sweep of the buildings and begin processing evidence sometime Friday afternoon.

There were flammable liquid and hazardous materials stored at the site before the armed takeover, Karl said, and the FBI had information that "certain materials" might have been brought to the refuge by the protesters.

"So until we are able to go through the refuge and see what conditions those items are in, that they're properly secured and stored, or what has been brought on that we don't know about," the evidence collection will have to wait, Karl said.

He said the FBI would work closely with the Burns-Paiute Tribe, archaeological experts, federal land managers and others while they process the crime scene.

The holdouts who surrendered Thursday were the last remnants of a larger group that seized the property on Jan. 2, demanding the U.S. turn over public lands to locals and exposing simmering anger over the government's control of vast expanses of Western range.

David Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio; Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nev.; and married couple Sean Anderson, 48, and Sandy Anderson, 47, of Riggins, Idaho, were arraigned Friday in Portland along with two of the other 21 people who have been indicted.

Many ranchers and sympathizers of the occupying group said Friday that the standoff has only strengthened their resolve to fight the government's control of vast expanses of Western land. But not all condone the tactics of the armed group that drew the nation's gaze to the snowy landscapes of eastern Oregon.

"We're not backing off," said Greg Whalen, a military veteran from Las Vegas who supports the Bundy ranching family that led the occupation. "We're actually going to fight harder -- peacefully."

Whalen and others say protests must remain a key part of the strategy -- but they must be civil to avoid giving a reason for arrests.

Others suggest the battle should shift to the courts to pry authority over open space from the federal government. State lawmakers, notably in Utah, are considering a legal way to take control of U.S. lands that account for a majority of the West, including most of Nevada; about two-thirds of Utah, Idaho and Alaska; and half of Oregon.

Federal officials say U.S. control ensures the land is used in the interest of the environment, outdoor enthusiasts and industries, such as ranching, mining, and oil and gas.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert denounced the tactics in the standoff but called it "a wakeup call for all of us that there [are] legitimate issues out there that are causing frustration."

Supporters say sympathy from prominent Western politicians shows that their mantra -- that locals can do a better job managing federal lands than out-of-touch bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. -- has been embraced by more than gun-toting protesters.

"We're not just cowboys with hats who are hicks and don't know what's going on," said LisaMarie Johnson, who stood with Cliven Bundy at his Nevada ranch in a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents. Bundy is the father of the Oregon occupation's leaders.

"People in New York City don't understand what's going on out here," the Nevada resident said.

Information for this article was contributed by Brady McCombs, Ken Ritter, Felicia Fonseca, Michelle L. Price and Scott Sonner of The Associated Press.

A Section on 02/13/2016

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