FBI Officials arrested three more protesters in relation to the standoff at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge while Militia Leader advises demonstrators to leave the refuge.
WGRZ reported that the weeks-long standoff at the refuge appeared to be cooling down as eight people leave the refuge while three more protesters were arrested on Thursday.
Arrested were Duane Leo Ehmer, 45, of Irrigon, Oregon, Dylan Wade Anderson, 34, of Provo, Utah, and Jason S. Patrick, 43, of Bonaire, Georgia. According to authorities, FBI made probable cause arrests of the three persons without incident. Each of them faces felony count of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats, the same charge leveled against the protesters arrested Tuesday, the news source said.
Earlier Wednesday, protest leader Ammon Bundy released a statement through his attorney, Mike Arnold, advising his supporters to leave the wildfire refuge, as per USA Today report.
The site quoted the statement as "Right now, I am asking the federal government to allow the people at the refuge to go home without being prosecuted. To those remaining at the refuge, I love you. Let us take this fight from here. Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is ours for now in the courts. Please go home."
Bundy was among the eight protesters taken into custody on the highway Tuesday night. Bundy lead the armed anti-government protesters and occupied the US wildlife refuge on January 2, wrote Yahoo News. The protest involves ranchers and farmers enraged over federal land management policies.
Yahoo News held that the FBI and Oregon state police apprehended Bundy and several others during a traffic stop on Highway 395 between the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and John Day, Oregon. Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was shot and killed during the arrest.
The detention hearing is set on Friday. The defendants were ordered held without bail.
