Hours after Ammon Bundy and seven other people were arrested in a deadly encounter with law enforcement Tuesday, additional protesters said they had taken control of the Oregon wildlife refuge at the center of a weeks-long standoff, but the feds signaled that time may be ruing out.
The FBI and Oregon State Police established a series of checkpoints along key routes into and out of refuge Wednesday. The agencies said in a statement that the containment was to 'better ensure the safety of community members."
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Ammon Bundy, 40, was arrested Tuesday. (Multnomah County Police)
Among the eight people taken into custody was Bundy, 40, who led the occupation. The Oregonian reported the man who died was 55-year-old Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, the group’s spokesperson. The events leading up to Finicum’s death are unclear, though both the FBI and the protesters have plaed press conferences for later Wednesday.
One of the men now claiming the mantle of leadership for the remaining occupiers, Jason Patrick, said he gave up an $80,000-per-year roofing job when he set out for Oregon claiming, “the Constitution is more important.”
Patrick will likely be behind the microphone when the protesters speak. He wouldn’t say how many people remained with him at the refuge, but Patrick told The Washington Post that occupiers weren’t plaing on leaving because of the arrests.
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Jason Patrick is one of the remaining leaders of the occupiers at the Oregon wildlife refuge. (Reuters)
“Right now, we’re doing fine,” Patrick said. “We’re just trying to figure out how a dead cowboy equals a peaceful resolution.” Patrick’s Idea could have been aimed at Oregon Gov. Kate Brown who asked for “patience as officials continue pursuit of a swift and peaceful resolution.”
Patrick told The Oregonian: “We’re all standing here ready to defend our peaceful resolution.”
Other protesters suggest the standoff may be petering out.
"We're just trying to figure out how a dead cowboy equals a peaceful resolution."
- Jason Patrick
Brand Thoton, one of Bundy's supporters, said he left the refuge Monday and wasn't sure what those remaining would do.
"The entire leadership is gone," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I wouldn't blame any of them for leaving."
Thoton called the arrests "a dirty trick" by law enforcement.
In response to the arrests, Operation Mutual Defense, a network of militias, issued a call for groups to support those remaining at the refuge, The Oregonian reported.
“You have an obligation to proceed to the Haey County Resource Center immediately,” OMD board member Gary Hunt wrote in a post. “If you fail to arrive, you will demonstrate by your own actions that your previous statements to defend life, liberty and property were false.”
Law enforcement officials said the decision to set up checkpoints was made out of an abundance of caution. According to their statement, only Haey County ranchers who own property in specific areas will be allowed to pass.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.