NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Sunday, January 3, 2016, 3:15 AM
Ammon Bundy, son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, participates in the protest march in Burns, Oregon.
A so-called militia with ties to Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy has seized
a remote federal building in a frigid southeast Oregon wildlife refuge
with no plans to leave.
Bundy’s son, Ammon Bundy, was among the self-described militiamen occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters and visitor center with eyes to take over the U.S. Bureau of Land Management fire station near Frenchglen, the Oregonian reported.
“We’re planning on staying here for years, absolutely,” Ammon Bundy told The Oregonian. “This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute.”
Bundy, who lives in Idaho, called upon fellow militia members to "come prepared" and join protesters decrying federal overreach and rallying behind two ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven, re-sentenced in October to five years in prison for arson.
It’s unclear how many militia members are camped out at the Malheur building, but Harney County Sheriff’s Office has asked residents to stay clear of the federal land.
Bundy is already asking others to join him and a handful of others at the refuge. At least four men were seen trudging through a snow-covered road at the refuge entrance.
One of those men, shown sporting camouflage pants tucked into his boots, is holding a rifle.
Bundy addressed reporters from the refuge late Saturday as he and others stood around a bonfire, their breaths visible in the single-digit weather.
This is as close as I was allowed to get to the armed militia occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge HQ. #burnsoregon pic.twitter.com/DPztu0VsVU
— Jason Wilson (@jason_a_w) January 3, 2016
“If they come to bring physical harm to us, they will be doing it because of a facility or a building. I don’t believe that warrants killing people,” Bundy added.
It’s unknown how long Bundy had been plotting his standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge before driving to Oregon to protest the Hammonds looming prison sentence.
A judge ordered the Hammonds to report to a California prison Monday to begin a sentence deemed fit for the 2012 conviction. The two men set two fires in 2001 on 2006 on federal land leased by the Hammonds for cattle grazing.
The first fire destroyed all evidence of alleged deer poaching on the BLM property, claimed Dusty Hammond, whose grandfather, Dwight, and uncle, Steven, ordered him to “light the whole countryside on fire.”
“Dwight told me to keep my mouth shut, that nobody need to know about the fire, and they didn’t need to know anything about it,” Dusty said during the trial.
Dwight and Steven Hammond claimed the blazes were sparked on their neighboring property near Diamond as a precaution against future wildfires and invasive plants, but the flames spread out of control to federal lands. The two fires scorched a combined 140 acres.
Les Zaitz/The Oregonian via AP Hundreds of protesters poured into Burns, Ore., to rally for two ranchers convicted of arson before splitting off and taking over a wildlife refuge.
Bundy’s father, Cliven, led an anti-government standoff with federal agents over unpaid grazing fines in Nevada. The rancher of his son’s stunt at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge stunt through a phone call, but he told the Oregon Public Broadcast he had nothing to do with the take-over.
“That’s not exactly what I thought should happen, but I didn’t know what to do,” Bundy said. “He told me that they were there for the long run. I guess they figured they’re going to be there for whatever time it takes—and I don’t know what that means.”
In a statement, Bundy initially pleaded with the Hammonds to seek protective custody at the Harney County jail instead giving themselves over to federal authorities to serve a tougher prison sentence.
"This is not a time to stand down, it is time to stand up and come to Harney County," Ammon Bundy said in a separate video on Facebook.
Despite Bundy's claim he and other protesters are in it for the long haul at the wildlife refuge, he told his wife he would only "be gone for a couple days.”
Mike Blake/Reuters Ammon Bundy, son of rancher Cliven Bundy, is reportedly among the anti-government militia holed up in a rural wildlife refuge.
“This is one of the tougher videos I’ve had to make,” said a man identified as Jon Ritzheimer. “I love you, my beautiful wife. I know I never said it enough but I’ve become so proud of the mother you’ve become.”
“We the people need to take a stand,” said Ritzheimer, adding he expects 75 year old Dwight Hammond to die in prison.
“Dwight, do you want die in prison labeled as a terrorist by these oppressors,” Ritzheimer asked. “Or do you want to die out here with us a free man. I want to die a free man.”
Ammon Bundy and two of his brothers were among hundreds of protesters in Burns rallying in support of the Hammonds outside the Harney County courthouse before a splinter group drove to the remote refuge and broke into its headquarters, about 245 miles southeast of Portland.
A FBI spokeswoman is aware of the militia take-over at the Malheur refuge, but would not comment further.
The refuge, which is closed until further notice because of the occupation, encompasses nearly 190,000 acres of wetlands and desert frequented by hunters and fishermen with a visitor center.
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