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By Staff Writers, teleSUR
teleSUR
Thursday, Feb 11, 2016
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| Cliven Bundy was arrested upon landing in Portland, Oregan on route to support militants holed up inside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. | Photo: Reuters |
Cliven Bundy, who led a protracted a standoff with U.S. federal officials in 2014 and inspired his sons to do the same in 2016, was arrested Wednesday as he arrived at Portland International Airport on his way to the wildlife refuge to support four holdouts at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote eastern Oregon.
Bundy's son, Ammon, had served as the leader of the armed occupation of the refuge until his arrest last month.
The arrest of the elder Bundy was confirmed by the Bundy Ranch Facebook page maintained by supporters.
Cliven, 74, faces conspiracy and weapons charges related to his standoff with federal authorities in 2014 over Nevada grazing rights that ended with federal agents backing down.
Earlier Wednesday, FBI agents moved in to end the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The four holdouts, David Fry, Jeff Banta and Sean and Sandy Anderson, called on supporters to come to the refuge to defend their continued presence there.
The FBI said they chose to act after one of the occupiers drove an all-terrain vehicle outside the barricades previously set up by the self-styled militia members at the refuge.
FBI agents attempted to approach the driver, and he sped away back to the compound, after which federal agents "moved to contain the remaining occupiers by placing agents at barricades both immediately ahead of and behind" their encampment, the FBI said.
Until Wednesday, FBI and police had largely kept their distance from the buildings occupied by the militants, sealing off access to the refuge headquarters with roadblocks.
"However, we reached a point where it became necessary to take action" Greg Bretzing, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon, said in a statement.
The four holdouts have allegedly agreed to surrender in the morning. It is not known if the arrest of Cliven Bundy will affect their surrender.
"He was arrested without incident and without violence … That should give them comfort in their decision tomorrow,” Ammon Bundy's lawyer told the Oregonian.
Bundy's children, Ammon and Ryan, remain in jail pending the resolution of the standoff at the refuge.
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