FBI surrounds Oregon holdouts

The protesters are heard arguing with a negotiator

PORTLAND, Ore. — The FBI said Wednesday it has moved to contain the last few occupiers of an Oregon wildlife refuge who were part of a protest that began more than a month ago over federal land policy.

In a statement, authorities said they placed agents at barricades both immediately ahead of and behind the area where the occupiers were camping.

An acqua i nta nce of occupier David Fry was live-streaming on YouTube what he said was an open phone line from the standoff.

The occupiers sa id they were surrounded by armored vehicles. They could be heard arguing with someone they said was a negotiator.

The four holdouts were the last remnants of an armed group that seized t he Malheur Nationa l Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon on Jan. 2 to oppose federal land-use policies.

The FBI said that one of the occupiers rode an ATV on Wednesday afternoon outside the barricades “established by the militia” at the refuge. When agents tried to approach the driver, the FBI said he returned to the camp at a high rate of speed.

“It has never been the FBI’s desire to engage these armed occupiers in any way other than through dialogue, and to that end, the FBI has negotiated with patience and restraint in an effort to resolve the situation peace- fully. However, we reached a point where it became necessary to take action in a way that best ensured the safety of those on the refuge,” Greg Bretzing, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon, said in a statement.

The four had refused to leave even after group leader Ammon Bundy and others were arrested on a remote road outside the refuge on Jan. 26. The traffic stop also led police to shoot and kill Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, who the FBI says was reaching for a gun.

Authorities then surrounded the refuge and later got t he holdouts added to an indictment charging 16 people with conspiracy to interfere with federal workers. The four previously said they would not leave without assurances they would not be arrested.

They were Fry, 27, of Bla nchester, Ohio; Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nevada; and married couple Sean Anderson, 48, and Sandy Anderson, 47, of Riggins, Idaho.

They recently posted a series of defiant videos in which Fry shows a defensive perimeter they have built and takes a joyride in a government vehicle.