In US FBI tightens grip on final occupiers at Oregon wildlife refuge

It was not immediately clear how much further law enforcement officers would go in the latest confrontation, which the FBI said began after one of the protesters was seen riding an all-terrain vehicle outside the encampment.



 

Federal agents on Wednesday closed in on the last four anti-government militants still holed up at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon after a 40-day armed occupation protesting federal land control in the West.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said no shots have been fired and that negotiations to end the standoff without violence were continuing as the FBI escalated pressure on the protesters refusing to leave the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote eastern Oregon.

It was not immediately clear how much further law enforcement officers would go in the latest confrontation, which the FBI said began after one of the protesters was seen riding an all-terrain vehicle outside the encampment.

A number of the occupiers were relating their account of events as they unfolded via an independent Internet broadcast, "Revolution Radio," that is known to be sympathetic to the occupation.

The militants said FBI agents had moved to within 50 yards (45 meters) of the occupiers' position in the compound, and one reported seeing FBI snipers perched on a nearby hillside with high-beam vehicle lights trained on the compound.

"If they tear gas us, it's the same as firing on us," said one of the occupiers, who identified herself as Sandy Anderson. "Don't come in. Don't do it."

She later reported that federal agents were trying to coax the protesters out of hiding, but added, "We're not leaving without our weapons."

Nevada state Assembly member Michele Fiore, a Republican supportive of the protesters, identified herself over the broadcast as she talked with the occupiers via telephone. She said she was in Portland waiting for an FBI escort to Malheur, roughly 300 miles (480 km) to the southeast, in order to help broker a peaceful resolution to the standoff.

The broadcast was frequently interrupted by the sounds of the protesters shouting and law enforcement officers calling out to them by bullhorn. Fiore repeatedly tried to calm the occupiers by leading them in prayers over the phone.