Occupation over, but controversy, work continue

The day after the over 41-day armed occupation came to an end Thursday, the FBI let reporters closer to the refuge headquarters, but not by much. FBI agents are describing it as an active crime scene.

“The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is closed and will stay closed for several weeks,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Bretzing.

The bomb squad found no rigged explosives or booby-traps during their sweep of the refuge headquarters on Friday.

Now forensic examiners are identifying damage and collecting evidence.

“We know the Paiute Tribe has specific concerns about the desecration of their ancestral lands and artifacts,” Bretzing said.

Harney County Judge Steve Grasty showed relief the occupation is over.

“Our community is ours once again,” Grasty said.

On Friday, Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore held a news conference in Portland with Ammon Bundy’s lawyer, Mike Arnold, and other elected officials from Nevada and Idaho. She helped negotiate between FBI and occupiers in the final hours of the occupation.

“I’m just so glad they’re safe, and I have to also give kudos to the FBI agents who were out there,” Fiore said, in tears.

Fiore talked about Second Amendment rights, the Constitution and the overreach by the federal government and the Bureau of Land Management. She echoed Ammon Bundy’s demands in returning federal land back to the original owners.

When asked if that means the Malheur refuge should go back to the Burns Paiute Tribe, Fiore got flustered.

“Oh my, my,” Fiore said. “So why don’t we all go back to England in that case?”

Meanwhile, Idaho County Sheriff Doug Giddins said Sean and Sandy Anderson, two of the final occupiers, made some poor choices but didn’t do anything wrong.

The four last occupiers pleaded not guilty on Friday.

Twenty-five occupiers are now facing federal conspiracy charges and Cliven Bundy joined his sons in federal prison for his standoff in Nevada in 2014, a sign the FBI is taking this seriously.

“Occupying a federal building, in a violent manner, armed, to deprive employees or citizens access will not be tolerated in the United States,” Bretzing said.

—

The FBI issued this statement late Friday afternoon:

Today, the FBI began to process the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as a crime scene.

This morning, a team of FBI Special Agent Bomb Technicians, detectives with the Oregon State Police Arson/Explosives Unit, and bomb technicians from the Portland Police Bureau and Oregon Air National Guard conducted an initial sweep of the property. A full sweep is ongoing and will continue until the entire area is deemed safe for law enforcement to operate.

Currently, the FBI’s Evidence Response Teams (ERT) has entered areas of the refuge and has begun to document and collect evidence related to potential crimes committed during the occupation.

The FBI’s Art Crime Team has deployed to work on the refuge. These agents are specially-trained in cultural property investigations, and they will be responsible for working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Burns Paiute Tribe to identify and document damage to the tribe’s artifacts and sacred burial grounds.

All of this work will likely take a number of weeks to complete. As the FBI works through each of these investigative processes, we will consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as to how and when we will be able to return control of the refuge to that agency.