Armed anti-government protesters surrender in Oregon
A 41-day armed occupation of a US federal wildlife refuge in the state of Oregon has ended after the four remaining anti-government militants surrendered to law enforcement authorities.
The end of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday came hours after FBI agents surrounded the group at the site located outside the town of Burns, Oregon.
The armed occupiers indicated they would turn themselves in after the federal agents closed in on them. On Wednesday, FBI agents moved to within 50 yards (45 meters) of the occupiers' position in the compound.
The final four occupiers will face charges of conspiracy to impede federal officers, along with 12 others previously arrested, officials said.
The occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge began on January 2, when the headquarters of the site was occupied by an armed group affiliated with the US militia movement.
The militant group demanded that the federal government cede ownership of the refuge and expressed willingness to engage in armed conflict.
The occupation, originally led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, is largely directed as a protest against federal control over millions of acres of public land in Western states.
The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is part of the US National Wildlife Refuge System, a system of public lands and waters set aside by the federal government to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants.
The Bundy brothers and 10 others were arrested on January 26 outside the refuge, most of them during a confrontation with the FBI and state police on a snow-covered roadside. Another member who acted as a spokesman for the group was shot dead.
The Bundy brothers' father, Cliven Bundy was arrested on Wednesday in Portland, Oregon. He was charged with conspiracy, assault on a federal officer and obstruction of justice in connection with a separate 2014 standoff on federal land near his Nevada ranch.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has described the Bundys’ views as closely aligned with those of the sovereign citizen movement, which generally believes that the US government is illegitimate.
The sovereign citizen movement is considered by the FBI as the nation’s top domestic terrorism threat.
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