01:21USA: Ammon Bundy urges militia in Oregon to 'stand down'
Leader of the armed Oregon militia Ammon Bundy has urged his followers occupying a wildlife refuge, near Burns, Oregon, to leave, according to a statement read by his attorney Mike Arnold, who was speaking on the steps of a Portland courthouse, Wednesday.
"Right now, I am asking the federal government to allow the people at the refuge to go home without being prosecuted," Arnold read. "To those remaining at the refuge, I love you. Let us take this fight from here. Please stand down, please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is ours for now in the courts. Please go home."
Bundy’s statement comes after he and seven others were arrested by the FBI on Tuesday. One member of Bundy’s group, Robert ‘Lavoy’ Finicum, was killed during the arrest.
The armed protest group, referring to themselves as 'Citizens for Constitutional Freedom,' seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, located around 50 miles (80km) from Burns on January 2, after two of its members were scheduled to go to prison for setting fire to federal government land.
01:21Leader of the armed Oregon militia Ammon Bundy has urged his followers occupying a wildlife refuge, near Burns, Oregon, to leave, according to a statement read by his attorney Mike Arnold, who was speaking on the steps of a Portland courthouse, Wednesday.
"Right now, I am asking the federal government to allow the people at the refuge to go home without being prosecuted," Arnold read. "To those remaining at the refuge, I love you. Let us take this fight from here. Please stand down, please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is ours for now in the courts. Please go home."
Bundy’s statement comes after he and seven others were arrested by the FBI on Tuesday. One member of Bundy’s group, Robert ‘Lavoy’ Finicum, was killed during the arrest.
The armed protest group, referring to themselves as 'Citizens for Constitutional Freedom,' seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, located around 50 miles (80km) from Burns on January 2, after two of its members were scheduled to go to prison for setting fire to federal government land.