Ammon Bundy FBI First Contact: Parties Are Talking But No Resolution

Garrett Montgomery

9 years ago

Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, and the FBI are talking, but there is no end to the occupation of the wildlife refuge in Oregon. Ammon Bundy, his son, along with a group of men and women all heavily armed, who have been in the Malheur Wildlife Refuge for over three weeks, told FBI agents they have no plans to leave.

Ammon Bundy FBI

Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy spoke briefly to FBI agents, but do not expect a resolution to the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge anytime soon. A brief recap:

In early January 2016, Bundy, his son, Ryan Bundy, led the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon with the help of armed men, women, (and even few children.)

The group took over the government building to protest the prison sentences of ranchers – Dwight Hammond and his son, Steven Hammond – who were convicted of arson on federal land. Despite forgetting to bring food on the premises, and being blasted by Native American tribes, the anti-government group has been holed up and refused to leave. On Thursday, Ammon Bundy drove to a nearby airport where he called an FBI mediator and spoke for several minutes. Bundy asked the FBI agent if he was a Mormon, and added:

“The only ones that are going to make this a non-peaceful event will be you guys — the FBI or other law enforcement.”

A militiaman named Kelly Gneiting, who accompanied Bundy, also spoke to the FBI agent to say God sent them to help the ranchers. He claimed:

“God wants us here, there’s a sense that’s beckoning and it comes from heaven,” “We’re doing what’s right, we’re doing what the founding fathers would do because we’re inspired by God, also.”

The move from the FBI comes 24 hours after Oregon Governor Kate Brown called the ongoing occupation a “spectacle of lawlessness,” and said it is costing taxpayers $100,000 a day and slammed the FBI for not taking measures to arrest the occupiers. Brown told local media: