Ammon Bundy
Conrad Wilson / OPB
The indictment charging Ammon Bundy and 15 other militants who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was released Thursday morning.
Earlier this week, a federal Grand Jury returned an indictment to prosecutors charging the armed occupiers with conspiracy to impede officers of the United States.
The four remaining occupants of the Malheur refuge are among the indicted: Sean Anderson, Sandra Lynn Pfeifer Anderson, David Lee Fry and Jeff Wayne Banta.
As of Wednesday, those four were still occupying the refuge, although all outside communication was cut with the occupiers that afternoon. David Fry had told OPB that the FBI warned them if he or the others inside the refuge spoke with media, they would lose access to incoming calls.
Before communication with the militants was cut, OPB had several phone conversations with the occupiers. They described their life inside the refuge and said they had enough food and fuel to continue the occupation for an extended time.
In the indictment prosecutors said those charged knowingly conspired “to prevent by force, intimidation, and threats, officers and employees of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service … from discharging the duties of their office at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.”
The indictment also states that "Beginning on January 2, 2016, defendants and conspirators threatened violence against anybody who attempted to remove them from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge."
Those charged are:
- Ammon Bundy
- Ryan Bundy
- Jon Ritzheimer
- Joseph O'Shaughnessy
- Ryan Payne
- Brian Cavalier
- Shawna Cox
- Peter Santilli
- Jason Patrick
- Duane Leo Ehmer
- Dylan Anderson
- Kenneth Medenbach
- Sean Anderson
- Sandra Lynn Pfeifer Anderson
- David Lee Fry
- Jeff Wayne Banta
Ammon Bundy, Joseph O'Shaughnessy, Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier, Shawna Cox, Peter Santilli, were all taken into custody on Jan. 26 while en route from the refuge to John Day. Jon Ritzheimer voluntarily surrendered at a facility in Arizona the same day.
Jason Patrick, Duane Leo Ehmer, Dylan Anderson, were arrested Jan. 28 as they exited the refuge through an FBI checkpoint. Kenneth Medenbach was arrested Jan. 15, in connection with stolen Malheur National Wildlife Refuge vehicles.
To read the full indictment, click here.