Lawyers representing the jailed leader of the armed occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge say they have recorded his voice asking those remaining there to leave.
Ammon Bundy, arrested on an Oregon highway along with other members of the group on Tuesday, has repeatedly called for four people still at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns.
"It is his authentic desire for them to stand down," one of Bundy’s attorneys, Lissa Casey, said Saturday. "That message has been communicated to the remaining four, and there is nothing further that be done on our end."
Bundy’s attorneys said Friday they believe the four remaining at the refuge are skeptical that previous calls to leave the refuge are really from Bundy.
Bundy led an armed group that occupied the refuge on Jan. 2 in a protest against the federal government. They called for the release of two local ranchers ordered back to prison for burning public land, and that the federal government turn over public land to local control.
A member of the group, Robert “LaVoy” Fincum, was fatally shot by state police during Tuesday’s arrests on Highway 395. The FBI says he reached at least twice for a pocket containing a loaded 9mm handgun before he was killed.
Eleven people in all have been arrested on federal charges related to the occupation.
A federal judge on Friday refused to grant bail to Bundy or his brother, Ryan, ruling that they are a flight risk or danger to the community.
