Key Oregon Militia Members Arrested, 1 Dead: Police

BURNS, OR — Several key leaders of an Oregon militia occupying a federal wildlife refuge — including their leader, Ammon Bundy — were arrested Tuesday, and one member was killed during a traffic stop in rural Oregon, according to a joint press release from OSP and the FBI.

Police said the arrested included:

• Ammon Edward Bundy, 40, of Emmett, Idaho
• Ryan C. Bundy, 43, of Bunkerville, Nevada
• Brian Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada
• Shawna Cox, 59, Kanab, Utah
• Ryan Waylen Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Montana

One person suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the confrontation, in which shots were fired, and was taken to the hospital before being arrested, police said. Another in the group was killed. Officials did not say who fired the shots.

All of those arrested face charges of “conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 372,” according to the release.

In a separate event, Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, 45, of Cottonwood, Arizona was arrested around 5:50 p.m., police said.

The Bundys and several other people had been occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service property in rural Oregon, in a fight to take federally owned land and give it back to local ranchers and others.

The occupation began on January 2, when the members showed up armed to the teeth in the middle of the night and essentially walked in to the empty refuge.

“Isn’t this a wonderful country we live in?” Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, Ammon’s father, told the Los Angeles Times after Tuesday’s arrests.

“We believe that those federal people shouldn’t even be there in that state, and be in that county and have anything to do with this issue. ... I have some sons and other people there trying to protect our rights and liberties and freedoms, and now we’ve got one killed, and all I can say is, he’s sacrificed for a good purpose.”

Image via Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

See a timeline of the Oregon militia takeover below: