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Eugene

(61,949 posts)
Tue Jan 12, 2016, 08:37 AM Jan 2016

Armed Group Says It Has Accessed Government Files at Refuge

Source: Associated Press

Armed Group Says It Has Accessed Government Files at Refuge

By RICK BOWMER, ASSOCIATED PRESS BURNS, Ore. — Jan 12, 2016, 12:43 AM ET

The leader of a small, armed group occupying a national wildlife refuge in southeastern Oregon said Monday he and his followers are going through government documents stored inside refuge buildings.

Ammon Bundy told reporters the documents will be used to "expose" how the government has discriminated against local ranchers who use federal land for cattle grazing.

Bundy said the documents would also help secure the release of Steven and Dwight Hammond, two area ranchers convicted of arson who returned to prison last week to serve longer sentences. The Hammonds' case set off the occupation of the Burns-area refuge on Jan. 2.

Bundy said his group is not accessing government computers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, including personnel files.

After the news conference, the group drove in a convoy to a ranch near the refuge and tore down a stretch of government-erected fence. The goal, according to the armed men, was to give the rancher access to the range that had been blocked for years. It's not clear where the fence was located or which rancher sought the group's help.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/call-supplies-oregon-standoff-enters-week-36209625
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