PORTLAND, Ore. -- The four remaining occupiers at an Oregon wildlife refuge are facing charges, according to court documents released Thursday that say more than a dozen armed activists threatened violence against federal authorities and used social media to urge others to join them.
A newly unsealed indictment names 16 defendants, including the holdouts, standoff leader Ammon Bundy and other occupiers arrested last week. Also named is Kenneth Medenbach, who was arrested after being caught driving a government vehicle to a supermarket.
A federal grand jury charged all with felony conspiracy, accusing them of using intimidation to prevent federal officers from doing their work at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The holdouts have said they are not leaving without a guarantee they won't be arrested. If they stay true to their word, the indictment buries any chance they will surrender on their own.
The U.S. attorney's office and the FBI declined comment Thursday, but the lack of movement in recent days indicates negotiators were not offering amnesty.
The remaining occupiers are: David Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio; Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nev.; and Sean Anderson, 48, and Sandy Anderson, 47, a married couple from Riggins, Idaho.
Fry's father, William Fry, was disappointed that his son has been charged, saying in an email, "We were hoping for a more positive outcome."
He said his son is no different from those who believe "our country is heading in the wrong direction."
"He believes it so strongly he is willing to stand up with the hope that these actions might wake the nation up and lead others to get involved to change our country's course," William Fry said.
He added that he is still "hoping and praying to welcome our son home safely."
Responding to the grand jury indictment, Ammon Bundy on Thursday struck a defiant tone in an audio recording from the county jail in Portland where he is being held.
"Taking over the refuge was not only right, it was the duty of the people to do," Bundy said in the recording, which was released by his family.
Bundy called his jailed followers "political prisoners" who weretrying to educate ranchers and others about their constitutional rights on federal lands and abuses by federal authorities.
Bundy made reference to the death last week of one of the occupiers, Arizona rancher Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, who died in a confrontation with FBI agents and Oregon state troopers that also resulted in the arrest of Bundy and others.
Bundy said in the recording ,"Go home, Oregon State Police, you have already killed enough," and, "Go home, FBI, it is time to end this."
FBI agents, Oregon State Police and other law enforcement officers are deployed around the refuge as the last four occupiers continue to refuse to leave.
The standoff began Jan. 2, with the group demanding the federal government turn public lands over to local control and free two ranchers imprisoned for setting fires.
Two conspirators traveled to the sparsely populated area of southeastern Oregon in October to warn the sheriff of "extreme civil unrest" if certain demands were not met, according to the indictment.
Once the occupation began, the group brandished firearms to keep officials from carrying out their duties, threatened violence and intimidated locals "to effectuate the goals of the conspiracy," the documents say.
Defense attorneys have said at court hearings that their clients engaged in civil disobedience and are being punished for political speech. They say the only use of force during the standoff was by police when Finicum was shot and killed.
Information for this article was contributed by Dan Sewell of The Associated Press.
A Section on 02/05/2016