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Bundy asks armed group to stand down

<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/27/1-dead-feds-arrest-oregon-protest-leader-ammon-bundy/79392112/" target="_blank">After a shootout with police</a>&nbsp;left one man dead and seven people, Ammon Bundy, who was one of those arrested, is asking members of the Oregon militia that took over a federal building to go home.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oregon-occupation-ammon-bundy-asks-supporters-abandon-refuge-n505536" target="_blank">In a statement, Bundy said</a>: &quot;To those at the refuge, I love you. Let us take this fight from here. Please stand down. Go home and hug your families.&quot; He also implored the government to let the militia go home &quot;without being prosecuted.&quot;&nbsp;</p><p>Bundy&#39;s statement echoes what law enforcement has been saying since the group took over the building almost a month ago. &quot;It&#39;s time for everybody in this illegal occupation to move on. There doesn&#39;t have to be bloodshed in our community,&quot; Sheriff David Ward&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/27/us/oregon-wildlife-refuge-siege-arrests/" target="_blank">said during a press conference</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>But it doesn&#39;t look like the group plans on leaving anytime soon. According to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-oregon-refuge-roadblocks-20160127-story.html" target="_blank">the Los Angeles Times</a>, one of the occupiers said in a live stream: &quot;There are no laws in this United States now! This is a free-for-all Armageddon!&quot; adding if &quot;they stop you from getting here, kill them!&quot;</p><p>Now law enforcement officials are responding more forcefully to the occupation than they have in the past. Authorities have blocked off roads leading up to the building, adding checkpoints and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oregon-occupation-ammon-bundy-asks-supporters-abandon-refuge-n505536" target="_blank">based off video from NBC</a>, they don&#39;t seem to be letting anyone near the area. (Video via&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oregon-occupation-ammon-bundy-asks-supporters-abandon-refuge-n505536" target="_blank">NBC</a>)&nbsp;</p><p>Though the FBI hasn&#39;t released many details about how the shootout started, it did say law enforcement was trying to stop the group as they were headed to a community meeting and that at least&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oregon-occupation-ammon-bundy-asks-supporters-abandon-refuge-n505536" target="_blank">one member of the militia shot at officers</a>.&nbsp;</p><p><i>This video includes images from Getty Images.&nbsp;</i></p>
Posted at 7:37 PM, Jan 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-27 22:37:53-05

The attorney for the leader of an armed group occupying an Oregon wildlife refuge says the man wants those remaining at the refuge to "please stand down" and go home.

Ammon Bundy and seven others were arrested Tuesday. Bundy made an initial appearance in federal court in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday.

Mike Arnold, Bundy's attorney, read a statement afterward in which Bundy urged those still at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to leave.

In the statement, Bundy asked the federal government to allow the people remaining at the refuge to depart without being prosecuted. Addressing those still holding out, Bundy's statement said: "Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is now in the courts. Please go home."

Federal agents have surrounded the refuge where the remnants of Bundy's group were still refusing to give up on the occupation that began Jan. 2 to protest federal land policies.

KTNV

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