UPDATED (4:50 p.m. PT) with Ammon Bundy statement
Members of the media are fleeing the occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday after the FBI told them it was not safe to stay there, suggesting that a raid on the compound was imminent.
Leaving refuge. @FBI warns media no protection #ORstandoff @KTVZ pic.twitter.com/ojWTEUgB4V— Lauren Martinez (@LaurenKTVZ) January 27, 2016
Lauren Martinez, a reporter at Oregon's KTVZ News Channel 21, tweeted a video showing her driving away from the area. "Leaving refuge. @FBI warns media no protection," she wrote. A second video shows her car approaching an FBI checkpoint.
Just passed @FBI & @ORStatePolice checkpoint @KTVZ #ORstandoff #KTVZ pic.twitter.com/E0N8Tm0ZPh— Lauren Martinez (@LaurenKTVZ) January 27, 2016
John Sepulvado, a reporter at Oregon Public Broadcasting who's covered the standoff, also pulled out from the building's entrance, noting he was joined by journalists with KGW, KOIN, Fox 12 Oregon and several others. "We determined it's not safe," he said. "OPB was told by FBI that we were on our own," he added in a tweet. "Essentially stuff is going down and we need to move."
.@OPB was told by FBI that we were on our own -- essentially stuff is going down and we need to move.— John Sepulvado (@JohnLGC) January 27, 2016
Andrew Dymburt, a KOIN reporter, said the FBI "could be gearing up for a move on Malheur."
The @FBI is advising journalists to leave now. Could be gearing up for a move on #Malheur keep it locked to @KOINNews for updates— Andrew Dymburt (@DymburtNews) January 27, 2016
The evacuations come hours after several members of the militia, including leader Ammon Bundy, were arrested in a traffic stop conducted while they were traveling to a community meeting. The group's de facto spokesman, LaVoy Finicum, was killed in the incident.
Bundy's driver and bodyguard posted a Facebook video Wednesday morning stating that Finicum had fled in his truck after being pulled over and later charged police, who shot him. The men, many of them armed with rifles and handguns, have been occupying the federal building for weeks in what they said is a protest against federal land ownership.
Bundy himself intervened late Wednesday, issuing a statement through his attorney in which he called on his fellow militia members to stand down and return home.
Statement from Ammon Bundy, delivered via attorney. pic.twitter.com/btKyAZciNT— Mashable News (@MashableNews) January 28, 2016
The FBI said in a FlashAlert early Wednesday morning that it has "initiated a containment" of the site "in order to better ensure the safety of community members and law enforcement."
Serious law enforcement presence in paramilitary getup block off entry to refuge. #Oregonstandoff pic.twitter.com/NeAIW27wTF— Beth Nakamura (@bethnakamura) January 27, 2016
Police and FBI agents then set up a series of road barricades surrounding the refuge, and any vehicles leaving it were subjected to a search. During a morning press conference, FBI Special Agent Greg Bretzing said those still occupying the refuge would be allowed to leave as long as they left through the checkpoints, but those still there see ominous times ahead.
"In the last interview i had with a militant before I left the scene, she told me that when the press left Waco, everyone died," Sepulvado tweeted, adding that the woman said she had to stay there to "stand against tyranny."
in the last interview i had with a militant before i left the scene, she told me that when the press left waco. everyone died.— John Sepulvado (@JohnLGC) January 27, 2016
i asked her why she didn't just leave with us. she said she had to stand against tyranny. i said how bad can it be, we're having this convo— John Sepulvado (@JohnLGC) January 27, 2016
she told me if i didn't get, i wouldn't get it. i told her i hoped i saw her again, she asked for a hug, we hugged, we left. she stayed.— John Sepulvado (@JohnLGC) January 27, 2016
"The media's been ordered to leave," one militant was overheard in a YouTube livestream on Wednesday morning. "The FBI wants to cover-up murder."
"I guess they're ordering all the media to leave the area," another added. "So who knows what's going to happen."