The United States added another chapter to its recent history of violent standoffs when law enforcement agents on Tuesday arrested several leaders and killed another member of an Oregon militia group that had taken over a wildlife refuge compound weeks ago.
The standoff had seemed amicable as law enforcement generally avoided the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for the first three weeks of the occupation, but militia members had said that the FBI recently seemed to harden their approach.
The violence was sudden, but it fit with how recent standoffs ended in bloodshed.
What happened in Oregon
The armed group took over the wildlife refuge headquarters in Burns, Oregon, in early January and demanded that the government release two recently imprisoned ranchers, and cede control of the refuge's 187,000 acres.
The refuge was located in a remote part of Oregon and the group didn't take hostages. Law enforcement stayed away for weeks, but decided to arrest many of the group's leaders when they were driving to a meeting on Tuesday. The group's de facto spokesperson, LaVoy Finicum, got out of his car during the stop and was killed. The details of that shootout are still unclear.
Ruby Ridge, Idaho
A separatist named Randy Weaver was up against firearms charges in 1992. Instead of facing them, he and his family moved into a cabin in Ruby Ridge.
When U.S. marshals came for him, a shootout ensued. A marshal and Weaver's 14-year-old son were killed. That's when the standoff began.
Weaver and a friend hunkered down for 11 days before giving up. An FBI sniper fatally shot Weaver's wife as she held their infant daughter.
Waco, Texas
The next year, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives tried to raid the compound of a religious cult known as the Branch Davidians, suspecting that the group might have illegal explosives. They got into a gun battle, and a 51-day standoff ensued.
The FBI received bad intelligence that some of the Branch Davidians were abusing children, and decided to tear gas the cult members out of their complex. Instead of leaving, however, the Branch Davidians began lighting fires, and the resulting blaze killed more than 80 people.