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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2016 Arrests of Oregon standoff leaders leave 1 dead By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BURNS — Federal and state officials were restricting access on Wednesday to the Oregon refuge being occupied by an armed group after one of the occupiers was killed during a traffic stop and eight more, including the group’s leader Ammon Bundy, were arrested. The group, which has included people from as far away as Arizona and Michigan, seized the head- quarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2. They want federal lands turned over to local authorities. The confrontation came amid increasing calls for law enforcement to take action against Bundy for the illegal occupation of the wildlife refuge. Details of the fatal encounter were sparse. It happened as Bundy and his followers were heading to a community meeting late Tuesday afternoon in John Day, about 70 miles north of Burns. Arianna Finicum Brown confirmed that her father, Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, was the man killed, the Oregonian reported. The 55-year-old was a frequent and public presence at the refuge, often speaking for the group at news conferences. “This is where I’m going to breathe my last breath, whether I’m 90, 95 or 55,” Finicum told The Associated Press on Jan. 5. “ ... I’m going to not spend my days in a cell.” The FBI and Oregon State Police would only say the man killed in the police shooting was wanted by federal authorities, and said no more information would be released pending iden- tification by the medical examiner. Jason Patrick, one of the leaders of the occupation, told radio station Oregon Public Broadcasting that five or six group members remain inside the refuge. Dave Killen/The Oregonian Sgt. Tom Hutchison stands in front of an Oregon State Police roadblock on Highway 395 between John Day and Burns Tuesday. Authorities say shots were fired Tuesday during the arrest of members of an armed group that has occupied a national wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than three weeks. The FBI said authorities arrested Ammon Bundy, 40, his brother Ryan Bundy, 43, Brian Cavalier, 44, Shawna Cox, 59, and Ryan Payne, 32, during a traffic stop Tuesday after- noon. Authorities said another person, Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, 45, was arrested in Burns. In a statement, the FBI said one individual “who was a subject of a federal probable cause arrest is deceased.” ONLINE Audio from the John Day town hall meeting will be available at www.dailyastorian.com, courtesy of the Blue Mountain Eagle. Rick Bowmer/AP Photo LaVoy Finicum, a rancher from Arizona, speaks to the me- dia after members of an armed group along with several other organizations arrive at the at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns on Jan. 9. The FBI and Oregon State Police arrested the leaders of an armed group that has occupied a national wildlife refuge for the past three weeks during a traffic stop that prompted gunfire — and one death — along a highway through the frozen high country. The Oregonian reported that Finicum was the person killed, citing the man’s daughter. For weeks law enforcement vehicles have been noticeably absent from the roads surrounding the refuge. Wednesday, however, marked law Man who tried to arrest Astoria mayor wants trial outside Clatsop County in Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon in handcuffs and dressed in a striped jail jumpsuit for a hearing on The man who tried to arrest his request to replace his attorney, Astoria Mayor Arline LaMear court-appointed Tatjana Queener, of last June wants his Tillamook. trial moved out of Seidel told Clatsop County. Judge Philip Zachary Seidel Nelson that he was set to face wanted to represent trial Tuesday on himself because criminal trespass, of a “strategic disorderly conduct difference” with and interfering with Queener on his a police of¿cer defense. but the trial was Zachary “I would rather postponed until Seidel not be at odds with March after Seidel my representation did not appear at a pretrial hearing last week. going forward,” Seidel said. After Nelson explained A warrant was issued for Seidel’s arrest and he was the legal risks of acting as his own attorney, Seidel agreed to taken into custody Sunday. The 30-year-old appeared proceed with Queener serving By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian as an adviser. In late February, the court will hear Seidel’s request for a change of venue outside of Clatsop County. Queener, speaking after court, cited news coverage of Seidel’s case in The Daily Astorian as a potential reason. Seidel sought to make a citizen’s arrest of LaMear at a City Council meeting in June, and then tried to arrest Police Chief Brad Johnston before Johnston tackled him to the ground in front of stunned residents. Seidel was upset that LaMear would not let him speak about a council agenda item on moving a Verizon Wireless communications tower off Coxcomb Hill that had been discussed before Seidel showed up at the meeting. Stamper joins newspaper’s advertising team By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian It started when Anna Stamper recently delivered an order from the Downtown Coffee Shop to the advertising team at The Daily Astorian. Now Stamper, an Oregon Coast native, is introducing herself to downtown Astoria as the newspaper’s newest advertising representative. Stamper’s arrival is part of a restructuring of the newspaper’s advertising department, with ad repre- sentative Brandy Stewart transferring to Seaside and taking on the accounts of Wendy Richardson, who died in December after suffering an aneurysm. Taking over Stewart’s previous accounts in the Astoria-Warrenton region is Lisa Cadonau. Stamper is taking over Cadonau’s previous downtown accounts. Advertising is a new world for Stamper, who before Coast Guard Academy in New moving to Astoria was a London, Connecticut, for four social studies and humanities years, earning a bachelor’s teacher at Thomas Jefferson degree in government and a High School for Science and commission as an ensign, an entry-level of¿cer. Technology in She served Alexandria, Virginia. two years on the Stamper moved Coast Guard cutter to Astoria in July Mellon, safe- to be close to her guarding ¿sheries family members, in Alaska’s Bering spread between her Sea and appre- hometown of Coos hending drug and Bay and Whidbey migrant smugglers Island, Washington. on the Mexican She cut her teeth in Anna Stamper border, and another downtown working ¿ve years in law for the Wet Dog enforcement at Cafe and later the Downtown Coffee Shop Coast Guard headquarters in until it transferred ownership Washington, D.C. “Through working at the earlier this month. While she enjoys the coffee shop, I got to know outdoors and coastal living, many of the business owners Stamper said she also feels at and employees,” Stamper home in Astoria, a U.S. Coast said. “I’m looking forward to Guard city, after serving nine seeing them in a capacity in years in the guard. After high which I can help out with their school, Stamper attended the advertising.” enforcement cars are dotted throughout the region. The FBI and Oregon State Police said they were setting up checkpoints and only allowing ranchers who own property in specific areas to pass. Police and news media have converged on the nearby town of Burns, where most hotels are booked to capacity. Brand Thornton, one of Bundy’s supporters, said he left the refuge Monday and wasn’t sure what those remaining would do. “The entire leadership is gone,” he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I wouldn’t blame any of them for leaving.” Thornton called the arrests “a dirty trick” by law enforcement. In addition to Ammon Bundy, those arrested were: his brother Ryan Bundy, 43; Brian Cavalier, 44; Shawna Cox, 59; and Ryan Payne, 32 — apprehended during the traffic stop on U.S. Highway 395 Tuesday afternoon. Authorities said two others — Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, 45, and Peter Santilli, 50 — were arrested separately in Burns, while FBI agents in Arizona arrested another, Jon Eric Ritzheimer, 32. Each will face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats, authorities said. Law enforcement previously had taken a hands-off approach, reflecting lessons learned during bloody standoffs at Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho, during the 1990s. Many residents of Harney County, where the refuge is located, have been among those demanding that Bundy leave. Many sympathize with his criticism of federal land management policies but opposed the refuge takeover. “I am pleased that the FBI has listened to the concerns of the local community and responded to the illegal activity occurring in Harney County by outside extremists,” U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, said in a statement. The Bundys are the sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a high-profile 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights. The group, calling themselves Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, came to the frozen high desert of eastern Oregon to decry what it calls onerous federal land restrictions and to object to the prison sentences of two local ranchers convicted of setting fires. Associated Press reporters Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, Gene Johnson and Lisa Baumann in Seattle and Terrence Petty and Kristena Hansen in Portland contributed to this report. ENTIRE STOCK 1 / 2 OFF Seaside • Cannon Beach
