Report: Feds Plan To Cut Power To Oregon Refuge Occupied By Militia

Update: Jan. 5: 3:03 p.m.

The armed militiamen occupying a federal building in rural, eastern Oregon won’t have power there for long, according to a Tuesday morning report in The Guardian.

An anonymous source in Washington, D.C. told The Guardian that federal authorities planned to cut power at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near the small town of Burns, Oregon.

“It’s in the middle of nowhere,” the unnamed government official told The Guardian. “And it’s flat-ass cold up there.”

The source told the Guardian that they didn’t have any information about the FBI’s plan of action, but said the National Park Service (called the US Park Service by The Guardian) planned to cut the outpost’s power.

The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is under the jurisdiction of the Fish and Wildlife Service. A statement on the Malheur webpage says the refuge is closed until further notice. The National Park Service’s role was not immediately clear.

“After they shut off the power, they’ll kill the phone service,” the official told The Guardian. “Then they’ll block all the roads so that all those guys have a long, lonely winter to think about what they’ve done.”

Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter John Sepulvado contradicted the report on Tuesday afternoon, saying two officials had told him the Fish and Wildlife Service has no plans to cut the power.

I've heard from 2 officials now that the @guardian report power will be cut is *NOT* accurate. No plans known to cut power to #bundymilitia

— John Sepulvado (@JohnLGC) January 5, 2016

and @USFWS tells @opb that they have heard of no plan to cut power to building, which they own. https://t.co/CWTMAB7gw0

— John Sepulvado (@JohnLGC) January 5, 2016