The sheriff whose jurisdiction includes the isolated Oregon wildlife refuge taken over by a small group of armed men told Oregon Public Broadcasting in a Tuesday interview that the men would face charges for their actions.
“The bureau has assured me that those at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge will at some point face charges,” Harney County Sheriff David Ward said, referring to the FBI.
He declined to provide the radio station with information about what those charges would be.
The FBI was handling a criminal case against the men, who have occupied the refuge in a rural corner of eastern Oregon since Saturday night, according to the report. Ward and other local law enforcement officers were focused on protecting the residents of the nearby town of Burns and the surrounding community.
Listen to the full interview with Burns below: