Armed occupants destroy fences, raid files in week two of protests

Burns, Ore.– (KTVZ) As the occupation of a southeast Oregon wildlife refuge entered its second week Monday, the leaders of the takeover cut fences — at the request of a local rancher, they said — as part of their plan to return the federal land back to the people of Harney County.

A skid-steer loader with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service emblem prominently on the side was brought in to help remove the barbed-wire fence and fence posts that mark the border between a section of the refuge and private land.

They’ve also been going through government documents stored at the wildife refuge headquarters.

“We’re going through the refuge files and permits, to expose many of the things that they’ve done here,” protest leader Ammon Bundy admitted.

Bundy said they have not accessed the computers on the refuge, but went through the file cabinets.

As potential federal charges stack up, there’s no sign of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies staged at the nearby Burns Airport moving in.