--- title: Ranchers Who Prompted Oregon Occupation Turn Themselves In description: Two men at the center of the standoff at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have reported to prison canonical: https://time.com/4167167/hammonds-ranchers-oregon-occupation/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-05T00:15:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:46:14.493Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Ranchers Who Prompted Oregon Occupation Turn Themselves In og:description: "It is time for you to leave our community" og:url: https://time.com/4167167/hammonds-ranchers-oregon-occupation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt332a6e682f65fc23/6988777bcd1bbaee716fec15/david-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: David Ward, Steven Grasty og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ranchers Who Prompted Oregon Occupation Turn Themselves In twitter:description: "It is time for you to leave our community" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt332a6e682f65fc23/6988777bcd1bbaee716fec15/david-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ranchers Who Prompted Oregon Occupation Turn Themselves In by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 5, 2016 12:15 AM CUT  Harney County Sheriff David Ward speaks to the media in Burns, Ore. on Jan. 4, 2016. Harney County Sheriff David Ward speaks to the media in Burns, Ore. on Jan. 4, 2016.Rick Bowmer—AP by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 5, 2016 12:15 AM CUT Two men at the center of the standoff at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have reported to prison, prompting the Harney County Sheriff to tell the protestors occupying the federal building to leave the rural Oregon community. Sheriff David Ward said in a [statement](https://twitter.com/harneycosheriff/status/684153394223689728 "undefined") on Monday that Dwight and Steven Hammond had turned themselves in on Monday and were in custody in California; the father and son ranchers had previously been convicted for setting fires on federal land. Though they had served time, a judge ordered them back to prison because their sentences did not meet the federal minimums. Their plight prompted armed sympathizers (including two sons of Cliven Bundy) to [take over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday](http://time.com/4165851/oregon-wildlife-refuge-takeover/ "undefined"), and though officials have been proceeding cautiously, Sheriff Ward urged the protesters to depart. “You said you were here to help the citizens of Harney County,” he wrote. “That ended when a peaceful protest became an armed and unlawful protest.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4167167/hammonds-ranchers-oregon-occupation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4167167/hammonds-ranchers-oregon-occupation/"},"headline":"Ranchers Who Prompted Oregon Occupation Turn Themselves In","datePublished":"2016-01-05T00:15:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:46:14.493Z","description":"\"It is time for you to leave our community\"","url":"https://time.com/4167167/hammonds-ranchers-oregon-occupation/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt332a6e682f65fc23/6988777bcd1bbaee716fec15/david-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt332a6e682f65fc23/6988777bcd1bbaee716fec15/david-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"David Ward, Steven Grasty","caption":"David Ward, Steven Grasty","creditText":"Rick Bowmer—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4167167/hammonds-ranchers-oregon-occupation/","name":"Ranchers Who Prompted Oregon Occupation Turn Themselves In"}}]}] ```