Oregon Land Occupiers Reject Sheriff’s Offer of a ‘Safe Escort’

The sheriff of the Oregon county where armed anti-government activists have occupied federal land asked the protesters to go home Thursday at their first meeting since the confrontation began.

Circled by an odd grouping of sheriffs from neighboring counties and journalists armed with cameras, Harney County Sheriff David Ward and Ammon Bundy, one of the occupation leaders, chatted briefly and politely at an intersection close to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which the activists seized Saturday.

“I’m here because the citizens of Harney County have asked me to come out and ask you folks to peacefully leave,” Ward said, offering…

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