--- description: Ammon Bundy says he and his compatriots were "being ignored again" title: Oregon Protesters Reject Sheriff's Offer of a 'Safe Escort' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3590a496e6113c4/6988781d524fc05b5adf630a/rts87a3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [oregon](/tag/oregon/) ## oregon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Oregon Land Occupiers Reject Sheriff's Offer of a 'Safe Escort' by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 8, 2016 5:23 AM CUT  Ammon Bundy meets with Harney County Sheriff David Ward along a road south of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, Jan. 7, 2016. Ammon Bundy meets with Harney County Sheriff David Ward along a road south of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, Jan. 7, 2016.Jim Urquhart—Reuters by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 8, 2016 5:23 AM CUT 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… [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sheriff-has-first-meeting-armed-oregon-land-occupiers-n492486?cid=par-time%5F20160108 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4172453/oregon-sheriff-meeting-occupiers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4172453/oregon-sheriff-meeting-occupiers/"},"headline":"Oregon Land Occupiers Reject Sheriff's Offer of a 'Safe Escort'","datePublished":"2016-01-08T05:23:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:53:40.507Z","description":"Ammon Bundy says he and his compatriots were \"being ignored again\"","url":"https://time.com/4172453/oregon-sheriff-meeting-occupiers/","keywords":["oregon"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3590a496e6113c4/6988781d524fc05b5adf630a/rts87a3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3590a496e6113c4/6988781d524fc05b5adf630a/rts87a3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ammon Bundy meets with Harney County Sheriff David Ward along a road south of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon","caption":"Ammon Bundy meets with Harney County Sheriff David Ward along a road south of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon","creditText":"Jim Urquhart—Reuters","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":"/tag/oregon/","name":"oregon"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4172453/oregon-sheriff-meeting-occupiers/","name":"Oregon Land Occupiers Reject Sheriff's Offer of a 'Safe Escort'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Militia Members Take Over Wildlife Refuge Building In Oregon","description":"After the re-sentencing of two Oregon ranchers for arson on federal property, an Idaho militia group showed up to protest.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/QpvLpgvd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-03T15:35:38.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QpvLpgvd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4172453/oregon-sheriff-meeting-occupiers/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4172453/oregon-sheriff-meeting-occupiers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```