Cliven Bundy Says Oregon Occupiers Should Stand Their Ground

The father of detained Oregon militia leader Ammon Bundy has called on supporters to continue their occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, despite his son previously telling them to go home.

In a letter to the sheriff of Harney Country — copying the Oregon state governor and President Obama — Cliven Bundy announced that the group would “retain possession” of the federal building, the Guardian reports. The elder Bundy, who led a standoff with the federal government in 2014, lives in Bunkerville, Nevada.

Ammon Bundy — who was among 11 people arrested last week following an incident in which the group’s spokesman Robert Finicum was shot dead by a law enforcement officer — has issued a statement calling on his supporters to stand down.

But Cliven Bundy told the Guardian he did not believe that statement reflected his son’s true intentions.

“What this is saying is that Cliven Bundy is taking control of things,” he was quoted saying Monday. “If we don’t retain it, then we’ve lost everything that we’ve done in the last two months. We’re not gonna give up.”

[Guardian]