RT’s Egor Piskunov was on the scene on Tuesday and said that, “they’re planning to stay awhile and they want to ‘unwind the whole process of how this land was distributed.’” The land in question belongs to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a nature preserve established in 1908 by Theodore Roosevelt. The militia protesters argue the land should be delivered back to locals.
The group broke into the refuge Saturday night. When asked how long they planned on staying, one militia man responded, “I live here.” The man also declined to say how many people are living at the government building.
This declaration comes after one member of the militia, Blaine Cooper, took to Facebook to request cold weather socks, snacks, energy drinks, snow camo, and more.
The plea for supplies caused a variety of reactions from Twitter.
Dwight was sentenced to three months in prison while Steven was sentenced to, and served, one year and a day. However, the Department of Justice appealed their sentence and forced the men to return to prison to complete five-year minimums.