The leader of a group of self-styled militiamen who seized a remote U.S. wildlife refuge in Oregon said on Tuesday their plan was to help local residents regain their rights from the federal government, and “then we will go home.”
The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and the small town of Burns have been thrust into the spotlight by the takeover, which began on Saturday and marked the latest protest over federal management of millions of acres (hectares)of land in the West.
“We do have a plan,” protest leader Ammon Bundy told reporters at the refuge. “We see a time coming very soon when the community will begin … to take that over, so they can claim their own rights, so that they can stand strong enough to defend them. And then we will go home.”
