Most media outlets – including OPB – have pulled their teams out from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. As John Sepulvado reports, media left the occupied area after militants began to act erratic in the early morning:
The FBI gave media a warning that federal authorities would begin to take action without consideration of bystanders. However, that was just an addendum to an already surreal experience near the compound. Militants – many of them well known by now to the press – took turns saying goodbye to loved ones, or promising revenge for the shooting of LaVoy Finicum, a militant leader. Others – like this unidentified woman – asked the media not to leave.
WOMAN: Well, it’s sad that the media is really, the only protection right now. That’s a sad thing.
Yet, with the behavior getting more extreme – the press – for the first time since January 2nd – abandoned the compound en masse to ensure safety – leaving the occupiers alone to face what may come – on their own.
Copyright 2016 OPB
