quarter past the top of the hour, the situation in oregon grows, a standoff between an armed militia and the feds gets more intense. there s a surprising twist. the two men who inspired the armed occupation of a wildlife preserve now trying to distance themselves from it. what is that about? lea gabrielle is following the developments. good morning, guys. you know, this group seized federal land to protest dwight and steve hammond s arson convictions. but even with the father/son pair behind bars, the protesters are still holding strong. the hammonds surrendered at a california prison yesterday to serve a five-year sentence. that s for setting federal land on fire. their legal team claims the family respects the rule of law, prompting the harney county sheriff to call for an end to a protest that s been going on since saturday. the hammonds have turned themselves in. it s time for you to leave our community. go home to your family.
older, a year for the younger. but because they were prosecuted under an anti-terrorism law, the government appealed the shorter sentences. now because the government is playing hardball with the h hammo hammonds. armed protesters have taken over several federal buildings. the local sheriff thinks bundy wants to overthrow the local and federal government. listen. the hammonds have turned themselves in. it s time for you to leave our community, go home to your families, and end this peacefully. ammond bundy says he s with 150 armed protesters. the fbi is clearly trying to avoid another ruby ridge and waco, texas, and so far there s been zero law enforcement
get frustrated. schools have been closed because of this incident and yesterday, the sheriff sounded off. you said you were here to help the citizens of harney county. that help ended when a peaceful protest became an armed occupati occupation. the hammonds have turned themselves in. it s time for you to leave our community. the sheriff was alluding to the hammonds, the farther and son ranchers who began serving out the rest of an arson sentence. now the leader of the group here, that is ammon bundy said the protest will end when the hammonds are freed and the federal government gives up control of the malheur national forest. in town, as we said, there are frustrations, one man calling the standoff that s not really a standoff because there are no law enforcement officers here he said this is just
dwight and steven hammond are convicted of arson on federal land. protesters say that the jail sentence and how the government handles land issues are both unconstitutional. here are the details. reporter: it s been three days and three nights, and this group says it plans to stay as long as it takes. we came very well prepared. we re in it for the long haul. reporter: today they gave themselves a name, citizens for constitutional freedom. they took us into the national park headquarters that they have taken over on federal lands, saying that the government has occupied it illegally. what do you plan to do? restore the lands to the people. reporter: for three days and three nights, they ve had no resistance from law enforcement. you said you were here to help the citizens of the county. that help ended when a peaceful protest became an armed occupation. the hammonds have turned
the hammonds have turned themselves in. it s time for you to leave our community and go home to your families and end this peacefully. but these guys say that they re hunkering down and they will be here as long as it takes to get a lot federal land turned over to the local government and also to local ranchers. the fbi is the lead law enforcement agency. they have not been out here at all today. they did issue auto a statement over the weekend, greta, saying that they are working to end this peacefully. dan, thank you. get ready to speed relz