Timeline of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

At the meeting, a "committee of safety" was organized to orchestrate direct action against the sentences of Dwight and Steven Hammond, the central figures of a case of arson on federal land.

[9] Following 40 minutes of speeches, the crowd marched one mile to the home of Dwight and Steven Hammond, stopping briefly en route to protest outside the sheriff's office.

[14] Right before the occupation began, the militants notified the Harney County Sheriff's Office and also contacted a utility company with the intention of taking over the refuge's electric and other services, according to a motion to dismiss and memorandum filed by Ammon Bundy's lawyers on May 9.

[15] Maureen Peltier, a soldier with the Washington Army National Guard who traveled to Burns to participate in the protest, reported to media on January 3 that the militias who had seized control of the MNWR were in high spirits and had "a good security team."

[32] Later that day, Harney County Sheriff David M. Ward issued a statement asking residents to avoid the scene and saying that the militants aimed to overthrow the government.

[35]On the evening of January 3, Oregon State Police officials announced that a multi-agency command post would be established the following day to coordinate a response to the situation.

[43] At 1:37 p.m. the same day, Dwight and Steven Hammond voluntarily reported to Terminal Island FCI in California to begin serving the remaining four years of their prison sentences.

[48][50] Among the agencies to send personnel were the sheriffs of Wasco, Clackamas, Marion, Deschutes, Crook, Umatilla, Multnomah, Baker, and Linn Counties, along with the Burns Paiute Tribal Police.

[64] On the morning of January 8, in preparation for a rumored protest that was being organized in Burns, sheriff's deputies began fortifying the county courthouse, including ring-fencing it with concrete barriers.

[69] On January 8, the 3 Percenters of Idaho, an Idaho-based militia who had earlier disclaimed support for the occupation, announced it was sending some of its members to "secure a perimeter" around the MNWR compound and prevent a repeat of the Waco siege.

"[24][70] However, hours after their arrival at the refuge on the morning of January 9, the convoy of new militants from the Pacific Patriots Network, led by Brandon Curtiss, president of the 3 Percenters of Idaho, were asked to leave by Utah attorney Todd MacFarlane, who acted as a mediator.

[70][72][73] In what The Oregonian characterized as "the latest bizarre turn of events," Oregon Representative Dallas Heard traveled to the refuge on January 9 with a coalition of five out-of-state elected officials that included Judy Boyle, Heather Scott and Sage Dixon of Idaho, and Graham Hunt and Matt Shea of the State of Washington.

[85] The same day, Bruce Doucette, the owner of a computer repair shop in Denver, Colorado, and a self-proclaimed judge, announced that he would convene a "citizens grand jury" to charge government officials with various crimes.

[86] Present via cell phone during a previous militia rally in Colorado in 2015, Doucette, who has not attended law school nor ever held judicial office, referred The Denver Post to his Facebook page when asked for documentation of his magistracy.

"[97] On January 15, the Oath Keepers anti-government militia group warned of a prospective "conflagration so great, it cannot be stopped, leading to a bloody, brutal civil war" if the situation declined to violence.

[103] On January 17, brothers Jake and Zach Klonoski started a group known as "Getting Occupiers of the Historic Oregon Malheur Evicted," or "G.O.H.O.M.E.," aiming to restore federal control of the refuge.

"[110] Writer Ursula K. Le Guin penned a letter to the editor condemning The Oregonian's apparent bias in covering the events as "inaccurate" and "irresponsible," and referred to the militants as "bullyboys" and "a flock of Right-Winged Loonybirds.

"[111] A video released by the militants showed them inspecting a locked storage room for archaeological artifacts held in agreement with the Burns Paiute Tribe, an Indian nation in Harney County.

[119] Also on January 23, the militants hosted a press conference at the refuge, promising news reporters that an Oregon rancher and one from New Mexico would be present to sign papers renouncing their federal grazing permits.

[117][120] Surprising other law enforcement officials, Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer made a statement saying that freeing the Hammonds "would be a start" in ending the occupation.

"[132][133][134][135][136][137] The charges are per Title 18, United States Code, Section 372,[138] a statute originally created during the American Civil War to facilitate arrests of anti-government conspirators.

[172] In Bunkerville, Nevada, Cliven Bundy reacted to his son Ammon's call for the remaining militants to stand down and return home by sending a letter to Sheriff David Ward, dated February 1.

[177] On February 2, through his lawyers, Ammon repeated his call for the four remaining militants at the refuge to return home, saying, "Because of the restrictions of solitary confinement for 23 hours per day, I have not been able to speak to my father.

In one video, he showed a large collection of empty water and soda bottles, which he claimed to be "booby traps" to protect the remaining militants from the FBI if they breached the refuge.

As a result, federal authorities began to surround the refuge at around 5:45 p.m.[182][183][184] Mike Arnold, Ammon Bundy's lawyer, learned of the escalation from a live feed where the remaining holdouts were talking of murder and asking to speak to Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore.

[192] Michael Ray Emry, who had described himself as being an "embedded reporter" for the 3 Percenters of Idaho,[193][194] was arrested by the FBI on May 6 in John Day, Oregon, on federal weapons charges relating to his possession of a stolen fully automatic .50-caliber M2 Browning heavy machine gun.

[103][198] In a court filing in February 2016, federal prosecutors said that the FBI had discovered "significant amounts of human feces" at "two large trenches and an improvised road on or adjacent to grounds containing sensitive artifacts" of the Burns Paiute Tribe.

[200] Two of the militants, Sean Larry Anderson and Jake Edward Ryan, were subsequently indicted for "depredation of government property," an offense that carries a potential ten-year jail sentence.

[203] Following the surrender of the last militants, the FBI labeled the entire refuge a crime scene and canvassed the buildings in search of explosives and any previously existing hazardous materials.

[208] According to an analysis by The Oregonian, the occupation "cost taxpayers at least $3.3 million to cover the massive police response, a week of shuttered schools and a long list of supplies ranging from food to flashlight batteries," and that number is almost certainly an underestimate.