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FBI Arrests Montana Defendant in Oregon Standoff

Jake Ryan was booked into a Portland jail Tuesday on charges

By Molly Priddy

PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal authorities have arrested a 27-year-old Montana man charged with taking part in the armed occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge.

Jake Edward Ryan was found hiding in a stranger’s shed in Clark County, Washington, after a homeowner in the rural area called 911, The Oregonian reported. Authorities say he was asleep at the time with a loaded .45-caliber handgun and several knives.

Ryan was booked into a Portland jail on Tuesday on charges of depredation of government property, conspiracy to impede officers and possession of weapons in a federal facility.

Ryan pleaded not guilty to the charges and had a federal public defender assigned to him at his initial court appearance Wednesday. Prosecutors are expected to argue for Ryan’s continued detention at a hearing Thursday.

He is one of more than two dozen people arrested in connection with the 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. The men and women were protesting U.S. land restrictions and the imprisonment of two Harney County ranchers who started fires.

The federal judge overseeing the case has scheduled jury selection to start Sept. 7.

Sheriff Tom Rummel of Montana’s Sanders County said he believes Ryan’s arrest will ease the tension that had been building while FBI agents were in talks with Ryan’s family about his whereabouts.

Rummel, worried that a new conflict could emerge in Ryan’s hometown between federal agents and supporters of the Malheur refuge occupiers, had issued statements warning outsiders to stay away.