Last Holdouts at Refuge Wanted FBI to Surrender, And Gun-Toting 'Patriots' to 'Get Rid Of' Critics

The four people who remained holed up at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge until Friday morning, when they were arrested, had in the days leading up to the arrests been releasing videos to their YouTube account indicating that they, much like their now-arrested leader Ammon Bundy, believed they had the feds surrounded.

And that it was just a matter of time before good, God-fearing, red-blooded American patriots stand up and say “enough is enough” and send the FBI and Oregon State Patrol packing.

Or something like that.

The videos, posted on the occupiers’ YouTube channel, provide a glimpse inside the straggling remnant of antigovernment “Patriots” whose Jan. 2 occupation of the wildlife refuge largely came to an end Feb. 1 with the arrests of ringleaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy and eight others, as well as the death of compatriot Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, who was shot while resisting arrest. While those people now face a variety of federal felony charges, a tiny remnant kept up their armed takeover of the refuge center, encouraged by movement patriarch Cliven Bundy,  who was arrested Thursday night in Portland.

The foursome – David Fry, a 27-year-old from Blanchester, Ohio; Sean Anderson, 48, and his wife, Sandy Anderson, 47, of Riggins, Idaho; and Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nevada – apparently believe so fervently in their far-right interpretation of the law that they consider it self-evident that federal lands ownership, as well as the very existence of federal law-enforcement agencies such as the FBI, are unconstitutional and illegitimate.

Fry in particular has been active as the person primarily posting the videos, not to mention behaving erratically. In one of the videos, he seemingly calls for his fellow “Patriots” to start using their guns to deal with their critics as well as federal law enforcement:

We’ve been hearing reports of people desecrating LaVoy Finicum’s – you know, his death site. People going there, trashing the memorial there. And that’s the kind of people we’re dealing with nowadays, just absolute trash, lowlife, scumbags, with no morals, no remorse for the dead. You know, these people kill babies, for crying out loud, sleeping in the mother’s womb, and they think it’s OK. And that’s the people that we’re fighting against.

And so all the good people in America and in the world need to realize that these are the people that we need to get rid of. We can’t let these people trample on us, you know, siding with the government and taking our guns. Trying to put us all in jail.

So when are the good people going to speak up and stand against such despicable behavior? You know, you see them try to take down memorials because they’re racist – you know, stupid shit like that. How much longer are the American people going to deal with that? How much longer are the American people going to sit here and wait and let the FBI snuff people like us out.

… I think that people need to realize that it’s time that the good people stand up, bear arms, and tell all these evil, trash people to piss off. And we’re making a stand. And if they want to try getting in the way – we got guns! They don’t believe in guns, so we don’t have to worry about them, they don’t have guns, they’re stupid. So instead of letting these guys verbally abuse us, you know, going out and trashing down memorials, things like that, you know, it’s time to take a stand.  It’s time to fight. And it’s time to show these scumbags who’s really in charge of this country.

And it’s time the Patriots of America showed the feds, we’re tired of them. Let’s kick these guys out of this country, or out of this state, out of all your states. Get the feds out of there. They don’t belong in our states. They’re useless. They still haven’t put Hillary behind bars.

In another video (titled “Shove your charges where the sun don’t shine”) Fry demonstrated his instability by ranting about how the FBI had just informed that he and the others now faced more federal charges because they had been building fortifications at the refuge with earth-moving machinery. Fry then takes viewers on a ride as he hops into a white pickup with government plates and careers off at a high rate of speed, wheeling about and shouting: “Maybe I should do a donut in this, yeah!”

As the pickup is seen pulling back up to the encampment at high speed, Fry shouts: “Yeah! That’s what I think of you people. Fuck your charges. I’m gonna do what I gotta do to protect myself. Fortify for what? Anything, I don’t wanna do it. Because why? I’m a Patriot.”

Another video posted on the occupiers’ channel showed Sean and Sandy Anderson explaining why they were continuing to hold out, even after the earlier arrests and the departure of the rest of the encampment. Sean Anderson had previously made something of a name for himself on the Internet by posting a video rant about a looming “bloodbath” in the immediate aftermath of the Feb. 1 arrests.

In this version, seated on a couch with his wife, Sean Anderson is in a much more reasonable mood, explaining why they were staying put:

They want us to give ourselves in and admit we made a mistake. We didn’t. We’re good people. We never hurt anyone, we haven’t killed anyone. That’s on their side. So what are they to do with us? They either let us go, drop all charges because we’re good people, or they come in and kill us. How’s that gonna sit with America? How’s that gonna sit with God?

You know, we’re looking for some help here. We need the American people to pressure the federal government to go away – go back where they belong. Not in the states – give the rights back to the people. Let us have our constitutional freedoms.

By shutting our phones off, that eliminated our First Amendment rights. By not letting the media here, that eliminates their First Amendment rights. Do you people not realize that the government controls your rights unless you stand up and fight for them?

The four of us here are standing up for your rights. I hope someone will stand for our rights.

We’re good people.

Sandy Anderson can be heard adding: “We just want to go home.”