FBI arrests Oregon standoff defendant found in shack near Amboy

Federal authorities on Tuesday arrested a Montana man found squatting in a shack near Amboy after discovering he was an alleged participant in the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon earlier this year.

Jake Edward Ryan, 27, was booked into a Portland jail on charges of depredation of government property connected to digging trenches and latrines on the refuge, and conspiracy to impede officers and possession of weapons in a federal facility.

Clark County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Fred Neiman told The Columbian that deputies were called to a cabin on a property outside of Yacolt around 8:30 a.m. Monday. The property owner there called to report a squatter, Neiman said.

Federal agents took Ryan into custody Tuesday, The Oregonian reported. Ryan is among the last of those listed in the 26-person indictment to be arrested. Ryan was arrested without incident, Neiman said.

The Oregonian reported officers found Ryan with a loaded .45-caliber handgun and several knives, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel told a judge Wednesday.

Ryan was to have a federal public defender assigned to him at his initial court appearance.

He is one of more than two dozen people arrested in connection with the 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The men and women were protesting federal public land restrictions and the imprisonment of two Harney County ranchers for arson charges.

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 in Sanders County between federal agents and supporters of the Malheur refuge occupiers, had issued statements warning outsiders to stay away.

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