Ammon Bundy, the leader of armed protesters who have taken over a federal building in rural Oregon, told TODAY Monday that the group has no intention of committing violence unless the government intervenes.
"The only violence that, if it comes our way, will be because government is wanting their building back,'' Ammon Bundy told Natalie Morales on TODAY. "We're putting nobody in harm's way. We are not threatening anybody. We're 30 miles out of the closest town."
Bundy, along with his brother, Ryan, is part of the group that occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters Saturday. There were no government employees at the refuge over the weekend because of the holidays.
The brothers are the sons of rancher Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who had his own stand-off with the federal government last year that also involved armed protesters. They were initially involved in a protest in nearby Burns, Oregon, in support of ranchers Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven, 46, who are set to be jailed for setting fires on their own lands that spread to federally-owned property.
The Hammonds' lawyer has told police that Ammon Bundy and the group occupying the wildlife refuge does not speak for the Hammond family. The FBI is working "to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation," according to a statement released Sunday.
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