Statement by Bill Williams
U.S. Attorney
District of Oregon
January 27, 2016
Good Morning. My name is Bill Williams, and I am the U.S. Attorney for Oregon.
I have been coming to Harney County on behalf of the US Attorney's Office for the last 15 years. I am keenly aware of the concerns that are important to this community. I have seen first-hand the passion that folks in this community have for the way of life that is so special. Clearly, this has been disrupted by this armed occupation.
The FBI, the Harney County Sheriff’s Office, OSP, Oregon Sheriff's Association, and numerous law enforcement agencies from around the state have been working very hard to resolve this situation in a peaceful manner, to stop the threats to public safety, and to end the significant disruption this has caused to the people of this county.
We continue working towards resolution, and will do so with the primary goal of restoring normalcy to this community, and highlighting the already existing cooperative efforts of local and federal partners in addressing their own issues.
There are currently eight people in custody - - seven in Oregon and one in Arizona. They will all make an initial appearance before a federal magistrate today. At some time in the future, the defendant in Arizona will come to Oregon for future court proceedings.
As the FBI announced last night, these eight people were arrested for the federal felony offense of “conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats.”
This is an ongoing investigation, and we will not be commenting on the case, instead we will let the publicly filed documents in the case speak for themselves.
In closing, I want to thank the federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers and agents who are working very well together to support this community and this effort.
I also want to again thank the people of Harney County and the Burns Paiute Tribe for their patience…and their passion for returning this community to normalcy.
We will continue working around the clock until this matter is appropriately resolved.