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Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan, and five other militants arrested last night in Eastern Oregon made their initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Portland this afternoon.
As part of the the arraignment of the Harney County seven, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a probable cause affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Katherine Armstrong.
The criminal complaint includes many facts that have already received extensive press coverage as the crew seized Malheur National Wildlife Refuge—but a few details stand out.
First, the affidavit quotes from an email sent by Ryan Payne, a Montana militiaman who was one of the seven arrested yesterday.
The email highlights both the fact that Payne has been in Oregon for more than two months, and that as early as last November he contemplated the violence that erupted during yesterday's arrests, leaving Arizona rancher LaVoy Finicum dead.
"The opportunity to defend the Hammonds [the ranchers whose federal prison sentence incensed protesters] is not the first, nor will it be the last. But the display of tyranny in this particular case is so appalling, the people being directly subjected to it so undeserving, and the oppressive weight so heavily and completely applied; upon not only the Hammonds, but their entire community; that to decide to allow it to persist should trouble the soul such that death might be a welcome relief," Payne wrote in a Nov. 20, 2015, email.
"We must be wise, and great discernment must guide our decisions, particularly when we ask that others be willing to shed their blood alongside us. We must choose our engagements with great care and consideration for the lives of all involved, on all sides."
Second, the affidavit includes a chilling instance of the kind of treatment the FBI says federal employees in Harney County faced:
Third, the complaint shows the degree to which federal officials built their criminal case from the militants' own social-media posts and broadcasts.
The complaint relies particularly heavily on the YouTube broadcasts of Cincinnati radio host Pete Santilli. That's in part because prosecutors are trying to prove that Santilli was not just a media member embedded in the occupation, but an active participant recruiting people to take up arms against the government.
The complaint also shows that federal officials were listening to Santilli's broadcast to hear him implicate himself and his friends in a criminal conspiracy.
The document also gives lengthy transcriptions—and a very rich flavor—of Santilli's show.
Willamette Week