FBI's patient strategy pays off as Oregon standoff ends with peaceful resolution
US News
FBI’s patient strategy pays off as Oregon standoff ends with peaceful resolution
They shouted, argued and raved for all the world to hear, but in the end, the last four armed occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon surrendered without a shot being fired. The peaceful resolution to the standoff, which had lasted 41 days and resulted in one death, signaled a victory for the FBI’s “low burn” approach to the trespassers. It also reflected lessons federal agents have learned since bloody standoffs at Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in the 1990s.
This was beautifully executed. This siege and the way it was handled will go down in law enforcement textbooks.
Brian Levin, a criminal justice professor at California State University, San Bernardino
As the standoff entered its final hours on Thursday, the occupiers’ panic and their negotiation with FBI agents could be heard live online, broadcast by a sympathizer of the occupiers who established phone contact with them. Their communication with two prominent supporters, the Rev. Franklin Graham and Nevada lawmaker Michele Fiore, seemed to provide an outlet valve for the increasing pressure from federal agents. Initially, one of the holdouts, David Fry, of Blanchester, Ohio, threatened to kill himself but agreed to come out after asking others to join him in saying “hallelujah.”
I just posted hallelujah on my Facebook. And I think that says it all. I am so glad this is over.
Julie Weikel, who lives next to the nature preserve
