Judge To Decide Friday Whether To Release Bundy, Other Militants

A detention hearing is scheduled Friday at the federal courthouse in Portland for the arrested militants who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Ammon and Ryan Bundy, along with Ryan Payne and seven other militants, have been at a jail in Portland since they were arrested earlier this week. At their initial court appearances, most of the militants’ defense lawyers asked that their clients be released from detention. But federal prosecutors have countered that the former armed occupiers pose a flight risk and could return to the ongoing occupation at the refuge. For now, Judge Stacie Beckerman has agreed with prosecutors. “I’m not going to release anybody from custody, but I’ll entertain it tomorrow,” she said from the bench Thursday. Many of the arrested militants have little or no criminal history, defense lawyers have argued.  OPB