by
John Sepulvado
On a cold January morning, a posse led by a former Army company
commander named Matt Shea rolled into the Harney County Courthouse and
wanted to speak to the sheriff.
But this wasn’t a group of militants, or outlaws. They were state
lawmakers from four western states, including Oregon. Most of them were
members of a group called the Coalition of Western States, or COWS.
They were hoping to talk directly with Sheriff David Ward and
convince him to support the armed militants at the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge. Instead, COWS members would meet that day with a Harney
County deputy and a sheriff from another county, an FBI agent and other
local officials.
The out-of-town visitors presented themselves as wanting to help
understand and, if possible, end the armed occupation at the refuge.
“I’m just looking at peaceful resolve,” said Nevada Assemblywoman
Michele Fiore, a COWS member who was patched into the meeting by phone.
“That’s our intent,” agreed Shea, a state representative from
Washington. “If there’s any opportunity to save life and prevent any
further escalation of anything, I think we all agree we should take
those opportunities.”
Oregon Republican State Rep. Dallas Heard also attended the meeting, however he says he is not a member of COWS.
The 90-minute conversation was recorded by participants at the Jan. 9 meeting and given to OPB.
On the recording, Harney County Judge Steve Grasty thanks the group
for their concern, but asks them to stay away from the refuge. Grasty
said the militants were showing signs of fatigue and defeat, and worried
that a visit from lawmakers would reinvigorate Ammon Bundy and the rest
of the occupiers.
“If we’re getting close (to a resolution), and you embolden Bundy by
your presence, and this runs on for weeks and months, it will be awful
in this community,” Grasty said.
The FBI agent also asked the lawmakers not to visit the refuge.
Those pleas fell on deaf ears. And Grasty’s prediction came true.
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