Oregon armed occupiers say they will probably turn themselves in Thursday morning

The occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge appears to be nearing its end

(Image credit: Matt Mills McKnight/Getty Images)

On Wednesday night, after five hours of live-streaming a phone call recording their standoff with federal agents, the four remaining holdouts at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns, Oregon, said they planned to turn themselves in to the FBI on Thursday morning. The FBI, which encircled the refuge earlier on Wednesday, had agreed not to raid the refuge overnight, the armed occupiers said. The four militants — David Fry, 27, from Ohio; Jeff Banta, 46, from Nevada; and Sean and Sandy Anderson, 48 and 47, from Idaho — are the remnants of a group of armed anti-government protesters who took over the federal birding refuge on Jan. 2.

Before the livestream ended, Fry appeared to yell at the FBI negotiators, telling them: "You're going to hell. Kill me. Get it over with..... We're innocent people camping at a public facility, and you're going to murder us." At another point, he shouted that "the only way we're leaving here is dead or without charges," and telling the FBI to "get the hell out of Oregon." On Jan. 26, one of the occupiers had been wounded and another shot dead after running a police checkpoint; the occupation leader, Ammon Bundy, and other militants were arrested and most of the people at the refuge left after that.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.