FBI: No Rigged Explosives Found at Site of Oregon Standoff

By REBECCA BOONE AND STEVEN DUBOIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
BURNS, Ore. — Feb 12, 2016, 7:09 PM ET

FBI officials said Friday they haven't found any rigged explosives or booby traps at the national wildlife refuge in Oregon that had been seized by an armed group.

Authorities allowed a group of reporters to get closer to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, where the last four occupiers surrendered Thursday. The tour stopped short of the refuge itself.

The armed protesters had blockaded the road near the refuge using a government-owned heavy front-end loader and two pickup trucks. A group of tents and pickup trucks was clustered on a small rise far beyond the road barrier. Larry Karl, the assistant special agent in charge of the Portland FBI, said the tents made up the "shantytown" where the last four holdouts at the refuge spent most of their time.

Greg Bretzing, the special agent in charge of the Portland FBI, said investigators have begun their sweep of the property. Karl said that process is still ongoing, however, but they hoped to finish the safety sweep of the buildings and begin processing evidence sometime Friday afternoon.

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