Oregon standoff defendants who dug trenches on refuge contend they were for self-defense
There’s no dispute that Oregon standoff defendants Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan used a government excavator to dig two trenches during the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The argument during their trial starting next week will be whether the two “willfully” broke the law, knowing the excavator and land belonged to the federal government, and that they went ahead anyway.
Prosecutors will play videos taken by David Fry, another refuge occupier, and aerial surveillance videos showing Ehmer and Ryan taking turns using the excavator to dig the trenches on Jan. 27, the day after the arrest of takeover leaders and the police shooting of occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum.


















