Three environmentalists protesting the occupation of a wildlife refuge in Harney County, Oregon, tried to speak Saturday at a press conference but were shouted down by militants, the Oregonian reports.
Members of the Center for Biological Diversity waited for a chance to speak while carrying signs that read "Stop Bundy Land Grab" and "Public land for all," but that opportunity never came.
Video shows a fracas breaking out when the conservation group tries to speak, with militants yelling insults at them with a bullhorn.
"We're here to speak up for public land, which belongs to the public," the group's executive director, Kierán Suckling, said. "These people are trying to take the land away."
Pete Santilli, part of the occupying group, picked up a bullhorn and started shouting over him, calling the conservationists "communist," "fascist," and saying, "You're under arrest for bull****ting."
Press briefings with the militant group have become a daily routine. Members of the group have also made a habit of posting video updates to social media.
The militant group took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 2 under the leadership of Ammon Bundy, son of Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy. On Saturday, the group was talking to media about surveillance cameras they had removed, claiming they had been put in place by the FBI to spy on them.
On Friday, occupier Kenneth Medenbach, 62, was arrested when he took a federal vehicle off refuge grounds to make a grocery store run. Authorities have otherwise taken a low-key approach to the situation.
Watch video of the confrontation, as posted by the Oregonian, here:
