Cliven Bundy, father of the jailed leader of the Oregon occupation, was arrested when he arrived at the Portland International Airport Wednesday evening. He was booked without charges at approximately 11 p.m.
The FBI declined to detail the charges on which Bundy had been arrested, saying that that information would be released by members of the United States Attorney's office in Las Vegas at some point on Thursday.
The Oregonian reported, however, that he will face charges on conspiring to interfere with federal officers -- the same charge currently pending against his two sons for their involvement in the Oregon standoff -- for his role in the standoff on his ranch with the United States Bureau of Land Management.
Bundy allegedly traveled to Oregon in order to join conservative Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore at a press conference planned for Thursday morning concerning his sons' takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and the subsequent FBI infiltration of it.
"It's terribly unfortunate the timing of his arrest, given all the progress Assemblywoman Fiore made this evening," his son Ammon's lawyer, Mike Arnold, told the Oregonian. "He was arrested without incident and without violence. That should give them comfort in their decision tomorrow."
Four people continue to occupy the refuge -- Jeffrey Banta, David Fry, and Sean and Sandy Anderson -- but Fiore hopes to convince them to relent in her press conference Thursday morning.
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