A federal judge refused to dismiss charges of conspiracy to impede federal officers and firearms possessions against a group of protesters who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon for 41 days earlier this year, according to a report published late Friday.
The defense had argued in May that the allegations were vague and the government could not exercise authority over the wildlife sanctuary because it did not have jurisdiction over activities that occurred on it in January and February.
U.S. District Judge Anna Brown found the refuge was “a part of the public domain of the United States” since Oregon’s admission into the Union, according to court documents.
Friday ruling affects the 26 defendants who were indicted on a federal charge of conspiring to impede federal officers working at the federal bird sanctuary by using “intimidation, threats or force.”
Nineteen of those defendants also face charges for possession of a firearm in a federal facility.
The militia group had stormed the refuge to protest federal management of public land. Ammon Bundy, a rancher known for similar incidents elsewhere, was among those arrested and has been a spokesman for the group.
The defendants will stand trial as early as this fall, but no date has been set yet.
