Jacob Parker, one of the Oregon militia members, told
Newsmax TV Tuesday that he believed leader Ammon Bundy or his lawyer was "coerced" by federal authorities into
encouraging him and others to leave the wildlife refuge building the protesters are occupying.
"I think that either Ammon was coerced or the lawyer might have been coerced," Parker said on Newsmax TV's new prime-time program "Dennis Michael Lynch: Unfiltered" in an exclusive interview. "I can't speculate on that completely.
"I don't want to, but I believe that — as far as the Bundys go — that they want this to continue. They want to retain that land that the refuge is on."
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Bundy and seven others were arrested last Tuesday. An eighth member of the armed militia, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, was shot dead by police.
After appearing in court last Wednesday in Portland, Bundy's attorney, Mike Arnold, read this statement from his client: "Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is now in the courts."
Parker was among those who left the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, where they have been holed up since Jan. 2. Some protesters still remain on the property.
And that's why the standoff is far from over, he told Lynch.
"I don't think this is over by a long shot. I believe that more people are going to be awakened to what's going on in the West and what's going on by the Bureau of Land Management.
"Americans have a great spirit — and Americans in large numbers will come out and defend their freedom and their liberty," Parker said.
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