Bundy brothers, 14 others indicted in Oregon standoff

Ammon Bundy speaks with reporters at a news conference by the entrance of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters near Burns, Ore. on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. Bundy, who is the son of Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy, is occupying the refuge with anti-government protestors, many of which are armed. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Ryan Bundy is shown by the entrance of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters near Burns, Ore. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. Bundy, who, along with his brother Ammon, is occupying the refuge with anti-government protestors, many of which are armed. The two are sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Ammon Bundy, left and Ryan Bundy (Multnomah County Jail)

Ammon Bundy speaks with reporters after meeting with Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters near Burns, Ore. on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Law enforcement personnel walk along Highway 205, which is closed to most traffic, at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns, Oregon January 28, 2016. U.S. authorities tightened security after their standoff with the occupiers turned violent on Tuesday when officers stopped a car and arrested occupation leader Ammon Bundy and his group near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

Arizona rancher and anti-government protester LaVoy Finicum, right, talks with reporters as Ryan Bundy, left, looks on, by the entrance of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, which the group is occupying, near Burns, Ore. on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

LaVoy Finicum sits on the ground in protest at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Burns, Oregon. He was killed in the Bundy traffic stop according to a law enforcement official. The official said when FBI and other law enforcement made the stop of two vehicles everyone obeyed orders to surrender except for two, Finicum and Ryan Bundy. (Jack Hannah/CNN)

Nevada brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy and 14 others have been indicted by a federal grand jury in the armed takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon.

All 16 defendants — including four protesters still holed up at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns — have been charged with a single felony count of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States.

Both Bundy brothers, the sons of anti-government Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy, are being held without bail and face a Feb. 24 arraignment. Authorities consider Ammon Bundy the Oregon takeover’s leader.

The three-page indictment, unsealed in Portland on Thursday, accuses the defendants of conspiring to “prevent by force, intimidation and threats” employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from carrying out their duties at the refuge.

The conspiracy began Oct. 5 when two of the defendants (Ammon Bundy and Ryan Payne) traveled to Burns to warn the sheriff that “extreme civil unrest” would occur “if certain demands were not met,” the indictment said.

Bundy, 40, and the other armed protesters are alleged to have occupied the wildlife refuge on Jan. 2.

The protesters refused to leave the refuge and threatened violence against anyone who tried to remove them, the indictment alleges.

Starting in November, the defendants “recruited and encouraged” other people in person, through social media or by other means of communication to join the conspiracy, according to the indictment.

The defendants also tried to “intimidate and coerce” the residents of Burns, the indictment alleges.

One of the protesters, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, 54, was shot to death by law enforcement officers as they moved in to arrest the Bundy brothers and others as they traveled along a highway outside the refuge.

Among those named in the indictment is Brian Cavalier, 44, who has called himself the Bundy family bodyguard. He is being held without bail.

Family patriarch Cliven Bundy was not charged in the takeover conspiracy. He has remained at his Bunkerville ranch but has expressed repeated public support for the occupation.

The elder Bundy attracted national attention in April 2014 during an armed standoff with law enforcement authorities outside his ranch over his grazing rights on federal land.

— Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ.