UPDATED Jan. 31 to correct Robert "LaVoy" Finicum's age.

A federal court judge Wednesday ordered Ammon Bundy and six others accused in the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to remain in jail, calling them flight risks and a danger to public safety.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow argued that they would return to the refuge and "bunker in'' with their followers and stage a last violent stand if released.

The government is also concerned about the "dynamic situation involving an ongoing armed occupation," said fellow federal prosecutor, Ethan Knight.

The erstwhile occupiers made their first appearances in a U.S. District Court in Portland, each charged with a single count of conspiracy to impede officers from discharging their duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats. The crime carries a maximum six-year sentence and fines.

Two uniformed Federal Protective Services officers stood guard in the courtroom and a handful assembled inside the courthouse's front doors. More than 20 people were turned away from the hearing after more than 40 others packed the courtroom.

The defendants all were dressed in blue jail smocks over pink T-shirts, a stark change from the standard cowboy hats and jeans that they had worn the last 25 days during their occupation of the federal bird sanctuary outside Burns in Harney County.

Barrow said the group took over "the refuge by force and while armed.''

Lisa Hay, Oregon's federal public defender, argued that the government's case is weak and targets several of the defendants for their political speech. On behalf of defendant Ryan Payne, Hay told the court, "Mr. Payne did not engage in violence. The evidence against him is political speech and presence."

All seven of the defendants - six men and one woman -- are set to return to court at 1:30 p.m. Friday to argue for their release in formal detention hearings. Their court-appointed attorneys signaled that they'll argue that the defendants have limited criminal records, stable homes and will return for their court appearances.

A 31-page federal complaint alleges that Ammon Bundy and Payne, his fellow occupation leader, visited Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward on Oct. 5 and urged the sheriff to protect Burns area ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven Hammond, from returning to prison on federal arson charges.

Payne and Bundy told the sheriff that if the Hammonds spent one more day in jail, there would be "extreme civil unrest,'' the complaint said. By mid-December, a video titled "Time for some camping" was posted on a Facebook community page called "Harney County Liberty News." It showed a man announcing that he was doing some "tactical camping" in Harney County and posing outside a "Hammond Ranch Rd." sign, the complaint says.

The document contains extensive quotes and screen shots from multiple blog posts, Facebook videos and news interviews of the defendants, contending Ammon Bundy, his older brother, Ryan Bundy, Payne and their alleged conspirators issued a call to action for others to join them at the refuge in protest of the Hammonds' return to prison and the federal governing of public lands.

It mentions alleged threats and harassment of a woman who was at a Safeway in Burns, wearing a U.S. Bureau of Land Management shirt, and includes photos of at least one defendant sleeping in a refuge building.

Sixteen federal employees who work at the refuge, which covers more than 187,700 acres of habitat for 320 bird species, have been prevented from doing any work at the property because of the defendants' threats of violence, the complaint says.

The Bureau of Land Management learned of the Jan. 2 refuge takeover by watching a live online video stream and was notified by a county sheriff's deputy later that day that a source had told him the occupiers had explosives, night vision goggles and weapons, according to the complaint. The land bureau shut its Burns district office two days later out of concern for the safety of its 80 employees.

On Tuesday afternoon, federal agents and state police moved in to arrest the siege leaders as they drove along U.S. 395 to a planned community meeting about 70 miles north in John Day. They were stopped about 20 miles outside Burns. Standoff spokesman Robert "LaVoy'' Finicum, 54, of Arizona was shot and killed and Ryan Bundy sustained a minor gunshot wound in the 4:30 p.m. confrontation.

Ammon Bundy, 40, of Emmett, Idaho, was the only one of seven people in court who had a private attorney. The others -- Ryan Bundy, 43, of Bunkerville, Nevada, Ryan W. Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Montana, Brian Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada, and Shawna J. Cox, 59, of Kanab Utah, Joseph D. O'Shaughnessy, 43, of Cottonwood, Arizona, known in militia circles as "Captain,'' and independent broadcaster Pete T. Santilli, 50, of Cincinnati, were appointed public attorneys.

An eighth man, Jon Ritzheimer, 32, of Peoria, Arizona, who surrendered to police in Arizona, will be returned to Oregon for a future court appearance, said Oregon's U.S. Attorney Bill Williams.

Ritzheimer made an initial appearance in federal court in Phoenix on Wednesday.

All those who appeared in court were polite. Ryan Bundy seemed most relaxed, asking, "How are you today?'' to the full courtroom as a deputy U.S. marshal led him in. He then turned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman and said, "Good afternoon, how are you today?''

Santilli scanned the crowd as he entered the courtroom.

His defense lawyer, Tom Coan, urged the court to release him immediately, describing him as an independent press agent who broadcasts his own show on YouTube.

"He produced on his show a call to action asking unarmed patriots to come out and join them" and suggested some bring flowers, Coan said. Santilli talked about the Second Amendment right to bear arms, Coan said, but made "no call to violence, in fact a suggestion otherwise."

"All he was doing was exercising his First Amendment rights to speak and associate with other people," Coan said.

The federal complaint quotes heavily from Santilli's YouTube videos - he's heard saying he's not armed but "armed with my mouth." The complaint contends Santilli has identified himself as a member of the patriot-affiliated Oath Keepers, wears insignia that indicates he's also affiliated with the III % group and posted a video on Dec. 27 called "Operation Hammond Ranch - Patriot ALL-CALL Deployment to Oregon.''

On the day of the refuge takeover, a Santilli video captures Ammon Bundy saying off camera, "We're continuing the stand (at/out) the MNWR .... Let everybody know that. ... They're to go to the MNWR ... after the rally.''

Santilli is heard responding, "OK, here we go," the complaint says.

By Jan. 21, Santilli is on camera calling for patriots to "staff up.''

"We have a Second Amendment right uh to do that, to keep and bear arms. So those patriots that do keep and bear arms lawfully and constitutionally, it's time to staff up now! Right now," the federal document quotes him saying.

Amy Baggio, O'Shaughnessy's lawyer, described him as a law-abiding man who has minor infractions on his record - a dog-at-large without a collar and a traffic offense. She called him an "excellent candidate to remain out of custody," saying he lives with his mother and has previously worked as an EMT and firefighter though he's currently unemployed.

Federal prosecutors noted in the complaint that O'Shaughnessy was on video talking about setting up a "constitutional security protection force to make sure that these federal agents and these law enforcement don't just come in here like cowboys."

Cox's lawyer, Renee Manes, argued the case against Cox contained few details of specific offenses. She asked the court to have federal authorities return Cox's seized eyeglasses so she could read the full complaint.

Payne, according to the complaint, was stopped by Burns police on Jan. 5 at a McDonald's Restaurant in Harney County, wearing a holster on his hip. The complaint also includes a photo of Payne sleeping in a common room at the refuge and cites a Nov. 20 email he sent encouraging others to "defend the Hammonds."

Hay, the public defender, scoffed at the limited material in the complaint and urged the court to release Payne with conditions. She described Payne as a journeyman electrician with family in Montana.

"Engaging in political speech is not a crime," Hay said.

Barrow countered that the offense is serious and the occupation is ongoing. "He's repeatedly professed his disregard for the powers of the federal government" and likely wouldn't return to court if released, he argued.

Hay shot back, criticizing the government for using someone's "disregard for the powers of federal government'' as a reason to keep a person in custody. She called it "anathema to everything we stand for ... the worst kind of argument the government can make."

Ritzheimer is accused of harassing a woman with a Bureau of Land Management shirt that he saw Dec. 18 at a Safeway in Burns. He was with another man, who reportedly shouted, "You're BLM. You're BLM" to the woman and threatened to follow her home and burn her house down, the complaint says. The woman reported seeing Ritzheimer and the other man leave the area in a black pickup and noticed a similar truck outside her home after that encounter, the complaint said.

At the close of the one-and-a-half hour hearing, Ammon Bundy's lawyer made a plea outside the courthouse on his client's behalf, urging those remaining at the refuge to "Please go home.''

After the defendants appear Friday for detention hearings, they're set to return to court next Wednesday for preliminary hearings to determine if the government has probable cause to hold them. A second arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 24.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian

CORRECTION: Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was 54 at the time of his death. An earlier version of this post listed an incorrect age.