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Michele Fiore was a Republican state legislator – barely known outside Nevada – before she was thrust into the heart of the Oregon militia standoff on Wednesday in the most dramatic and bizarre of circumstances.

Shortly after the FBI closed in on the armed militia, sparking panic among the four remaining occupiers at the Malheur national wildlife refuge, Fiore was on the line acting as a mediator with law enforcement officials.

Michelle Fiore, pictured in 2013, emerged as a mediator-cum-cheerleader for the remaining occupiers. Photograph: Cathleen Allison/AP

Her dramatic conversations with the militia, whom she pleaded to hold back from confronting the FBI, were broadcast, in real time, on YouTube, in a live-stream that at one stage had upwards of 60,000 listeners.

Read more about Fiore in our profile here: