Haven Scott

hscott@thespectrum.com

The last of 26 people indicted on federal charges relating to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation allegedly led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and LaVoy Finicum, was taken into custody last Tuesday by the Iron County Sheriff’s Office in Cedar City.

Travis Levi Cox, 21, of Redmond, Oregon, was booked on a fugitive from justice warrant from the FBI, according to ICSO Lt. Del Schlosser.

“He was aware of the charges against him and turned himself in voluntarily without incident,” he said.

The charges stem from the Jan. 2 occupation of the refuge in Harney County in which the Bundys demanded the federal government turn the property over to the locals for management.

On Jan. 26, Oregon state and FBI officials conducted a roadblock and arrested five of the refuge occupants, including Kanab resident Shawna Cox and the Bundy brothers.

Police shot Finicum during the stop while he was allegedly reaching into his coat for a firearm.

Officials have since released reports stating a handgun was found in Finicum’s possession during the incident.

On March 8, officials filed charges against six additional alleged participants, Cox one of them, bringing the total to 26 people charged.

“Travis Cox (and 25 others) did knowingly and willfully conspire and agree together and with each other and with persons known and unknown to the Grand Jury to prevent by force, intimidation, and threats, officers and employees of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, agencies within the United States Department of Interior, from discharging the duties of their office at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and other locations in Harney County, Oregon, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 372,” according to court papers.

This is not the first tie to Iron County from the occupiers of the Oregon standoff.

On Jan. 13, Finicum and Ryan Bundy left the Malheur refuge to travel to Cedar City where Finicum discussed the occupation on the radio with local talk show host Bryan Hyde.

Former Iron County Commissioner David Miller, known for his support of state management over federal lands, also admitted to meeting with Finicum and discussing plans for a upcoming property rights workshop.

Miller has since resigned his seat on the commission to pursue ventures in Alaska.

On Jan. 25, Cedar City was host to a Western Rights Property workshop in which organizers asked local ranchers to renounce their BLM grazing permits, eight of which allegedly did.

Attorney Todd MacFarlane and rancher John Pratt, both of whom were at the Malheur occupation for a limited time, were speakers at the workshop.

In March, Brand Thornton, who left the Malheur complex just days before the Bundys' arrests, was in Cedar City collecting signatures for a petition urging Gov. Gary Herbert to establish a militia to take back “more than 30 million acres of Utah land that was stolen by the federal government.”

On March 25, Aimee Edwards, deputy communications director for Herbert, said the governor has not seen such a petition and therefore cannot comment on it.

On Thursday, Cox was transported to a hearing in St. George where he admitted to being the person listed in the court filings, according to court records.

“The defendant stated he is the Travis Cox on the arrest warrant and wishes to return to the District of Oregon,” according to court papers.

Follow Haven Scott, @HavenWScott. Call him at 435-865-4522.

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