burns occupation mugs

Michael Emry, 49, appeared at the Malheur National Wildilfe refuge on Jan 6., 2016,after militants took it over. He described himself as an embedded reporter with the militia. Photo by Mark Graves, The Oregonian/OregonLive.com

(Mark Graves)

UPDATE: FBI releases statement about charges and discovery of fully automatic machine gun.

JOHN DAY - Michael R. Emry, a former weapons manufacturer who was an "embedded" reporter with the militia during the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, was arrested Friday in John Day on federal weapons charges.

Emry, 54, recently moved to John Day from Boise, Idaho. He was arrested at the county-owned RV park, part of the fairgrounds situated three blocks north of downtown John Day. FBI agents searching his trailer and vehicles found a fully automatic .50-caliber machine gun - a Browning M2 -- under the bed in the trailer. Law enforcement sources also said agents found explosives.

FBI special agent Miguel Perez said in an affidavit that Emry said the machine gun could fire at a rate of 550 to 650 rounds per minute.

"Emry admitted that he took the M2 from the shop where he works in Idaho about a month and a half ago" the affidavit said. Emry took the gun without the shop owner's knowledge, it continued.

Document: Federal complaint and FBI affidavit

He was charged in a federal complaint of unlawful possession of a machine gun not registered to him and unlawful possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, the FBI said in a statement Friday night.

Emry was booked into the Deschutes County Jail and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Eugene on Monday.

A post Friday evening to a Facebook page that Emry controls also confirmed the arrest.

"We don't know the charges -- presumably it was because of the Malheur occupation," the statement said. "Michael was there as media and nothing more. For those of you who might think about cheering at the news, keep in mind that there are two issues involved here -- freedom of the press and freedom of speech."

His wife, Becky Hudson, said in a Facebook post that Emry was called to the fairgrounds office shortly before agents arrived at their travel trailer. She said agents took her husband's computers.

"I was handcuffed for three hours in the cold morning hours in my robe," Hudson wrote.

Emry had been operating as "The Voice of Idaho," an online media service, when he started broadcasting from Harney County during the occupation.

He described himself as an "embedded" reporter with a militia group called 3% of Idaho that participated in a Jan. 2 rally in Burns hours before the refuge takeover.

The Idaho group disavowed knowledge of the takeover, but its leaders were a regular presence throughout the 41-day occupation. The group at one point arrived at the refuge in a convoy of heavily armed members, who said they were there to shield the refuge occupiers from law enforcement. Occupation leaders sent them away.

In an interview Thursday, Emry was vague about why he'd moved to Grant County, where he established "The Voice of Grant County" with a website and a Facebook page.

A post to the page on Tuesday praised embattled Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer.

"No sheriff in Oregon has done more to stand up for the Constitution and the Second Amendment," the post said.

Palmer twice met in John Day with refuge occupiers, asking two to autograph his pocket Constitution. He later said authorities should accede to some of the occupiers' demands.

Palmer is under criminal investigation by the state Justice Department, triggered by complaints from John Day city officials about his dealings with the armed militants.

Ammon Bundy and his followers took over the bird sanctuary to protest the pending imprisonment of two Harney County ranchers and condemn federal control of public land. He and more than two dozen others have since been indicted on federal conspiracy changes.

Emry said in the interview that he was helping Grant County citizens establish a committee to investigate media reporting and, if necessary, conduct trial-like hearings on the accuracy of stories. Emry earlier this week conducted a meeting of what he called the Committee of Correspondence, identifying three local residents who participated on the committee. County records show they all hold appointments from Palmer as special deputies - citizen volunteers.

"They were trying to find a way they could get the information out that they knew was true," Emry said.

He said he has a military background and has manufactured weapons, including automatic weapons. He said he was once described as the "Picasso of machine guns." Emry said a friend told him he wouldn't surprised if Emry could "make a machine gun out of toaster."

News of Emry's arrest ricocheted through the self-styled patriot and militia community via social media Friday night. Some claimed the arrest was timed for a day when the sheriff was out of town, a claim that couldn't be confirmed.

"The cowards waited for Sheriff Palmer to be out of town," said one Facebook post. "How much more do we have to take? Do they not realize the [expletive] time bomb they are playing with?"

Emry is the second person connected to the refuge occupation arrested in Grant County. Scott A. Willingham, 49, was arrested in March for threatening to shoot federal officials. He subsequently was charged with stealing a federal surveillance camera, removed from a roadway near the refuge as a media stunt staged by the occupiers.

Before his arrest, Willingham approached Palmer to ask for sanctuary. Palmer refused, according to Grant County officials, and Willingham stayed with a local family before his arrest.

-- Les Zaitz

@leszaitz