An armed militant who was part of the security team during the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation was in custody Thursday in Grant County on weapons charges after threatening to shoot federal law enforcement officers, according to Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter.
Scott A. Willingham, 49, was arrested Wednesday in the small town of Mount Vernon on allegations of unlawful use of a weapon, a felony, and second-degree disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. He was arraigned Thursday in Grant County Circuit Court and held on $35,000 bail.
Carpenter said that during the arraignment, Willingham said he wanted to be jailed in Grant County to await arrest by federal authorities for his role in the occupation. Federal officials wouldn't confirm whether Willingham has been charged, although one name has been redacted from the most recent indictment naming 26 defendants.
A Grant County sheriff's deputy arrested Willingham at a motel after Willingham said that if he wasn't jailed Wednesday, he would "start shooting federal law enforcement officers" the next morning, Carpenter said.
Willingham had a semi-automatic rifle with 230 rounds of .308-caliber ammunition at the time of his arrest, Carpenter said.
In early February, Willingham said in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive that he arrived at the wildlife refuge 30 miles southeast of Burns a few days after the Jan. 2 takeover by armed protesters. He said he worked on security details and was being "groomed" for a leadership role in the occupation.
He left after takeover leaders were arrested and Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, 54, was shot to death as he attempted to elude police Jan. 26.
Willingham, who described himself as an unemployed musician from Colorado, was part of a crew that helped Finicum remove what the occupiers said was a law enforcement surveillance camera. The camera was mounted at an electric company substation about six miles from Burns toward the refuge. Authorities have never acknowledged whether law enforcement mounted the camera and its fate remains unknown.
Willingham said he traveled to Nevada but returned to help resolve the standoff. He said he was acquainted with two of the last four people who occupied the refuge and offered to help talk them into surrendering. They did give up three days later, but it couldn't be established whether the FBI accepted Willingham's offer.
His arrest in Grant County comes as the state Justice Department opens a criminal investigation into the county's sheriff, Glenn Palmer. Palmer met twice with militant leaders in John Day in January and was scheduled to speak at a community meeting there featuring them.
When the leaders didn't appear, the meeting went on anyway. Some local residents protested the presence of militia in Grant County and Palmer's apparent support for them.
Complaints filed against Palmer with the state agency that licenses police officers claimed Palmer's relations with the militants put the county at risk. Some said they feared he was making Grant County an inviting place for them.
(Fedor Zarkhin of The Oregonian contributed to this report.)
-- Les Zaitz
@leszaitz