PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Nevada state lawmaker says she will travel to Portland, Oregon, this week to protest the jailing of members of an armed group that took over a national wildlife refuge.
Michelle Fiore, a Republican state Assembly member from Las Vegas and an outspoken gun rights advocate, told The Associated Press she plans to fly to Portland on Wednesday ahead of a Thursday meeting involving lawmakers from several states who are members of a group called the Coalition of Western States. The group opposes federal management of Western lands.
Fiore says the people jailed for seizing the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, last month were "exercising political free speech."
The jailed leader of the standoff had earlier called on elected officials to support his cause. Ammon Bundy is among 16 people who have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to interfere with federal workers.
