Ammon Bundy, the leader of armed protesters who have taken over a federal building in rural Oregon, said Monday that the group has no intention of committing violence unless the government intervenes.
"The only violence that, if it comes our way, will be because government is wanting their building back,'' Bundy said on NBC's "Today" show. "We're putting nobody in harm's way. We are not threatening anybody. We're 30 miles out of the closest town."
Bundy, along with his brother, Ryan, is part of the group that seized Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters Saturday after splintering off from a larger protest about ranchers' rights in the small town of Burns. There were no government employees at the refuge over the weekend.
The brothers are the sons of rancher Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who had his own stand-off with the federal government last year that also involved armed protesters.
The FBI said a in a statement Sunday that it's working "to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation."
