Negotiators and ‘Freemen’ Hold More Talks Near Ranch
JORDAN, Mont. — Two anti-government “freemen” met with negotiators for a second day Saturday at the entrance to their isolated compound. After two hours, both sides exchanged handshakes and parted.
The FBI declined to comment on the talks, but an agency source confirmed that one of the freemen was Edwin Clark, widely recognized as the leader of the group that has been holed up at the ranch for 2 1/2 months.
The talks were held around a card table at the entrance to the ranch, the site of similar negotiations Friday. Other meetings with non-FBI, third-party negotiators have occurred in buildings on the ranch.
The FBI has isolated the rural area around the freemen’s complex since March 25, when federal agents arrested two of the group’s leaders who had left the ranch house. Seventeen freemen remain at the compound.
Federal charges against some of the freemen include allegations that they circulated millions of dollars in worthless checks and threatened the life of a federal judge.
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