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Blanchester man one of 4 left in Oregon standoff

Posted at 12:03 PM, Jan 31, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-31 12:03:30-05

BURNS, Ore. -- A man from Blanchester is one of four armed militants remaining at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon.

David Fry, 27, told OPB FM, the PBS NPR and BBC affiliate in Portland, Ore., that he's ready to leave the wildlife refuge as long as he and the other three remaining armed protestors -- husband and wife Sean and Sandy Anderson of Riggins, Idaho, and Jeff Banta of Elko, Nevada -- can leave together.

Fry has played a major role in communicating with the FBI, he told OPB reporters. He said he spoke to an FBI negotiator three times in the last 24 hours

“They don’t want us to die. They’re begging us to come home," he said. "Go to prison, for five years, is what they’re saying."

Fry also told OPB that he's been "harrassed" on social media for his participation in the month-long standoff, claiming people have "called for him to be raped in prison and to be killed."

“They were sharing my home address,” he said. “That’s kind of freaky.”

Cincinnati-area online radio show host Pete Santilli was a spokesman of sorts for the militia group before he was arrested last week along with the group's leader, Ammon Bundy.

Bundy told the remaining protestors to go home after his arrest.

Last week, Fry told a Cleveland newspaper that he was "prepared to die" in the standoff, but he has since told other news outlets that he and other militia members are preparing to surrender.