Occupiers Left Smelly Surprise at Oregon Refuge

FBI agents scouring the "crime scenes" at Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge since the occupiers surrendered have uncovered a trench filled with "significant amounts of human feces" on or next to a cultural site of the Burns Paiute Tribe. "Occupiers appear to have excavated two large trenches and an improvised road on or adjacent to grounds containing sensitive artifacts," prosecutors write in a court document filed Tuesday, per Reuters. Occupiers had apparently set up a camp there. Authorities also found "large food stores that are spoiling'' and firearms and explosives, leading some to fear that vehicles and buildings "may be booby trapped," prosecutors say, per the Oregonian.

The document was in response to occupiers' requests that their lawyers be allowed to visit the refuge; a group of 23 men and two women are charged with conspiracy to impede officers through "force, intimidation, and threats," reports the Guardian. Prosecutors say defense lawyers will be allowed on site, accompanied by FBI personnel, when authorities finish collecting evidence in three weeks. Lawyers can then review evidence at an FBI field office in Portland, prosecutors say. Lawyers for occupation leader Ammon Bundy have demanded an investigator and videographer observe the FBI's processing of the scene. Details are to be ironed out in court on Feb. 24. (The standoff brought this female lawmaker into the spotlight.)