Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Freemen Meet With Fbi Negotiators

Associated Press

Five members of the encircled freemen met with FBI negotiators for almost two hours Wednesday evening on a wind-swept road inside the freemen’s farm enclave.

It apparently was the first face-to-face meeting between freemen and outside negotiators since four Montana legislators met with a group of freemen on April 4 and 5.

Two men in a red and white Suburban drove into the compound at 5:45 p.m. and stopped about 500 yards from the main residence. Reporters recognized one of them as an FBI agent.

Five people walked from the house to the Suburban, and the group met until 7:35 p.m., sometimes sitting in the vehicle and occasionally standing near it. When the meeting broke up, the five returned to the house and the Suburban left.

The FBI office in Billings had no one available to answer questions Wednesday night, and agents at the scene have never talked to reporters since the siege began on March 25.