Harney County Sheriff David Ward takes the stand Wednesday morning as the first witness for the prosecution in the ongoing trial of seven former occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Barrow’s remarks came during opening statements in the trial of ranchers Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five other limited-government activists who led the 41-day takeover of the refuge that began on January 2.
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But prosecutors said he and the others broke the law. We are prosecuting them because of what they did..
The armed protesters who occupied a remote bird sanctuary in Oregon’s high desert earlier this year did so to protest federal land policy, which has been a point of contention in Western states for decades.
The defendants are charged with conspiring to impede Interior Department employees from doing their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge through intimidation or threats.
Federal prosecutor Geoffrey Barrow told the jurors that the Bundy brothers and the other five people crossed the line when they threatened federal employees during the occupation.
Brian Needham, a lieutenant in the sheriff’s office, also testified that one of the occupation leaders, Ryan Payne, told him in a meeting that he should consider killing Ward and replacing him.
Bundy’s attorney, Marcus Mumford, asked the sheriff about a cordial meeting he had with Bundy a few days into the occupation.
“I felt we were not there to break the law but to enforce the law”, said occupier Ryan Bundy, referring to the U.S. Constitution.
The sheriff said he’s no cheerleader for the federal government, but he examined the Hammond case and determined that he had no right to defy the USA court system. He dismissed Ammon Bundy’s claims that the group’s actions were a legitimate protest against the management of the federal land. But U.S. Judge Anna J. Brown will have the final say.
Mumford noted that the occupiers never aimed a gun at anyone.
Mumford also told the U.S. District Court jury that only one side of the standoff shot anybody – a reference to the FBI’s fatal shooting of armed protester Robert “LaVoy” Finicum during a traffic stop.
“I’m not aware of anyone Mr. Bundy physically threatened”, Ward testified.
Under cross examination from Ryan Bundy, Ammon’s brother and co-defendant who is acting as his own attorney, the sheriff acknowledged that the occupation received greater favorability as the weeks went on.
On Tuesday about a dozen protesters showed up outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland.
Those outside court waved an upside-down American flag and were joined by a horse named Lady Liberty. They planned to march around the courthouse during the trial’s lunch breaks.
Before the occupation, Ward says group leader Ammon Bundy and another man urged the sheriff to protect two local ranchers who faced additional prison time for setting fires on federal lands.
At the refuge near Burns, Oregon, protesters mostly came and went as they pleased. They changed the signs to Harney County Resource Center and said they would give the land to local officials to administer. They said they would turn the land over to local officials to administer.
He says the federal government has no more authority to manage ranching lands than he does to run the New York City subway.
The nearby Burns Paiute Tribe also criticized the standoff, noting that the refuge contains prehistoric archaeological sites and that tribal members considered it part of their ancestral land.
OR officials, including Gov. Kate Brown, grew frustrated at how long it took federal authorities to move against the group.
“They moved as a military force”, assistant U.S. Attorney Geoff Barrow argued.
The takeover in OR ended with the dramatic surrender of four holdouts, including one who threatened to commit suicide in a phone call with mediators that was streamed live.
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Prosecutors charged 26 people with conspiracy initially and 11 eventually entered guilty pleas.
