Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and two of his sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury for taking up arms against federal agents in 2014 as part of a struggle over land rights and a herd of cattle.
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The 69-year-old Nevada rancher was arrested February 10 in Portland, Oregon, where his sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, are jailed and accused of organizing the occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Both sons, along with two other men were indicted along with the elderly rancher Wednesday. “He does not recognize federal courts – claiming they are illegitimate – does not recognize federal law, refuses to obey federal court orders [and] has already used force and violence against federal law enforcement officers while they were enforcing federal court orders”.
The memo also cites an incident late last spring when a three-person nongovernment crew under contract with BLM to study springs, seeps and cattle troughs on public lands near Bundy’s ranch heard two series of gunshots at night near their campsite (Greenwire, June 12, 2015).
That 41-day standoff ended last week after the last of the holdouts surrendered to authorities. In the post, Cliven Bundy “suggests” that Harney County ranchers Steven and Dwight Hammond, who are now in jail for setting two fires on the public land where they grazed their cattle, seek protective custody in county jail as a way to avoid serving their federal sentences.
Armed protesters occupied the refuge for several weeks.
“Witnesses have described the level of threatened violence as so intense that something as innocent as the backfire of (a) vehicle, or someone lighting a firecracker, would have set off a firefight”, previous court filings alleged.
Williams requested U.S. Marshals transport Bundy to Nevada, according to the court filing.
“Bereft of human interaction, his cattle that manage to survive are wild, mean and ornery”, prosecutors said.
“This indictment sends a resounding message to those who wish to participate in violent acts that our resolve to pursue them and enforce the law remains unwavering”, Said Nevada Special Agent Lara Bucheit.
The government is now questioning Bundy’s ranching skills.
Neither the Constitution nor any other law “gives anyone the right to use or carry, let alone brandish, raise or point, a firearm” at federal law enforcers performing official duties, “whether one thinks the officer is acting constitutionally or not”, prosecutors wrote. More than 400 people quickly answered his call, flocking to his ranch and setting up armed checkpoints, sniper positions and firing ranges on the public land around his property, according to the government’s memo. “The remaining defendants are charged as leaders and organizers who conspired with Bundy to achieve his criminal objectives”.
Out of safety concerns, local law officers allowed the gunmen and the conspirators to leave the site without facing arrest.
Bundy’s lawyer, Noel Grefenson, questioned why it had taken so long to bring charges against his client.
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Justice was delayed due to the nature of the well-defended Bundy ranch, including a. 50 caliber machine gun, but it caught up with those earlier outlaws, who were also well-armed, and now it has caught up with Cliven Bundy.
