Bundy clan’s latest bid to walk free
UNITED STATES: Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his sons repeatedly violated court orders to remove their cattle from public lands while inciting and escalating an armed standoff with government agents near their ranch at Bunkerville, Texas more than three years ago, federal prosecutors told a Las Vegas jury yesterday.
Acting US Attorney Steven Myhre laid out the government’s case against Bundy and his two sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, along with cohort Ryan Payne, during an opening statement that lasted about two hours.
Myhre told jurors that the case wasn’t about free speech, legitimate protest or even gun rights. Instead, he said, jurors needed to weigh whether the nation would be better governed by the rule of law or the end of a gun.
The high-profile case is expected to push into
2018 as federal prosecutors aim to prove that the Bundy family and militia leader Payne tried to stop the federal government seizing cattle that were grazing on public land, by threatening a federal officer, carrying and using a firearm and engaging in a conspiracy.
Cliven Bundy, 71, has become a revered figure among those who believe the federal government has overstepped its authority in requiring grazing fees for cattle on land controlled by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and has raised the larger question of federal control of land in the West.
It also marks a showdown for the federal government as it looks to rebound from several high-profile court losses to the Bundy family.
Myhre methodically took jurors through a timeline leading up to the April 12, 2014 standoff at an overpass along Interstate 15 about 150 kilometres north of Las Vegas. He said the conflict began in 1993 when Cliven Bundy decided to stop getting permits and paying grazing fees for his cattle that had settled on BLM land.
Bundy, the prosecutor said, had plenty of opportunities to comply with court orders and said his violation of those lawful demands gave federal authorities the right to remove the cattle.
Using video projectors to show photos of the heightened tensions, Myhre supplied a narrative for jurors with the use of social media posts and a recording of a conservative California radio talk programme in which the Bundys claimed to be victims of government tyranny.
Myhre told jurors those claims were false. The BLM was executing a lawful court order to remove cattle grazing illegally.
As he spoke, the pictures on the video screens showed militia members carrying rifles in confrontations with law enforcement – including an image of Ammon Bundy being Tasered by police after allegedly running his ATV into a truck as he tried to stop workers from removing cattle.
He said federal officers feared for their lives as about 400 Bundy supporters faced off against about 30 federal agents. he told jurors they would hear testimony from officers saying: ‘‘We were outnumbered. We were outgunned.’’
But prosecutors have struggled to secure convictions against the Bundys and their followers.
Both Ammon Bundy, 42, and Ryan Bundy, 44, were acquitted on similar federal felony charges related to their roles in a 41-day standoff at an Oregon wildlife preserve in 2016. Twice this year, Las Vegas juries either acquitted or deadlocked on multiple charges pinned to several Bundy cohorts involved in the Bunkerville clash.
Since jury selection began in October, the courtroom has been largely filled with Bundy supporters. Outside the courthouse, a group of supporters has doggedly stood with flags and banners.