‘Innocent’ Ryan Bundy speaks
Tells jurors charges in standoff case false
Ryan Bundy invoked personal freedom and constitutional rights, God and religion, state history and his family’s deep roots in the desert landscape Wednesday as he proclaimed his innocence to a federal jury in Las Vegas.
The defendant, who is acting as his own attorney, is facing criminal charges with his father, Southern Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy; brother Ammon; and a Montana militia man. They are accused of conspiring in an armed standoff against federal agents.
“My family and I have been charged with some pretty grievous things, and I want to tell you these are not true,” Ryan Bundy said during his opening statement. “I am an innocent man. My father is an innocent man. My brothers are innocent men. And all of those who came to support us are innocent.”
During more than an hour of Ryan Bundy’s remarks, a picture of him with his wife and their eight young children was frozen on a projection screen on a wall of the courtroom. The defendant came to court dressed in a black suit, white shirt and black-and-brown tie.
Ryan Payne, a leader of a militia dubbed Operation Mutual Aid and a Cliven Bundy bodyguard during the standoff, sat several feet away, next to his federal public defenders, wearing a black button-down shirt with the words “We the people” emblazoned on the back in white letters.
Cliven and Ammon Bundy wore red jail jumpsuits. Three of the defendants remain in custody without bail. Ryan Bundy has been released
BUNDY I am an innocent man. My father is an innocent man. My brothers are innocent men. And all of those who came to support us are innocent.
would force them out of business.
Petland in Boca Park and Puppy Boutique in northwest Las Vegas would have been affected by a city ban, which the council approved in 2016, coupled with a two-year delay before it took effect.
“This is not the solution to end substandard breeding facilities, nor will it decrease the number of dogs we have at the shelter,” Puppy Boutique Manager Kathleen Vinluan said.
Council members openly struggled with wanting to stop the pipeline of dogs from Midwestern puppy mills to Las Vegas pet shops while not wanting those stores to close.
Owners of the two Las Vegas stores contend they don’t source their animals from puppy mills, so banning the sale of non-rescue animals wouldn’t curb the underlying issue of inhumane breeding practices.
Repeal opponents urged the council to keep the ban because it can begin to put a dent in the puppy mill business, and there are many unclaimed dogs in shelters in the valley.
Animal Control Supervisor Cynthia Leavitt said there have been complaints about both stores, but subsequent investigations showed the complaints about Petland were “unfounded.”
No specific number of complaints about the stores was provided.
Animal Control has asked Puppy Boutique managers to move an animal to a larger cage or to a different area of the store because they appeared sick, so they weren’t out for public display. The managers complied with the requests, Leavitt said.
Neither shop was issued citations, Leavitt said.
Las Vegas resident Sarika Goode said she visited both local pet shops this month. Using the breeder documentation for specific puppies,
she traced them back to out-of-state breeders that have been slapped with violations for not providing dogs with adequate veterinary care or bedding, in some cases.
“They may say that they get all of their puppies from reputable breeders, but it’s just not true,” Goode said. “They’re coming from puppy mills.”
Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani sponsored a county ordinance that would have had the same effect as the city’s non-rescue ban, but county commissioners put that measure on hold last month. Giunchigliani said this week she’s formed a work group with City Council members to come up with parallel ordinances in the county and city.
Council members heard from 34 speakers before they cast their votes Wednesday. Councilmen Stavros Anthony and Bob Coffin and Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian voted to let the ban take effect in early 2018. All three also supported the ban when the council voted in 2016.
“These two businesses had plenty of time to make a change of some kind,” Coffin said. “I’d like to see this thing have a chance to work.”
Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @Jamiemunksrj on Twitter.