Posts
Las Vegas • When rancher Cliven Bundy faces a federal judge Tuesday in Oregon, it won't be because he is accused with his sons of having a hand in the armed occupation of a federal wildlife preserve that ended last week.
Instead, the 69-year-old patriarch will be answering charges stemming from a 2014 armed standoff that forced federal officials to release cattle being rounded up near his Nevada ranch.
Bundy is the first to face charges in what some advocates hailed as a victory in the fight to turn over federal land to state control.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden in Las Vegas isn't saying why it took so long to arrest the elder Bundy. He has said only that the investigation is continuing.
Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said there could be many behind-the-scenes reasons for the arrest.
"Negotiations, investigations, safety concerns, administrative concerns," Levenson said. "There could be an ongoing investigation that could include a grand jury. They could have been waiting for the safest time, the most opportune time."
Bundy was taken into custody Wednesday as he stepped off a plane at Portland International Airport. Family members said he was on his way to visit his sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who are jailed and accused of organizing the occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which lasted nearly six weeks. They had demanded public lands be turned over to locals.
Cliven Bundy is charged in the Nevada case with conspiracy, assault on a federal officer, obstruction, weapon use and possession, extortion to interfere with commerce, and aiding and abetting. If convicted of all six charges, he could spend the rest of his life in federal prison and face more than $1 million in fines.
No comments:
Post a Comment