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These fellows and their Dad deserve A LOT of prison time. If I had done a small portion of what time for what they did.
Ammon and Ryan Bundy, the jailed brothers who led an armed occupation of a wildlife refuge in Oregon, were arraigned on Friday on felony charges stemming from their family’s standoff with the federal government at their father’s ranch in rural Nevada.
The men refused to enter pleas, which means the judge entered a “not guilty” plea on their behalf.
Prosecutors in Nevada have accused Ammon, 40, and Ryan, 43, of violentlyconspiring against the government, assaulting and threatening law enforcement officers. They are also facing a slew of other serious felony offenses tied to the high-profile April 2014 conflict with federal agents that attracted hundreds of rightwing supporters at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, 80 miles north-east of Las Vegas.
Cliven, the 69-year-old rancher who is also in jail and was arraigned in March, had for years refused to pay fees to have his cattle graze on public lands, arguing that federal officials had no business restricting land uses. His defiance, which energized anti-government activists across the west, culminated in a tense standoff when federal authorities attempted to seize his cattle.
Ammon and Ryan were present at the ranch, and according to federal prosecutors, played key roles in organizing and coordinating the armed protesters who protected the Bundys’ cattle from seizure and forced the government to stand down in an effort to prevent bloodshed.
The Bundys avoided prosecution for nearly two years, until his sons staged another anti-government protest in January when they took over public buildings at the Malheur national wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon to protest federal officials’ treatment of local ranchers.
After several weeks, Ammon and Ryan were arrested in Oregon, and federal officials soon after took Cliven into custody as well.
Since January, Ammon and Ryan have been in jail in Portland, Oregon awaiting trial on government conspiracy charges related to the Malheur standoff. Officialstransferred them to Nevada this week, despite objections from defense attorneys that it was unfair to force them to face two separate federal trials at the same time.
In addition to the Bundy brothers, protesters Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier and Blaine Cooper are all facing charges in both the Oregon occupation and the Nevada standoff and were arraigned Friday in Las Vegas.
Another defendant in both cases, Pete Santilli, has already pleaded not guilty in Nevada.
Mike Arnold, Ammon’s attorney in the Oregon case, traveled to Nevada this week to support the jailed protest leader and argued that prosecutors in Las Vegas should wait until the Oregon trials are concluded before moving forward with the 2014 case.
“These guys have the right to a speedy trial and the right to a fair trial,” Arnold said in an interview Friday morning. “The timing of the federal government charging them in the Nevada case is very suspicious. They waited two years and they chose to do it at a particular time that is going to make defending them in Oregon very difficult. There are mountains of discovery to look at, and they can’t be in two places at once.”
Arnold said that with Ammon in Nevada it makes it harder for his legal team to work with him and prepare a defense for the Oregon trial, which is scheduled forSeptember.
“[Ammon]’s really disappointed that he can’t effectively defend himself,” Arnold said.
In addition to Ammon and Ryan, their two brothers Mel, 41, and Davey, 39, are also behind bars and facing charges for supporting their father during the ranch standoff. (Mel and Davey are not included in the Oregon case.)
If convicted of all offenses in Nevada federal court – including obstruction of justice, interference with commerce by extortion and using firearms to commit a violent crime – the five Bundy men could be sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
In addition to Cliven and his sons, more than 30 other activists are facing charges for supporting the Bundys in Oregon and Nevada.
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