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-Land of the Free

10 years after armed standoff with federal agents, Bundy cattle are still grazing disputed rangeland

2024-04-15

[AP via Post Register] BUNKERVILLE, Nev. (AP) — The words "Revolution is Tradition" stenciled in fresh blue and red paint mark a cement wall in a dry river wash beneath a remote southern Nevada freeway overpass, where armed protesters and federal agents stared each other down through rifle sights 10 years ago. It was just before noon on a hot and sunny Saturday when backers of cattle rancher Cliven Bundy, including hundreds of men, women and children, made the U.S. Bureau of Land Management quit enforcing court orders to remove Bundy cattle from vast arid rangeland surrounding his modest family ranch and melon farm. Witnesses later said they feared the sound of a car backfiring would have unleashed a bloodbath. But no shots were fired, the government backed down and some 380 Bundy cattle that had been impounded were set free. "Since then, we've relatively lived in peace," Ryan Bundy, eldest among 14 Bundy siblings, said in a telephone interview. "The BLM doesn't contact us, talk to us or bother us." "The BLM does not have any comment on this subject," agency spokesman John Asselin said in response to email inquiries about the standoff, Bundy cattle grazing today in Gold Butte National Monument and the more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees and penalties the BLM said Bundy owed in 2014. At the ranch, Cliven Bundy greeted guests this week while cradling one of 74 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren that he has with his wife, Carol Bundy. "We're all a little bit older," he said, "but we're still doing the same thing: ranching." Later, watching two of his sons and a friend rope yearling bulls in a pen, the plainspoken and photogenic rancher — who rallied followers through a bullhorn that day saying, "Let's go get those cattle" — recalled being arrested, jailed for nearly two years and brought to a trial that was dismissed due to prosecutorial misconduct. Related: Cliven Bundy 07-/05/2018 The Judge in the Bundy trial just spiked prosecutor's plea for one last at convictionCliven Bundy 01-/15/2018 Fed's misconduct in Cliven Bundy case stems from Ruby RidgeCliven Bundy 12-/30/2017 Unsealed Court Docs Show How Prosecutors Tried To Rig Bundy Trial

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-Land of the Free

The Judge in the Bundy trial just spiked prosecutor's plea for one last at conviction

2018-07-05

[Daily Caller] A federal judge rejected prosecutors’ request Tuesday to reconsider her dismissal of the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons and friend Ryan Payne. U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro dismissed conspiracy charges against the four men on Jan. 8 after finding that prosecutors had acted "with prejudice" throughout the trial, The Oregonian reported. Federal prosecutors violated federal law and failed to share evidence favorable to the defendants case with the court. (RELATED: Bundy Case Dismissed, Judge Orders Rancher Released) "The Court’s finding of outrageous government conduct was not in error," Navarro wrote in her 11-page ruling, obtained by The Oregonian. "On the contrary, a universal sense of justice was violated by the Government’s failure to provide evidence that is potentially exculpatory." The prosecutors’ request did not make any new arguments or bring forth any evidence that Navarro had not already considered in her decision to dismiss the case. "The Court gave somber consideration to the ramifications of its Order and found that it was in the interest of justice to dismiss the case with prejudice," Navarro wrote. "A motion for reconsideration should not be ’used to ask the Court to rethink what it has already thought.'" Prosecutors requested the court grant another trial against the Bundys and Payne, calling the missteps and violations throughout the trial "inadvertent."

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-Land of the Free

Fed's misconduct in Cliven Bundy case stems from Ruby Ridge

2018-01-15

[The Hill] Federal judge Gloria Navarro slammed the FBI and Justice Department on Monday, Jan. 8, for "outrageous" abuses and "flagrant misconduct" in the prosecution of Cliven Bundy and sons, the Nevada ranchers who spurred a high-profile standoff with the FBI and Bureau of Land Management in 2014. Navarro condemned the "grossly shocking" withholding of evidence from defense counsel in a case that could have landed the Bundys in prison for the rest of their lives. Navarro, who had declared a mistrial last month, dismissed all charges against the Bundys. Navarro was especially riled because the FBI spent three years covering up or lying about the role of their snipers in the 2014 standoff. The Bundys faced conspiracy charges because they summoned militia to defend them after claiming FBI snipers had surrounded their ranch. Justice Department lawyers scoffed at this claim but newly-released documents vindicate the Bundys. In an interview Saturday, Ammon Bundy reviled the feds: "They basically came to kill our family, they surrounded us with snipers. And then they wanted to lie about it all like none of it happened." Many of the heavily-armed activists who flocked to the scene feared that the FBI snipers had a license to kill the Bundys. Their reaction cannot be understood without considering a landmark 1990s case that continues to shape millions of Americans' attitude towards Washington: the federal killings and coverups at Ruby Ridge.

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-Land of the Free

Unsealed Court Docs Show How Prosecutors Tried To Rig Bundy Trial

2017-12-30

[Daily Caller] Unsealed court documents detail how the team of prosecutors tasked with convicting Cliven Bundy and his sons of crimes relating to a 2014 armed standoff failed to turn over potential exculpatory evidence to the court, The Oregonian reports. The Bundys’ case ended in a mistrial Dec. 20 after Judge Gloria Navarro ruled that prosecutors violated the civil rights of the defendants by withholding evidence supporting the Bundys’ case. Navarro is considering dismissing the case "with prejudice" and blocking prosecutors from retrying the case. Her decision will come Jan. 8, according to The New York Times. "There were approximately 3,000 pages that were provided to us only after we started trial," Bundy lawyer Bret D. Whipple told TheNYT. "I personally have never seen anything like this, especially in a case of such importance." Those 3,000 pages include the Bundys’ requests for multiple federal assessments that showed the Bundy family was likely not dangerous. Prosecutors called the requests part of a "long list of frivolous and vexatious pleadings," until a government witness, under cross examination, revealed knowledge of the assessments in court, The Oregonian reports. Defense attorney’s asked federal prosecutors to hand over Inspector General reports on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) agent Dan Love, who directed the BLM raid on the Bundy ranch to seize the family’s cattle over decades of unpaid grazing fees. Love was fired from the agency in September for corruption and unethical behavior. Prosecutors had dismissed the allegations and investigations of Love as an "urban legend," but ended up handing over 500 pages worth of reports on Love in December, according to The Oregonian. The Bundys’ lawyers made two requests to Navarro for a special "discovery monitor" to ensure that all relevant documents were being turned over by the prosecution. Both requests were denied. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, however, launched an investigation into prosecutorial misconduct after the mistrial.

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-Land of the Free

Bundy Mistrial Highlights Why the Right Distrusts the Feds

2017-12-27

[American Spectator] Once again, federal prosecutors are seen at their worst. As Washington conservatives question whether partisan FBI officials working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller have stacked the deck against President Donald Trump, a criminal case in Las Vegas points to the sort of federal prosecutorial abuses that give the right cause for paranoia. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the infamous 2014 Bunkerville standoff case against rancher Cliven Bundy, his sons Ammon and Ryan, and co-defendant Ryan Payne, on the grounds that federal prosecutors improperly withheld evidence. The standoff, in which both sides were armed, was a national news story that pitted a Western rancher against federal officialdom. Bureau of Land Management officials had tried to seize Bundy’s cattle following a decades-long dispute over grazing fees. The rancher had stopped paying federal grazing fees in 1993 to protest a BLM directive that he cut back on cattle grazing in order to accommodate the threatened desert tortoise. In the course of the trial, Navarro found that prosecutors failed to share video surveillance, maps, and FBI interview reports with defense attorneys. "A mistrial in this case is the most suitable and only remedy available," Navarro explained.

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-Land of the Free

Bundy Mistrial Highlights Why the Right Distrusts the Feds

2017-12-24

[Townhall] WASHINGTON -- As Washington conservatives question whether partisan FBI officials working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller have stacked the deck against President Donald Trump, a criminal case in Las Vegas points to the sort of federal prosecutorial abuses that give the right cause for paranoia. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the infamous 2014 Bunkerville standoff case against rancher Cliven Bundy, his sons Ammon and Ryan, and co-defendant Ryan Payne, on the grounds that federal prosecutors improperly withheld evidence. The standoff, in which both sides were armed, was a national news story that pitted a Western rancher against federal officialdom. Bureau of Land Management officials had tried to seize Bundy's cattle following a decades-long dispute over grazing fees. The rancher had stopped paying federal grazing fees in 1993 to protest a BLM directive that he cut back on cattle grazing in order to accommodate the threatened desert tortoise.

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Government

Judge Declares Mistrial In Bundy Case, Says Government Willfully Withheld Evidence

2017-12-21

[ZACentral] A federal judge has declared a mistrial in the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, saying U.S. prosecutors willfully withheld critical and "potentially exculpatory" evidence from the defense. Judge Gloria Navarro ...a President Obama appointee in 2010... dismissed jurors Wednesday, several weeks after the trial began against Bundy, his sons Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and militia member Ryan Payne, who were accused of leading an armed standoff with federal land agents in 2014. Navarro cited five key pieces of information that prosecutors did not disclose: records about surveillance and snipers at the Bundy Ranch; unredacted FBI logs about activity at the ranch in the days around the standoff; threat assessments about the Bundys dating to 2012; and internal affairs reports about the BLM. Withheld evidence at issue Navarro methodically laid out her reasoning for about an hour, citing legal standards and case law, before delivering her ruling. She said the evidence that was withheld could have been favorable to the accused and could have affected the outcome of the case. Navarro stopped short of dismissing charges against the four men. It is unclear whether the case will be retried because Navarro did not rule whether the mistrial was with or without prejudice.

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-Land of the Free

Rancher Cliven Bundy Refuses to Leave Jail Despite Judges Offer

2017-11-30

[FoxNews] Cliven Bundy, the 71-year-old rancher who sparked a national debate over states’ rights, refused a federal judge’s offer to be released from jail during his ongoing trial on Wednesday. Bundy, who engaged in an armed standoff with government agents over a cattle round-up in 2014, turned down the judge’s option of house arrest while others involved in the standoff are still jailed awaiting trial. A federal grand jury in Nevada indicted Cliven and four others on 16 charges related to the armed standoff near his ranch over unpaid grazing fees last year. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro, meantime, said Ammon Bundy and co-defendant Ryan Payne can be freed Thursday to home detention. The judge also said another Bundy son, Ryan, can now split time between home and a halfway house while serving as his own attorney in the case. The decision involving the four defendants came amid questions about whether federal prosecutors in Las Vegas have turned over complete evidence records to defense teams. Bret Whipple, Cliven Bundy's attorney, told Fox News that a motion to dismiss the case entirely on Wednesday morning was denied. The court then unilaterally had a detention hearing regarding custody of the defendants. It was subsequently granted that Cliven Bundy, Ammon Bundy and Ryan Payne be released from detention for the duration of the trial.

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-Land of the Free

2 acquitted in Bundy standoff

2017-08-23

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A federal jury in Las Vegas has refused to convict four accused gunmen in a 2014 standoff with federal authorities near the Nevada ranch of anti-government figure Cliven Bundy. In a verdict that stunned Bundy supporters, the jury on Tuesday acquitted Ricky Lovelien and Steven Stewart of all 10 charges against them. Defendants Scott Drexler and Eric Parker were found not guilty of most of the charges against them. The jury did not reach verdicts on four charges against Parker and two charges against Drexler. Prosecutors said the men conspired with Bundy family members and wielded weapons to threaten the lives of federal agents enforcing lawful court orders to remove Bundy cattle from public land after failing to pay grazing fees.

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-Land of the Free

Federal judge in Bundy trials orders government to disclose agent's identity

2017-02-11

Exceedingly fine... [USAToday] PHOENIX — A federal judge in Las Vegas ordered prosecutors in the Bundy Ranch standoff trials to turn over an investigative report accusing a key government witness of wrongdoing. Judge Gloria Navarro denied motions to dismiss charges against 17 defendants who claimed the government withheld evidence by concealing misconduct allegations against the federal agent in charge of operations during the 2014 standoff. Navarro said prosecutors had a duty to release a full copy of a report by the Department of Interior's Office of the Inspector General naming the agent, calling it "material evidence" that could be used to impeach the government's witness. "The OIG Report details several violations of federal ethics regulations, misuse of government property, misuse of a government position, and 'a lack of candor when interviewed,' " Navarro wrote in a ruling Wednesday. "At a minimum, (defendants) may use this alleged misconduct on cross-examination to impeach (the agent)." Opening statements began Thursday in the first of three trials against ranchers and militia members accused of conspiracy when they took up arms in 2014 to stop Bureau of Land Management officials from seizing cattle owned by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.

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Government

Petulant POTUS names Utah, Nevada monuments despite State and GOP opposition

2016-12-29

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- President Barack Obama designated two national monuments Wednesday at sites in Utah and Nevada that have become key flashpoints over use of public land in the U.S. West, marking the administration's latest move to protect environmentally sensitive areas in its final days. The Bears Ears National Monument in Utah will cover 1.35 million acres in the Four Corners region, the White House said. In a victory for Native American tribes and conservationists, the designation protects land that is considered sacred and is home to an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings. It's a blow for state Republican leaders and many rural residents who say it will add another layer of unnecessary federal control and close the area to new energy development, a common refrain in the battle over use of the American West's vast open spaces. Utah's attorney general vowed to sue. In Nevada, a 300,000-acre Gold Butte National Monument outside Las Vegas would protect a scenic and ecologically fragile area near where rancher Cliven Bundy led an armed standoff with government agents in 2014. It includes rock art, artifacts, rare fossils and recently discovered dinosaur tracks.

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-Land of the Free

Jury acquits leaders of Oregon standoff of federal charges

2016-10-28

To Charger, FrankG and others who posted. Thanks. Between myself and other mods we managed to delete all the stories. Sorry about that. PORTLAND, Ore. – The leaders of an armed group who seized a national wildlife refuge in rural Oregon were acquitted Thursday in the 41-day standoff that brought new attention to a long-running dispute over control of federal lands in the U.S. West. A jury found brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy not guilty of possessing a firearm in a federal facility and conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 300 miles southeast of Portland where the trial took place. Five co-defendants also were tried one or both of the charges. Despite the acquittal, the Bundys were expected to stand trial in Nevada early next year on charges stemming from another high-profile standoff with federal agents. Authorities rounding up cattle at their father Cliven Bundy's ranch in 2014 because of unpaid grazing fees released the animals as they faced armed protesters. The brothers are part of a Nevada ranching family embroiled in a lengthy fight over the use of public range, and their occupation drew an international spotlight to a uniquely American West dispute: federal restrictions on ranching, mining and logging to protect the environment. The U.S. government, which controls much of the land in the West, says it tries to balance industry, recreation and wildlife concerns to benefit all.

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