Oregon jury acquits leaders of wildlife refuge standoff

Seven men who occupied a national wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than a month earlier this year were acquitted on all charges Thursday.

Ammon and Ryan Bundy, sons of the controversial rancher Cliven Bundy, were found not guilty on charges 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.

The standoff, which drew international headlines throughout January 2016, highlighted an on-going issue in the American West over federal ownership of land. The U.S. government owns vast swaths of lands in the West and restricts how the land may be used by private citizens for ranching, mining and logging, in order to protect the environment.

The Bundys’ father became a national talking point when he engaged in standoff with federal agents over where his cattle could graze in 2014, claiming an overreach of federal authority. Ammon and Ryan were both involved in that incident as well and are still awaiting trial.

But in early 2016, the brothers, along with five other men, moved to occupy the wildlife refuge in protest over prison sentences handed down to Dwight and Steven Hammond, two local ranchers convicted of setting fires. They demanded the government free the father and son and relinquish control of public lands to local officials.

The Hammond family, however, told CBS News that they did not support the occupation and the Bundys never spoke with them.

The armed occupiers were allowed to come and go for several weeks as authorities tried to avoid bloodshed seen in past standoffs. Ammon Bundy gave frequent news conferences and the group used social media in a mostly unsuccessful effort to get others to join them.

The Bundys and other key figures were arrested in a Jan. 26 traffic stop outside the refuge that ended with police fatally shooting Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, an occupation spokesman. Most occupiers left after his death, but four holdouts remained until Feb. 11, when they surrendered after a lengthy negotiation.

At trial, the facts of the case were never in doubt. The occupiers never denied seizing the refuge, establishing armed patrols and screening those who visited.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this case is not a whodunit," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight said in his closing argument, arguing that the group decided to take over a federal workplace that did not belong to them.

On technical grounds, the defendants said they never discussed stopping individual workers from accessing their offices but merely wanted the land and the buildings. On emotional grounds, Ammon Bundy and other defendants argued that the takeover was an act of civil disobedience against an out-of-control federal government that has crippled the rural West.

Federal prosecutors took two weeks to present their case, finishing with a display of more than 30 guns seized after the standoff. An FBI agent testified that 16,636 live rounds and nearly 1,700 spent casings were found.

Bundy testified in his defense, spending three days arguing that government overreach is destroying Western communities that rely on the land. He said the plan was to take ownership of the refuge by occupying it for a period of time and then turning it over to local officials to use as they saw fit.

When the verdict was announced Thursday, Ammon Bundy’s defense attorney, Marcus Mumford, demanded that his client be released from custody immediately and began to verbally accost Judge Anna J. Brown, who told him there was a U.S. marshal’s hold on releasing Bundy due to his pending case in Nevada, according to The Oregonian.

Mumford was then tackled by U.S. marshals as media was removed from the courtroom. According to KGW’s Mike Benner, one defendant said marshals used a Taser on Mumford after the media had left.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown released a statement soon after the verdict saying that while she respected the jury’s decision, she was “disappointed” with the outcome.

Authorities had charged 26 occupiers with conspiracy. Eleven pleaded guilty, and another had the charge dropped. Seven defendants chose not to be tried at this time. Their trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 14.

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Oregon jury acquits leaders of wildlife refuge standoff."