Two men charged in Bundy ranch armed standoff are running for office in Idaho

Two Idaho men charged in an armed standoff with federal agents in Nevada are running for public office.

Eric Parker is running for state senator, Scott Drexler for county sheriff.

Following the 2014 Bunkerville standoff in Nevada, four Idahoans — Parker, of Hailey; Drexler, of Challis; Ammon Bundy, of Emmett; and Todd Engel, of Boundary County — were among nearly 20 defendants arrested in early 2016 as part of a nationwide roundup regarding the armed standoff.

The standoff was sparked after federal officials tried rounding up cattle that belonged to rancher Cliven Bundy, who had refused for years to pay grazing fees.

During the standoff, Parker and Drexler were observed and photographed on an overpass pointing assault-style rifles through concrete sidewall barriers toward federal agents in the dry riverbed below.

A Reuters photo of Parker prone on the overpass in a sniper position, wearing a baseball cap and a flak jacket, and pointing his rifle toward federal employees, has become an enduring image from the standoff.

Drexler and Parker initially faced several felony charges including conspiracy, extortion, assault and obstruction. Twice, their trials ended in hung juries. Each spent about 18 months in federal custody while on trial. To avoid a third trial, both men pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor count of obstruction of a court order.

A federal Nevada judge in August 2018 sentenced Drexler to the time he already had served, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The judge ordered Parker to serve one year of supervised release.

Both men have now decided to enter Idaho politics and are running for public office.

Parker, a Republican from Hailey, is challenging incumbent Democrat Sen. Michelle Stennett for a District 26 Senate seat, according to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office. District 26 comprises Blaine, Camas, Gooding and Lincoln counties in Central Idaho.

A Statesman search shows Parker has not yet set up an online campaign website or social media account.

The Hailey address Parker listed on his candidacy form is the same address listed for Eric Parker, a member of the The Real 3%ers Idaho, according to a national public records database. The Real 3%ers Idaho is an anti-government, pro-Constitution group.

Three Percenters are not white supremacists or white nationalists, but they are a different branch of extremism with an anti-government focus. That’s according to Anti-Defamation League right-wing extremism historian and expert Mark Pitcavage, who discussed the group with the Statesman one year ago after a photo was posted to Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s social media page of her in front of her Capitol office with two Idaho Three Percenters. They were at the Capitol to raise awareness about Engel’s legal battle with the federal government.

Parker is the only Republican running for the District 26 Senate seat, which means he will face Stennett in the November general election. Stennett, who serves as senate minority leader, was elected to the Legislature in 2010 and is in her fifth term. She was preceded by her late husband, Clint Stennett, who held that Senate seat from 1994 to 2010.

Drexler is running for Custer County sheriff, according to his social media campaign page.

“I would like to take this opportunity to perhaps dispel some fears about who I really am,” Drexler said in a March 14 social media post. “I know that a lot of people have heard rumors that are simply false.”

Drexler goes on to explain his version of his role in the standoff.

“The story is long and complicated but what I hope you can take away, here today is that things are not always what we are told,” Drexler concluded. “We need to actually dig into the meat of a situation to find the truth. That is what I am hoping to be able to do when you elect me as sheriff.”

Drexler, a Republican, will face two challengers in the Republican primary — incumbent Sheriff Stu Lumpkin and current sheriff’s deputy Joel Peterson, according to a Challis Messenger report.

Idaho Republican lawmakers back Idahoans charged

Idaho GOP politicians have previously backed the four Idahoans charged in the Bunkerville standoff, saying they are victims of federal judicial overreach and prosecutorial misconduct.

In August 2017, nearly half of the 105-member Idaho Legislature sent a letter to then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking him to halt or ease back on the cases against Bundy, Parker, Drexler and Engel.

The letter, led by Rep. Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley, was signed by 46 Republican members of the House and Senate from across the state.

The lawmakers asked Sessions to “have those in charge of this case end this long enduring action and set Parker and Drexler free, set reasonable bail for Bundy and allow Engel to use his time served as total sentencing.”

Then-Idaho U.S. Congressman Raul Labrador, now chairman of the Idaho Republican Party, also sent a letter to Sessions in August 2017 stating “a strong possibility that a miscarriage of justice is being committed” in the prosecutions of the Idaho men for their role in the 2014 standoff.

Idaho House Republican members stood in applause when Moon introduced Parker during an Idaho House session on Jan. 16, 2018.

This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 10:26 AM.