Ammon Bundy avoided convictions in Oregon, Nevada. He’s been found guilty twice in Idaho
Ammon Bundy participated in two armed standoffs with federal agents and wasn’t convicted of a crime either time.
He has been convicted of four misdemeanors in the past year related to activities at the Idaho Capitol.
Here are the four legal cases for Bundy in recent years:
▪ Bundy was indicted in connection with a 2014 standoff in Nevada between his family and the Bureau of Land Management over cattle grazing fees. Bundy was caught on video kicking a government dog, according to media reports, and was tasered by BLM officers. A judge dismissed the charges against him in 2018 after a mistrial.
The judge accused the government of misconduct in how it managed the case and handled evidence.
“The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated,” Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro said, according to The Associated Press.
The Nevada standoff was infamous after images surfaced of the Bundys’ supporters pointing high-powered weapons at federal agents. Four Idahoans were part of the militia actively recruited by the family.
▪ Bundy was among seven defendants acquitted in a federal court case tied to the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016. Four Malheur occupiers were convicted after Bundy’s trial. Fourteen people pleaded guilty to crimes in the case, and one participant, LaVoy Finicum, was shot and killed during the standoff.
Bundy and his co-defendants faced charges of conspiracy to impede federal employees from discharging their duties and federal weapons charges. A juror told The Oregonian that the prosecution failed to prove a conspiracy took place, and that’s why Bundy and his co-defendants were acquitted.
“All 12 agreed that impeding existed, even if as an effect of the occupation,’‘ the juror wrote. “But we were not asked to judge on bullets and hurt feelings, rather to decide if any agreement was made with an illegal object in mind. It seemed this basic, high standard of proof was lost upon the prosecution throughout.’‘
Ammon Bundy’s testimony in the Malheur case lasted parts of three days, and included stories about ranch life and his family role in the Bunkerville, Nevada, standoff.
▪ Bundy’s winning streak in court ended July 1, 2021, in Boise when a jury found him guilty of misdemeanor counts of trespassing and resisting or obstructing officers. Bundy was arrested when he refused to leave the Lincoln Auditorium in the Idaho Statehouse on Aug. 25, 2020. He had to be wheeled out on a chair because he refused to stand and went limp, according to Idaho State Police.
Bundy again took the stand in this trial, testifying that he felt he was simply exercising his rights and not breaking any rules. The prosecution seized on that in its closing statements, saying the defendant can’t simply “admit every single element of these crimes, and then say, ‘I don’t believe in them.’ ”
Bundy was sentenced to time served (three days), community service and a $750 fine. He is appealing the conviction.
▪ Bundy was convicted of misdemeanor counts of trespassing and resisting or obstructing officers again March 16, 2022, in Boise. Those charges stemmed from two arrests on the same day in April 2021 for violating the one-year ban on visiting the Capitol that he received because of the 2020 incident. A hung jury was declared on a second trespassing charge.
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 8:07 PM.
