March 2017 – It Matters How You Stand

Malheur refuge reopens headquarters, with new ‘security measures’ in place

By Jamie Hale | The Oregonian/OregonLive | March 31, 2017 at 7:00 AM Once occupied and long closed to the public, the headquarters at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge is finally back open – but with some new security measures in place. The refuge headquarters re-opened last week, according to Brent Lawrence, public affairs officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, though the visitor’s center (also known as the nature center) will remain closed until later this spring. “It’s a public facility, it’s public lands and we welcome members of the public” to come visit, Lawrence said. “All things associated […]

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California man who refused to remove blog posts outing FBI informants arrested

Federal authorities have arrested California resident Gary Hunt after he failed to show up in U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown’s courtroom this month to explain why he shouldn’t be held in civil contempt for not removing from his blog information about informants the FBI used in its investigation of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Hunt, taken into custody in northern California Thursday on a warrant issued by Brown, is expected to be transferred to federal court in Oregon soon to attend what’s called a show cause hearing before the judge.

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Partially Informed Juries Convict the Innocent – Supreme Court Case

Today the Supreme Court will hear an appeal by seven of those men, who argue that prosecutors violated their right to due process by withholding evidence that would have cast doubt on the government’s allegations. The case shows why, more than half a century after the Court told prosecutors they have a constitutional duty to share evidence that might help defendants, prosecutors have little incentive to take that duty seriously.

In the 1963 case Brady v. Maryland, the Court held that “suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused…violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment.” The Court later explained that evidence is “material” when there is “any reasonable likelihood that it could have affected the judgment of the jury.”

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Shawna Cox: What America needs to know about the Bunkerville trial

We just want to tell the truth, so why can’t the media go into court and show the world what really goes on in these Federal Courts? Why are they only allowed to take notes and draw pictures? The defendants want an open court and have asked for it but the Judge still refuses media access. The information that goes out by way of the major media is only a spin because their reporters don’t even stay in the courtroom the whole day. They report things of very little concern and try to keep the public in the dark.

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Bundy Ranch – Urgent Call to Action

WE NEED YOUR ATTENTION URGENTLY, RYAN BUNDY IN HIS OWN WORDS ABOUT THE HORRIFIC CONDITIONS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
Please listen to this recording of Ryan Bundy dated March 24, 2017. The quality is bad due to the horrible quality of the phone that the prison provides to NON CONVICTED prisoners. But, you should be able to understand most of it, listen with earphones.
URGENT! CALL N. Hackmaster, Assistant Director Prison Operations, U.S. Marshal Service 703-740-8400.

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Government done calling witnesses in Bunkerville standoff trial

Federal investigators posed as documentary filmmakers in order to draw statements from some of the protesters as they were building their case.

Testimony at the trial revealed that one of the men, defendant Gregory Burleson, was a paid FBI informant from 2012 until an undisclosed date. What sort of information he provided was not disclosed, but he was known to be an active member of Arizona militia groups.

The men are standing trial on charges of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, aiding and abetting, interference with interstate commerce by extortion, and other counts.

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Bundy Protest Defender – I knelt and Prayed – Please God Stop My Hands From Shaking

Bundy Protest Defender Eric Parker – I knelt and Prayed – Please God, Stop My Hands From Shaking …
Eric Parker whom the Government refers to as “Black Hat” says in his Longbow interview – All I could do is hope I could give enough cover-fire so the women and children could get out if the BLM started shooting — I was on the bridge and I knelt to pray — Please God — Just stop my hands from shaking —
Operation Longbow was FBI agents pretending to be a documentary film crew who collected interviews without reading the targets their Miranda Rights —
Todd Engel was stripped of his right to defend himself!!
Gregory Burleson revealed as an FBI Informant since 2012
Government keeps talking about and showing close ups of a pink pistol on the hip of a woman but never mentions her name — I know who she is and tell you in this post —
Facebook info fueled many indictments and allowed informants to gather information about you —

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Nevada Assembly resolution supports national monument designations

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Assembly on Thursday introduced a resolution of support for the national monument designations that Gold Butte and the Basin and Range areas have.

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Gary Hunt – Burns Chronicles No 58 – “Twice Put in Jeopardy”

Burns Chronicles No 58 “Twice Put in Jeopardy” Gary Hunt Outpost of Freedom March 23, 2017 Of course, we must start with the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, as it is the “supreme Law of the Land. The pertinent part reads: “No person… shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” Now, that phrase, “twice put in jeopardy” is also referred to as “Double Jeopardy”, though whichever way we choose to phrase it, the meaning is quite simple. If you are charged with a crime, absent a mistrial […]

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Bundy defendants interviewed in undercover FBI operation

Undercover FBI agents posed as documentary filmmakers for a production titled “America Reloaded” to draw statements from the men who rushed to support rancher Cliven Bundy in his 2014 stand against the federal government.

The undercover operation has been alluded to in previous court filings, but it was detailed in federal court Wednesday when FBI Special Agent Charles Johnson testified as a government witness in the trial against six men accused of conspiring to block Bureau of Land Management agents from impounding Bundy’s cattle.

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Oregon standoff defendants: Outcomes, sentencing dates

By Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive Updated March 21, 2017 at 7:27 PM Pleas to felony charges in Oregon standoff case/sentencing dates: -Brian Cavalier pleaded guilty to two charges: conspiracy to impede and possession of firearms in a federal facilities. Sentenced Oct. 25, 2016 to time served, or nine months. -Blaine Cooper pleaded guilty to conspiracy charge. Sentencing set for May 24, 2017. -Jon Ritzheimer pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Sentencing set for June 21, 2017 -Joe O’Shaughnessy pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Sentencing set for Oct. 23, 2017. -Ryan Payne pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Sentencing set for June 15, 2017. -Wesley […]

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Judge issues guilty verdicts on 9 of 11 misdemeanor charges against four Oregon standoff defendants

A federal judge on Tuesday found four men guilty of trespassing and other misdemeanor charges for their roles in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last winter.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown issued her rulings in court against Jason Patrick, Duane Ehmer, Darryl Thorn and Jake Ryan — the final four defendants in the Malheur case to go on trial.

Shortly afterwards, Patrick was taken into custody by deputy U.S. marshals, after the judge ordered he be placed on electronic monitoring and given a curfew as he awaited sentencing.

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FaceBook as Criminal Evidence In Federal Court?

Las Vegas – As the fifth week of the first of three 2014 Bundy Ranch Standoff trials gets under way, prosecution continues its second week of Facebook evidence and supporting testimony. FBI agents made a methodical presentation of sections of more than 12,000 pages of Facebook posts and messages collected in a government search. FBI Agent Sara Draper, testified that over 1000+ FBI agents were used to gather and review the Facebook evidence being introduced.

Navarro rejected a steady litany of defense objections that the Facebook messages were more prejudicial than probative. Not all defendants were mentioned in the posts, nor have all yet been directly tied to militia organizations. While some militia groups portray themselves as constitutionally focused fraternal organizations that aid their local communities in times of crisis, others espouse anti-government rhetoric and even nationalistic and white supremacist views while advocating violence against federal employees.

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Justice Alito: U.S.’s dedication to religious liberty being tested

Madison — The U.S. is entering a period when its commitment to religious liberty is being tested, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito told an audience Wednesday at an event sponsored by a Catholic lawyers’ organization.

Alito used his own words from his dissent in the Supreme Court’s landmark same-sex marriage case, telling the gathering he had predicted opposition to the decision would be used to “vilify those who disagree, and treat them as bigots.”

“We are seeing this is coming to pass,” he said, then mentioned Bob Dylan’s famous song lyric, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

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No laughter allowed in court, but ‘Bundy Court Sketches’ provided plenty of laughs after court

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown often warned defendants, defense lawyers and spectators that she wouldn’t tolerate outbursts or laughter in the courtroom during the conspiracy trials against the occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

One man, often hunched over a small pad of paper and scribbling with a pencil in the back row, paid close attention to fill the void.

Scott Klatt would take notes on the witnesses or exchanges in court, quickly draw a brief scene, add a caption and some dialogue. Then he’d post his “Bundy Court Sketches” on Twitter and Facebook, providing plenty of laughs long after court recessed.

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Nevada Highway Patrol sergeant testifies in Bundy trial

A Nevada Highway Patrol sergeant who responded to the 2014 protests in Bunkerville testified Monday that he was “jealous” of one of Cliven Bundy’s supporters because the man carried a radio that broadcast police scanner activity better than a state-issued device.

“Our radios weren’t that clear. I was kind of jealous because his was better than ours,” Sgt. Shannon Selena told jurors Monday.

He was referring to Gregory Burleson, one of six men in the first group of a three-part federal trial against Bundy and 16 others accused of conspiring to block federal agents from rounding up the rancher’s cows. The jury seated for the first trial has heard hours of testimony about law enforcement’s assessment of the general threat level during the April 2014 standoff, but Monday marked the first time a government witness singled out a defendant for his role in the protests.

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Feds file motion to dismiss charges against Ammon Bundy’s lawyer Marcus Mumford

Special federal prosecutors assigned to the criminal case against Ammon Bundy’s lawyer filed a motion Monday to dismiss all the charges against Marcus Mumford.

The motion comes more than three weeks after a judge dropped one of three charges against Mumford and ruled that he would decide the remaining two charges after a trial.

It also comes on the first business day after a federal jury in Portland found four remaining defendants guilty on a variety of chargesstemming from the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

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Gary Hunt – Freedom of the Press #12 – Fully Biased Instigators

When I was in the Army, I had to obey the orders that were given to me, by my superiors. That obligation ceased nearly fifty years ago.

Since that time, I have only taken “orders” from my employer or supervisor, though I have given “orders” to subordinates, as a part of my supervisory responsibilities in various positions I have held.

I have also given “orders” for food or other purchases, as I don’t expect waitresses or clerks to be mind readers.

In all of the above instances, there has been a relationship predicated on the fact that there was some implied obligation by virtue of the relationship, fiduciary or voluntary, between the “orderer” and the “orderee“. Yes, I made those two words up, but I suppose that all reading this will get the point being made.

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Rancher standoff trials ask: When is a ‘journalist’ an ‘occupier’?

Some defendants in Nevada, Oregon prosecutions claim 1st Amendment press protection

A flurry of dramatic property and civil rights-related trials is taking place across the western U.S. in federal courts, in which defendants, including independent media representatives, are charged with up to 17 crimes each, from trespass to terrorism.

All the accused had confronted or ignored law-enforcement officers in group protests in either 2014’s Bunkerville, Nevada, confrontation or 2016’s similar standoff in Harney County, Oregon. Both showdowns were responses to perceived overreach of federal bureaucracies – chiefly the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Read reaction to split verdict in second Oregon standoff trial

Here’s what people are saying after the mixed verdicts Friday in the second Oregon standoff trial.

The jury found two of four defendants — Jason Patrick and Darryl Thorn — guilty of conspiracy in the 2016 takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and acquitted two others — Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan — on the conspiracy charge

But the jury found Ehmer and Ryan guilty of willfully damaging the refuge and found Thorn guilty of possessing a gun at a federal facility. Patrick and Ryan were acquitted on the gun charge.

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Two convicted and two acquitted of conspiracy in Oregon occupation trial

A federal jury Friday delivered a split verdict in the second Oregon standoff trial, finding two defendants guilty of conspiracy in the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge but acquitting two others of the same charge.

The jury found Jason Patrick, described by prosecutors as one of the organizers of the armed occupation, and Darryl Thorn, who worked on security details, guilty of conspiring to prevent federal workers from doing their jobs at the refuge through intimidation, threat or force. The other two men on trial, Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan, were found not guilty.

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‘Justice served’ with convictions in 2nd Oregon standoff trial, prosecutor says

A jury returned guilty verdicts Friday on at least one felony charge against each of the last four defendants in the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge – a victory for prosecutors who took a devastating blow at the first trial.

Defense lawyers immediately decried the convictions of the more minor players as a miscarriage of justice when the ringleaders got off last fall.

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Prosecutors reflect on refuge takeover trials after Friday’s verdicts

Oregon’s U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said he was in constant communication with federal Justice officials in Washington, D.C. during the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, through the development of the prosecution case and on charging decisions.

“Anytime there’s a case of national significance, we consult with main Justice,” Williams said.

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Defendant’s medical complaint interrupts standoff trial

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A medical complaint by a defendant with a history of health problems briefly interrupted a trial Thursday in Las Vegas for six men accused of wielding guns during a 2014 armed standoff between followers of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and federal agents.

An attorney for Gregory Burleson rose suddenly during testimony and told Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro that Burleson needed immediate attention.

Attorneys and spectators in the courtroom said Burleson became pale and his hands were shaking when the judge called a two-hour break.

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