Category Archives: News

News

Oregon standoff defendants seek Pete Santilli testimony to impeach government witness

Defense lawyers for the four Oregon standoff defendants set for trial this week want Pete Santilli, who awaits prosecution in Nevada, to be flown to Oregon to testify on their behalf and to impeach another co-defendant, Blaine Cooper, now expected to be a government witness.

Jury selection starts Tuesday morning for the remaining four defendants accused of federal conspiracy, weapons and depredation of government property charges stemming from the 41-day seizure of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last winter.

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Jury seated for first trial in Bunkerville standoff case

Opening statements are scheduled for Thursday in the conspiracy trial against six men accused of participating in an armed standoff against federal law enforcement agents who tried to impound rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle.

Prosecutors characterize the six men as the “least culpable” among 17 co-conspirators facing trial on extortion, assault and other charges resulting from the 2014 confrontation between anti-government protesters and Bureau of Land Management agents near Bundy’s ranch in Bunkerville.

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Oregon standoff defendants who dug trenches on refuge contend they were for self-defense

There’s no dispute that Oregon standoff defendants Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan used a government excavator to dig two trenches during the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

The argument during their trial starting next week will be whether the two “willfully” broke the law, knowing the excavator and land belonged to the federal government, and that they went ahead anyway.

Prosecutors will play videos taken by David Fry, another refuge occupier, and aerial surveillance videos showing Ehmer and Ryan taking turns using the excavator to dig the trenches on Jan. 27, the day after the arrest of takeover leaders and the police shooting of occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum.

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Judge stands by ruling restricting refuge employees from talking about their fears

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown is standing by her past ruling that employees at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge can’t testify about any fear they may have felt during last winter’s occupation by armed protesters.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow had urged the judge to reconsider and allow limited testimony in the second occupation trial from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service employees who worked at the refuge. He said he expected one or more employees would testify that they had seen media coverage of the armed takeover and as a result, “feared coming to work.”

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Oregon standoff defendant Duane Ehmer gets into heated exchange with prosecutor

Note: Graphic language included in story.

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Duane Ehmer, one of four remaining defendants set for trial this month in the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, got into a testy exchange with a federal prosecutor when he took the witness stand Monday during a pretrial hearing.

At one point, Ehmer blurted out: “That’s bullshit!” in response to a prosecutor’s remark and question. U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown interrupted to remind Ehmer that he was in a courtroom and to “please refrain from using coarse language.”

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3 Oregon standoff defendants plead guilty to trespass, pay $1,000 restitution

Three of seven remaining Oregon standoff defendants each pleaded guilty Monday to a single misdemeanor trespass charge and were sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to pay $1,000 restitution to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Idaho couple Sean Anderson and Sandra Anderson and Dylan Anderson of Provo, Utah, each admitted they entered, occupied and used the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge without authorization.

Sean and Sandra Anderson were among the last four holdouts at the federal sanctuary last winter. Dylan Anderson isn’t related to them. He spent about three weeks at the refuge.

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BLM schedules public forum about Gold Butte National Monument

The Bureau of Land Management will host a two-hour public forum Thursday in Mesquite to answer questions and quell rumors about the new Gold Butte National Monument.

Representatives from Clark County, the City of Mesquite and the Virgin Valley Water District will attend the 5 p.m. meeting at Mesquite City Hall, 10 E. Mesquite Blvd.

BLM officials will make a short presentation and then take questions from the audience.

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First of 3 trials in Bunkerville standoff case starts Monday in Las Vegas

Gunfire wasn’t exchanged during an armed confrontation in Bunkerville three years ago, but the opposing sides will finally head to battle this week when the first trial opens in the case against rancher Cliven Bundy and his supporters.

The case pits the federal government against a group of men who view its agents as foreign invaders on their land, and the venue change, from open range to federal court, has done little to civilize that hostile dynamic. The clashes are expected to be just as fiery in the confines of a courtroom as they were on the sandy banks of Toquop Wash, where in April 2014 Bundy and his supporters were engaged in a dramatic standoff against Bureau of Land management agents who tried to round up the rancher’s cattle.

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Attorneys Denied Access Before Trial

Prison refuses to grant group meeting…

Tier 3 defendants now reside at the Henderson Detention Center in Henderson, NV. Henderson is closer to the Courthouse which makes for a substantially reduced commute to and from trial. Henderson also has individual cells, (as opposed to Pahrump’s 50 bunk bed per pod layout); the men should get better sleep. There are issues though.

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Mel Bundy’s Wife Updates us on Reactions and responses from CCA Nevada Southern Detention Center

The warden just came in to Mel’s pod. Mel informed her of the atrocities taking place in her facility. He told her he spoke to his attorney and will be filing a class action suit against the facility. The harassment by Mrs. Taylor the librarian, Mrs downing the commissary lady, the campus guard and the staff overseeing visitation with the exception of Dave at the front desk will stop. There will be consequences for their abuse. She is back peddling pretty hard. Claims she was never told about these terrible things. Mel told her it was because her employees are covering each other’s tails. She wants me to contact her to work things out and fix the situation, claiming it was all a misunderstanding. I will not entertain it. We will go through with this suit so that not 1 other person will have to put up with the things my family and our friends have had to put up with at the hands of this facility. People need to be held accountable for their actions. They need to be treating people kindly. With respect and dignity. My children deserve better than what they witnessed yesterday. Prisons for profit need to be eliminated from this country. They are a crime

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Review-Journal seeks access to jurors’ names in Bundy trial

Lawyers for the Las Vegas Review-Journal filed a motion Friday seeking access to jury information in the upcoming trial against associates of rancher Cliven Bundy.

The motion, filed in federal court in Las Vegas, asks a judge for access to jurors’ names. It also seeks access to copies of the questionnaires sent out to potential jurors.

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Wife & Children of Political Prisoner, Mel Bundy, Turned away from visiting after driving 2 hours to Pahrump, Nevada.

Briana shares her Experience today when attempting to visit her husband Mel Bundy at The CCA Operated – Nevada Southern Detention Center. Mel Bundy is one of the Bundy Ranch Political Prisoners that have been held for a year in this facility without pretrial release and not convicted. This is not the first time, one of the ladies with their kids has been treated badly. Please take a look at what she has to share. I have included the Visitation FAQ from the facilities website. Please consider consider sharing and/or contacting the Warden at this facility and ask why this is happening to the women at the facility. Please be polite and respectful if you do.

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Four of remaining seven Oregon standoff defendants set to change pleas on Monday

Four of the seven remaining Oregon standoff defendants who were set to go to trial on Feb. 14 have decided to accept negotiated deals, and change their pleas during hearings in federal court on Monday.

Sean Anderson and his wife Sandra Anderson, who were among the last four holdouts at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, as well as Dylan Anderson and Darryl Thorn are expected to enter pleas to a single trespass charge, a misdemeanor, and have the remaining felony and misdemeanor charges dismissed.

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Attorneys suggest BLM agent accused of misconduct could be central to Bundy case

Defense attorneys representing men charged as co-conspirators of rancher Cliven Bundy have raised concerns that a Bureau of Land Management supervisor recently acccused of ethics violations is the same person who oversaw agency officials during the armed standoff in Bunkerville in April 2014.

In a scathing report released this week, the Office of the Inspector General accuses an unnamed BLM supervisory agent of using his position to obtain sold-out Burning Man tickets in 2015. The report includes allegations that the agent intimidated employees who may have reported his wrongdoing, and it accuses him of threatening to ruin subordinates’ careers by saying things like, “If you’re not on my ship, you’re going to sink … so I suggest you get on my ship.”

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Oregon occupation defendant asks court to remove judge from misdemeanor trial

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown shouldn’t preside over the trial of defendants facing misdemeanor charges in the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge because she met privately with jurors who acquitted Ammon Bundy after the first Oregon standoff trial last fall, one of the defendants argues in amotion filed late Wednesday.

“The Court not only answered questions the jurors had, but also discussed the merits of the case with specific reference to potential misdemeanor offenses that could have been used by the government, including trespass and the perceived inadequacy of a sentence to the government” if it had pursued such a charge, Duane Ehmer’s lawyer, Michele Kohler, wrote in a motion to recuse the judge.

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Gary Hunt – The Bundy Affair #20 The Invisible Witness

I have been so busy writing about the goings on in Oregon that I haven’t had much opportunity to consider the situation in Nevada. As I have told those that I been working with regarding the Group 1 trial in Oregon, who have all started concentrating their efforts in Nevada. I told those who I had been working with in Oregon, “You all get to work down where it is warm and sunny, while I’m still stuck up here where there is snow on the ground, and it is cold.” Seriously, however, I am in Northern California, about halfway between the two. But, I was spending my time primarily on the Oregon, Ammon Bundy, et al, case.

Then, the government filed a Motion. Upon reading the Motion, I found that the US Attorney has decided to invite me down to Nevada, an offer I couldn’t refuse.

On January 27, 2017, the government filed “Government’s Motion for Protective Order Regarding Undercover Employee“. It is their effort to hide from the defense the identification of an Undercover Employee (UCE).

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BLM Agent Daniel P. Love Under Fire By Bundy Case Attorney After Inspector General Probe Finds Him Guilty Of Misconduct

Las Vegas Nevada: On Wednesday Attorney Chris Rasmussen filed a Motion For Review of BLM Personnel Records after a scathing report released by the Office Of The Inspector General, said a Special Agent In Charge of the BLM was found to have committed Ethical Violations and Misconduct during an event in 2015 called “Burning Man” held in Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

The report contained points of interest for attorneys fighting an uphill battle in the Bundy Ranch case, especially the part about the Special Agent trying to intimidate and influence witnesses in his ethics investigation.

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REPORT RELEASED – Investigation of Ethical Misconduct and Violations by BLM Supervisory Agent

We investigated allegations that a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) supervisory agent used his official position to provide preferential treatment for family members attending the 2015 Burning Man event in Nevada. The allegations also indicated that the agent intervened improperly in a 2015 hiring process for a special agent position that facilitated the hiring of his friend instead of other qualified applicants.

We found that the agent violated Federal ethics rules when he used his influence with Burning Man officials to obtain tickets and special passes for his family. He also directed on-duty BLM law enforcement employees to escort his family in BLM-procured vehicles, drove his BLM vehicle with his girlfriend, and directed his employee to make hotel reservations for his guests. We also confirmed the supervisory agent’s intervention in the special agent hiring process to benefit a friend.

We forwarded our report to the U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management for action, and we received a response from the Assistant Secretary.

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Ryan Bundy goes on the attack during hearing in Las Vegas

JENNY WILSON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Ryan Bundy, accused of leading the 2014 standoff near his father’s ranch in Bunkerville, testified Tuesday that the charges detailed in the 16-count indictment against him describe the actions of federal agents who tried to impound his father’s cattle.

“The wrong people are in jail,” Bundy testified during an unusual, six-hour detention hearing at which the rancher’s son, who has been incarcerated for a year, argued for his release pending trial on extortion, conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, and other charges resulting from the April 2014 confrontation.

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Fed prosecutors want judge to order Gary Hunt to appear in court to show why he should not be held in contempt of court

Fed prosecutors want judge to order Gary Hunt to appear in court to show why he should not be held in contempt of court

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Ensuring that “the meeting with LaVoy Finicum that never happened”, happens, is important.

Ensuring that “the meeting with LaVoy Finicum that never happened”, happens, is important. In so doing we honor all those who have courageously stood against what felt like the unbeatable. What a wonderful day it was when the jury gave a not guilty verdict to the first set of political prisoners.

This was bitter sweet day for the Finicum family because LaVoy Finicum would have been sent home that day if it was not for out of control agents who had denied LaVoy his right to life, due process and a fair trial.

Finicum Family Liberty Rising Mission

We the Finicum Family, seeking to better understand, maintain and defend our God given rights to further our eternal happiness, will virtuously let our voices be heard educating on the principles of the Constitution and our testimonies be seen for Personal Property Rights, Liberty, Freedom and one that has become even more near and dear to us as of late, the importance of LIFE

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Utah leaders issue resolution to undo decades of federal monuments injustices

On Jan. 26, 2017 the Utah House Rules Committee passed both resolution, H.C.R. 11 urging President Trump to rescind the Bears Ears National Monument Designation, and H.C.R. 12 Resolution Urging Federal Legislation to Reduce or Modify the Boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Both resolutions passed six to two. H.C.R 11 was introduced by Speaker of the Utah House of Representative, Greg Hughes, with witness support from all three San Juan County Commissioners: Rebecca Benally, Phil Lyman, and Bruce Adams.

Rep. Michael E. Noel presented H.C.R. 12. This was written in cooperation with Kane and Garfield County elected officials. Commissioner Leland Pollack, Sterling Brown of the Farm Bureau, and Matt Anderson of Sutherland Institute also gave testimony.

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Crowd of 500, including some Oregon standoff defendants, salute Robert ‘LaVoy’ Finicum

JOHN DAY — Caravans of trucks with American flags and “Don’t Tread on Me” banners rolled into town over several days to gather Saturday night for a conclave that was part memorial, part reunion and part religious revival.

A crowd of more than 500 people grew still as Jeanette Finicum took the microphone.

“They silenced one man’s voice,” she said, speaking of husband Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, an Arizona rancher shot and killed by police as he and others occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge were traveling north to this eastern Oregon town of about 1,700.

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FBI agent testifies about arrest of Oregon standoff defendant Darryl Thorn at Redmond Super 8 Motel

On Friday, FBI Special Agent Troy Nicoll testified about the arrest.

Nicoll was riding in an FBI surveillance van that pulled up to the front of the motel when the agents got word Thorn was in the lobby about 9:05 a.m. on Feb. 11, the day that the final four holdouts at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge surrendered to authorities after a 41-day occupation.

“Darryl?” Nicoll asked as he approached Thorn in the continental breakfast area. Five other agents entered the lobby as well.

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