Jurors in the first Bunkerville standoff trial finished their second day of deliberations Monday without reaching a verdict.
The jury received the case Thursday, after hearing two months of testimony in the trial of six people charged as “gunmen” in the April 2014 armed standoff near Cliven Bundy’s ranch. The men are accused of conspiring with Bundy to stop federal agents from seizing his cattle from public land.
There is considerable consternation in rural counties across the West over the Trump administration planning to cut the size of Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) checks this year. The current budget blueprint calls for cuts but doesn’t specify how much.
Because the federal government does not pay property taxes, since 1977 Congress has seen fit to dole out to counties — calculated based on population and number of acres of federal public land — PILT checks to help pay for everything from schools, to police, fire, social services, etc. Since 85 percent of Nevada is owned by various federal land agencies, that is a lot of property tax to forgo.
BURNS, Ore. — A year ago, this corner of rural Oregon became center stage in the drawn-out drama over public lands when armed militia leaders seized a national wildlife refuge, arguing that the government had too much control of land in the West.
Now that President Trump is in office, people here and in other parts of the 11 states where 47 percent of the landmass is publicly owned are watching to see what he will do on everything related to public lands, from coal mining and cattle grazing to national monuments and parks. In Burns, some ranchers and others are feeling emboldened, hopeful that regulatory rollbacks by the federal government will return lands to private use and shore up a long-struggling economy.
But the change in administration has also spawned a countermovement of conservatives and corporate executives who are speaking up alongside environmentalists in defense of public lands and now worry about losing access to hunting grounds and customers who prize national parks and wildlife.
CARSON CITY — Nevada’s top election official on Friday opened an investigation into alleged voter fraud in last year’s election, saying her office has uncovered evidence that non-citizens had cast ballots.
“Based on new information we have recently uncovered, we have initiated an investigation into illegal votes cast in the last general election,” Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske told the Review-Journal late Friday.
“Our office has been clear; we will investigate any allegation of election law violations that may jeopardize the integrity of Nevada’s voting process.”
Her office Friday sent a letter to the head of the Department of Motor Vehicles about voter registration forms issued by the DMV.
“It has come to our attention that when offering voter registration opportunities to customers, DMV’s employees offer voter registration materials to DMV customers whom they know to be non-citizens based on their presentation of a Green Card for identification purposes,” Cegavske wrote in a letter to DMV Director Terri Albertson.
A federal prosecutor on Wednesday characterized six Bunkerville protesters as militiamen who heeded rancher Cliven Bundy’s call to arms, while defense attorneys used closing arguments to portray the men as peaceful demonstrators who asserted their constitutional rights.
After six hours of impassioned arguments in a full-to-capacity Las Vegas courtroom, the first of three conspiracy trials resulting from the 2014 standoff in Bunkerville still had not been sent to the jury. Several more lawyers are scheduled to give their closing arguments when court resumes Thursday.
As an Independent journalist it has not been easy to penetrate the Blue Wall Of Silence that exist in Las Vegas Nevada. Frustratingly, politicians and local officials were willing to talk to me all day long about the corruption in the Las Vegas City Metro Police Dept. but only with the understanding that their comments would be kept “off the record” and their “identities” not exposed. “I mean after all, I gotta live and work in this town” seemed to be the favored, almost robotic response when asked if I could quote them or use their name in my upcoming article — and so, the corruption cycles on.
Attorney Marcus Mumford, who last month had criminal charges dismissed against him stemming from his arrest on the day his client Ammon Bundy was acquitted of conspiracy in federal court in Portland, now faces more legal challenges.
Oregon’s Chief U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman is seeking to revoke Mumford’s ability to practice law in any federal court in the District of Oregon, a rare move.
The judge has given Mumford until May 4 to argue in writing why he should not impose such a sanction.
This past Saturday, April 8, I returned home from a week long visit the Sacramento County Jail. I was in jail based upon a Warrant for my arrest for failing to appear at a show cause hearing on March 10. The Warrant and what led up to it will be the subject of a future article.
I am writing this article to explain a system that, quite frankly, ignores our rights, especially when only accused of a crime. It will give a little insight into life behind bars, at least those of the Sacramento County Jail. I can’t say that this compares to the treatment that those currently held in jail in Oregon (Jason Patrick) or Nevada (many still innocent people) are receiving, but, perhaps it will help to understand that they are being treated similarly, or worse.
It will also explain what I have gone through. Now, when I go to Court in Portland, next month, I will be entering the courtroom on the terms that I had to establish. Fortunately, though without a plan going in, the final result is that I achieved a bit more than I could have expected, thanks to Judge Anna Brown.
Federal prosecutors have asked for a start date of June 5 or later in the trial against cattle rancher Cliven Bundy and four other men accused of leading an armed assault on law enforcement officers in 2014.
Closing arguments are expected this week in the trial against the first six defendants charged in the armed standoff in Bunkerville, which occurred after Bureau of Land Management agents tried to carry out an operation to impound Bundy’s cattle from public lands. The trial against the second group of defendants, whom prosecutors have identified as the “leaders” of the standoff, was originally scheduled to open 30 days after the verdict in the first trial.
Ontario, Canada’s Patriot One Technologies debuted the NForce CMR1000 this week at the International Security Conference & Exposition, called ISC West. The Security Industry Association awarded the device the top honor in the anti-terrorism category in the conference’s new product showcase.
Here’s why: The device, hidden under floor boards or behind wall panels, uses radar technology to alert security personnel to the presence of a concealed weapon, according to the company. It will pick up on the shape and metal composition of a concealed item and send an alert to a computer or cellphone: There’s an 84 percent chance this individual has a gun. Or perhaps a knife or a pressure cooker that could be an improvised explosive.
The alert would come with a surveillance image of the subject. The radar sweep can also pick up some plastics and ceramics.
Dinesh Kandanchatha, Patriot One Technologies’ president and chief technology officer, demonstrated the device for the Las Vegas Review-Journal at the Westgate Las Vegas on Thursday.
By Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive | April 07, 2017 at 5:34 PM Federal prosecutors in Nevada have asked a judge to schedule the second Bunkerville conspiracy trial for rancher Cliven Bundy, his sons Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy and other leading defendants stemming from the 2014 armed standoff near the family ranch for no earlier than June 5. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre urged the court to set a definitive date to help lawyers on both sides prepare for the second trial and assist witnesses in making travel arrangements. The request comes as the prosecutors are still in the […]
Idaho gun enthusiast Eric Parker banked on his commitment to self-defense Thursday when he stepped to the witness stand and tried to convince jurors he played no role in a conspiracy to bully federal agents into abandoning their roundup of hundreds of rancher Cliven Bundy’s cows.
“I didn’t care about the cows,” said Parker, 33, who is one of six people charged as “gunmen” in the 2014 armed standoff in Bunkerville. During the standoff, Parker was photographed pointing a long gun through a jersey barrier on the Interstate 15 overpass that overlooked the sandy ditch where protesters were face-to-face with federal agents.
On January 12, 2016, it was reported by The Oregonian, that a self-proclaimed “U.S. Superior Court judge”, Bruce Doucette, who has been involved in past property rights protests in other states arrived Tuesday in Burns with plans to convene an extra-legal “citizens grand jury” that he said will review evidence that public officials may have committed crimes.
Bruce Doucette, Is reported as being indicted today, the following article publish by the Boulder Daily Camera.
California resident Gary Hunt, speaking by phone from jail Thursday, promised he would show up to court in Portland to defend his right to publish details about FBI informants involved in the investigation of the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
“I give my word, my bond, my honor that I will appear at a time designated by the court,” Hunt told U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown. “Believe it or not, I’ve been looking forward to discussing the issue in your presence.”
The judge responded that she needed more than “his word” before she approved his release from custody.
Atrocities in Gloria Navarro’s Federal Court Room today have the Bundy Ladies and everyone there dumbfounded and appalled. What is happening? What Can We do?
Terri Linnell is known as “Mama Bear” to the Patriot community. She has been an activist since 2008, when her sleeping giant started to awaken. Terri has been to Washington DC three times for redress of grievances, and participated in the Bundy Ranch Standoff in Nevada.
She is known as “Betsy Ross” to the FBI community. She was given that name by the FBI when she agreed to be an informant at the Malheur Wildlife Protest in Burns, Oregon, during January 2016. Linnell later testified for the defense, stating clearly it was just a protest, protected under the first amendment.
Terri’s time as an informant was under 6 months, yet she will give you some insight to the inner workings of the FBI, and their handling of “Confidential Human Sources” and how the government is absolutely watching citizens.
John Ruhs, who as director of the Bureau of Land Management’s Nevada state office drew widespread praise for helping defuse tensions between the agency and ranchers following the Cliven Bundy standoff three years ago, has been appointed BLM’s acting deputy director of operations.
Ruhs will replace Jerry Perez, who at the end of next month will return to California to resume his duties as state director, Mike Nedd, BLM’s acting director, said in an email sent yesterday to members of the agency’s executive leadership team.
This interview from 2/10/17 of Gary Hunt by The Official Hagmann & Hagmann Report, is a full hour and forty minutes of interview. Topics covered from his beginning as Surveyor with IRS Difficulties in the 1980’s, to Court Orders from Anna Brown Related to his coverage of The Malhuer Wildlife Refuge Adverse Possession Attempt. Gary in his own words answers many question that people have recently put forth about his history and Character. A very Interesting and Eye Opening watch.
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 […]
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
