Jurors due to deliberate Nevada case of
Bundy ranch standoff
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[April 13, 2017]
By John L. Smith
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A jury is due to
begin deliberations after closing arguments conclude on Thursday in the
trial of six men accused of acting as gunmen for cattle rancher Cliven
Bundy in a tense 2014 standoff with federal law enforcement officers.
The six defendants are the first of 17 people to go on trial on charges
related to the standoff at Bundy's property near Bunkerville, 75 miles
(120 km) northeast of Las Vegas, in a case that has come to symbolize
tensions in the U.S. West over the federal ownership of land that
ranchers use to graze cattle.
The defendants were among hundreds who traveled to the ranch to stand up
for Bundy, whose refusal to pay $1 million in grazing fees for running
his cattle on federal land had become a cause celebre on the political
right.
Bundy and two of his sons are defendants in the second of three
scheduled federal trials later this year.
Jurors are expected to begin deliberation as early as Thursday afternoon
after closing arguments for the defendants are completed.
Gregory Burleson, O. Scott Drexler, Todd Engel, Ricky Lovelien, Eric
Parker and Steven Stewart are charged with conspiracy against the
government, conspiracy to impede a federal officer, assault, threatening
and obstruction of justice.
They are also charged with extortion, interstate travel in aid of
extortion and using a firearm during a crime of violence.
During the eight-week trial, defense attorneys have described their
clients as patriotic citizens who learned from social media and the
internet of federal efforts to remove Bundy’s cattle from federal public
lands.
Lawyers for the defendants said in their closing arguments on Wednesday
that the men did not pose a threat but were simply backing Bundy in a
dispute over the government's land-use policy.
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Protesters gather at the
Bureau of Land Management's base camp, where cattle that were seized
from rancher Cliven Bundy are being held, near Bunkerville, Nevada,
U.S. on April 12, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo
Prosecutors, however, have claimed the men were willing to use
“armed force, threats and intimidation” to enforce Bundy’s desire to
see his impounded cattle returned.
“They thought they were going to die out there for simply carrying
out their duties,” Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas
Dickinson said during closing arguments on Wednesday in reference to
the outgunned Bureau of Land Management rangers and National Park
Service officers who were assigned to provide security for a
court-ordered roundup of Bundy’s cattle.
The trial in U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro’s courtroom made use
of voluminous audio, video and still photography that captured the
drama, which ended peacefully.
(Reporting by John L. Smith in Las Vegas; Editing by Brendan O'Brien
and Tom Heneghan)
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