Cliven Bundy and Four Others Indicted by Federal Grand Jury

“Persons who use force and violence against federal law enforcement officers who are enforcing court orders, and almost causing catastrophic loss of life or injury to others, will be brought to justice”, U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden said.

Bundy faces charges of conspiracy over his standoff with federal officials two years ago.

10, 2016 booking photo provided by the Multnomah County, Ore., Sheriff ” s office shows Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.

Rather than risk a firefight, the agents abandoned the approximately 400 head of cattle. In addition to conspiring among themselves to plan and execute these crimes, the defendants recruited, organized, and led hundreds of other followers in using armed force against law enforcement officers in order to thwart the seizure and removal of Cliven Bundy’s cattle from federal public lands.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management sent armed rangers to his ranch to round up his cattle.

“Raised in the wild, Bundy’s cattle are left to fend for themselves year-round, fighting off predators and scrounging for the meager amounts of food and water available in the hard and arid terrain that comprises the public lands in that area of the country”. Bundy reacted to the arrest of his sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and the death of his friend Robert “LaVoy” Finicum during a traffic stop in Oregon Tuesday.

At his bail hearing Tuesday, we learned quite a few things – from the reason it’s taken the Feds this long to act, to the fact that when it comes to ranching, Bundy is more of a insane cat lady than a cowboy.

According to national news reports, Bundy flew to Oregon Wednesday night to help negotiate a settlement between federal officers and the remaining four people who had occupied a federal building in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge since January 2.

Parts of the narrative of the April 12, 2014 standoff presented in the 51-page indictment read like a tale from the old West, with gunmen on horseback challenging officials over an impounded herd of cattle.

The indictment also cites several alleged threats to civilians and federal officials in the run-up to the standoff. According to FBI surveillance reported in the Justice Department memo, there were Bundy supporters with rifles on high ground serving as lookouts, and snipers aiming at federal agents from bridges.

Ammon Bundy’s attorney, Mike Arnold, said, “the Nevada indictment is no surprise”.

“It’s important for the public to remember that there is a constitutional presumption of innocence in America, Arnold said”. Cliven Bundy’s attorney says the government’s charges are not proof a crime was committed. He stopped paying his grazing fees and allowed the cows to run free for decades, despite multiple federal court orders that he remove them. He said he and his followers were demonstrating against the return to prison of Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steve Hammond, and the federal government’s control of public land.

Two counts of threatening a federal law enforcement officer. Ammon is a rancher in Idaho, Ryan works a ranch in Nevada, Peter Santilli is from OH, and Ryan Payne is a Montana rancher.