Cliven Bundy, called ‘lawless and violent,’ to stay in jail

A federal judge in Portland denied Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy bail at a hearing Tuesday.

Near the conclusion of the showdown at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge last week, as the final straggling rebels raised their hands in surrender, Cliven Bundy, the architect of false-government-defiance in the name of rancher’s rights, was arrested in Portland, Oregon, while trying to join his anti-gov. cowboy buddies.

Ammon Bundy, of Idaho, Ryan Bundy, of Nevada, Ryan Payne, of Montana, and Peter Santilli of OH, were also indicted by the Nevada grand jury Wednesday. “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”.

The charges against them and Cliven Bundy include: conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, weapon use and possession, assault on a federal officer, threatening a federal law enforcement officer, obstruction, extortion to interfere with commerce, and interstate travel in aid of extortion.

“Today marks a tremendous step toward ending more than 20 years of law breaking”, Bureau of Land Management Director Neil Kornze said in a statement.

Bundy is also facing five counts of criminal forfeiture, which could cost him to the tune of $3 million plus cattle at Bunkerville Allotment and Lake Mead National Recreational Area in Nevada.

But the government now argues that its retreat from Bundy’s property was a deliberate attempt to de-escalate a potentially violent situation while the FBI launched a massive investigation into identifying who was present at the ranch and whether they can be charged. But Stewart sided with the government, finding that Bundy had established a pattern of disregard for the orders of federal judges and calling him both a flight risk and a threat to public safety.

Bundy claims those lands are his, but federal courts and legal scholars disagree. Bundy refused, and the government announced plans to seize his cattle in April 2014.

Ammon Bundy is accused of leading a group of around 200 armed protesters to confront the federal agents holding the cattle.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land called the Gold Butte surrounds the ranch.

When reached by The Huffington Post, Noel Grefenson, the court-appointed attorney for Bundy, declined to comment on the government’s claims about Bundy’s ranching practices. A few days after the 2014 standoff, Ammon Bundy appeared in an interview on the “Pete Santilli Show”, whose namesake later joined Ammon Bundy as a co-defendant in the current federal case.

BLM and National Park Service rangers were outnumbered 4-to-1 by Bundy and his supporters at the height of the standoff on April 12, 2014, the complaint alleges.

Ammon Bundy said in the message Thursday that the resistance was justified.

When agents arrived at the site of the Nevada standoff, Bundy indeed seemed prepared for armed conflict.