A jury has found that brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy were not guilty of conspiring against the government, a surprising end to the high-profile Oregon standoff trial that sparked national debates about public lands and the rights of ranchers in the American west.
The decision, unveiled in federal court in Portland on Thursday, is a blow to the US government, which had aggressively prosecuted the rightwing activists who led an armed takeover of public property to protest American land-use regulations.
The Bundy brothers, who orchestrated a 2 January takeover of the Malheur national wildlife refuge, were acquitted on a number of serious charges, along with five other defendants. Only a day earlier the court dismissed a juror over fears of bias, raising concerns that the trial would drag on for weeks.
“We are just so excited,” Angie Bundy, Ryan’s wife, told the Guardian after the verdict was announced. “We’ve been praying hard, and we knew they hadn’t done anything wrong.”
They illegally took over a federal building, damaged government property, and threatened violence against law enforcement, and they just get to walk?
The whole case was a like a circus side show from the start with all kinds of bizarre demands from the Bundy boys, including asking to be paid a million dollars for being a defendant, and a request for the return of their guns, not to mention that at one point Ryan Bundy tried to break out of prison.
In fact even the end of this trial was insane.
At one point the defendants attorney was tackled to the ground and tazed, for reasons that remain a little unclear.
Ultimately I see this as setting a really bad precedent that is only going to encourage more of these sovereign citizen types to stage protests and take up arms against the federal government, and that can only lead to more people being killed.
For those who are curious there is a Twitter account from an Orgeonian reporter that will bring you right up to speed on all of this.
This is an outrage and miscarriage of justice! :(
ReplyDeleteThe jury was rigged !!!
ReplyDeleteDisgusting and who foots the bill, we the taxpayers.
Jury of peers:
DeleteJury Latin "jurare", meaning to swear.
"Peers" is more a term English law than American law, where all citizens are equal. It means your SOCIAL equals."
Read some of the details:
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/10/judge_welcomes_new_juror_direc.html
FUCK THIS SHIT!
Deletehttp://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2016/10/video-dakota-access-pipeline-protest-absolutely-nuts-total-war-zone
Juries are an anachronism from old England when people didn't know better. For a variety of reasons, they don't belong in a modern court system.
DeleteIn this country, we have a jury of our neighbors.
DeleteThe DOJ under-charged them in the first place. The saddest thing is all but one of them got off. One of them paid with his life. Say what you want about Lavoy Finicum being a complete dumbass for reaching for his gun, but I feel sorry for his family, the boy he had who's still in high school.
Well, gosh, Gryphen, they wuz just some guuuud ole' boys, never meaning no harrrrm...it wasn't like they were, you know, existing while black or anything. /sarcasm.
ReplyDeleteThe truth. Some will never admit it tho.
Deleteexisting while black or anything.
Delete--
Existing while non-white. And this white female is pissed beyond measure at this point.
So, I guess they're going to stop calling the Black Lives Matter protesters terrorists and quit carting away Standing Rock protesters. Yes, freedoms not free in this country if you've got pigmentation.
ReplyDeleteGosh, they just had their guns cuz they allowed to do open carry--wasn't meaning to threaten no one, no how. Them guvmint workers coulda still done their jobs, the protesters woulda let them. Them guvmint workers didn't try. They just wanted to persecute po' little hard workin white American children of God. So as soon as them Bundy boys came by to ask for some redress, them guvmint workers started all these problems.
DeleteOne of the jurors said that the prosecution didn't prove their case about "conspiracy". Then said that the jurors were all set to vote not guilty except that 1 juror who used to work for the Bureau of Land Management, so they basically threw him off the jury. Not only that, but that it didn't matter if the not guilty verdict meant other wackos would be encouraged.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw how quickly they came to a verdict after getting the one juror kicked off, that to me seemed like a conspiracy. He was in the way so they accused him of being biased. According to him, the other 11 walked in to deliberation with their minds made up. And, yes, juror 4, a Business Student, said the prosecution was arrogant and couldn't prove conspiracy. What?
DeleteJust imagine if BLACK people or NATIVE AMERICANS with AR-15's took over a post office or school, or wildlife refuge.
ReplyDeleteHow many minutes before teargas & rubber bullets would be raining down on them like a hail storm?
This is nothing but conspiracy by the jury, and the judge should throw this out
This is nothing but conspiracy by the jury, and the judge should throw this out
Delete***
I agree! But the judge didn't throw it out and what to do now?
Lots of Depolorables live up in OR! The economy is in the shitter and they all enjoy ORcare, and all the gov Freestuff, but love Trump& Bundy! I know b/c my brother is one of them. He told me proudly he is voting for trump and there will be a "revolution" if he doesn't win. I saw that all of them any of 'em need to go directly to TrumpTower and get ready for the celebration! All depolorables go to Trump tower! Don't worry about paying or anything just do like you did in the gov building and camp out. What's anyone to do?
ReplyDeleteGo for it.
I do find this distressing but I'm sure if anyone of them step on a crack on the sidewalk they will be arrested again. Maybe even shot.
Meanwhile Native Americans trying to defend their land against a pipeline are having their horses shot and being tazed.
I do think we will get a Senate & congress out of this election and get some amendments to the constitution against hate speech and guns and other things like have sane people run for potus that isn't being done now with the donothing republican congress. It won't be easy.
Oh and the R comey FBI agent is reopening the hugely bigly emaily scandaly that the republican party created. may be for an unrelated case? Very Interesting? Well fargo gee golly holy moly missy riley. wow.
ReplyDeleteCan we have the names of the Jurors and Jury pool selection process for this case.
ReplyDeleteA travesty!
ReplyDeleteTrig has learned a couple of new words - 'Dats Fuckin' BULlSHIT'
ReplyDeleteArresting and imprisoning blacks and Native Americans left and right and letting the Bundy morons go free. Yep, Trig's right, it's Fuckin BULLSHIT!!!
Anonymous10:19 AM
DeleteYOU can BET....if they had a jury of Blacks they wouldn't of gotten off! It is fuckin' bullshit!
And to the person above comemi opening another fbi case? They are being paid off by Trump.
Well he will lose and I hope he is arrested for hate speech or his deplorables tear him limb to limb when he has no more SS and says something they don't like. Or his plane could crash....
O/T Well isn’t this convenient timing, is the FBI director trying to rig the election?:
ReplyDelete-----------------------------------
FBI reviewing new evidence in Clinton email probe
...... In a letter to several congressional committee chairmen, FBI Director James Comey wrote that, “In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to this investigation.”
Comey said he was briefed on those emails on Thursday and that he “agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.”
He did not specify where the additional emails came from.......
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/fbi-reopens-clinton-email-server-investigation-230454
Sounds like a whole lotta non-specific doublespeak to me.
Delete"The Associated Press reported that the emails the FBI is investigating were not from Clinton and did not come from her private server. NBC’s Pete Williams also noted that the emails were not from Clinton and were not withheld by Clinton’s campaign. He reported that the investigation is not related to WikiLeaks or Russian hacking. "
Deletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fbi-hillary-clinton-email-investigation_us_58138552e4b0990edc30cb36
From Weiner, who is being investigated for something to do with an under age girl.
DeleteYep, tryin all to stop mrs Clinton.
DeleteIt's not over yet and they didn't get totally off.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/acquittal-of-bundys-is-proof-of-racial-double-standards-and-a-greenlight-for-right-wing-terrorism/
"The silver lining is the Bundy brothers and their father still face trial for their violent confrontation in Nevada with government officials in 2014 over their refusal to pay $1 million in overdue grazing fees on federal lands.
The Bundy acquittal will embolden violent right-wing militias to seize other public lands, especially West of the Rockies where there is a movement funded by the Koch Brothers to undermine federal control of huge swaths of land."
KOCH BROTHERS.
Yeah, it's easy to get off when you have virtually unlimited money to fight the system.
"... jury acquitting the two Bundy brothers and five other supporters on all charges but one, including the main one of conspiracy."
They couldn't prove conspiracy, but there is still one charge remaining. And I get the conspiracy thing, maybe it was spur of the moment and not planned in advance. HOWEVER, they did prevent Federal workers from doing their jobs under threat of violence. *THAT* should have been a slam dunk.
"The government failed to prove the Bundy Bunch “had engaged in an illegal conspiracy that kept federal workers — employees of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management — from doing their jobs.”"
It may not have been a conspiracy but they did prevent the workers from doing their jobs. Geez. Was the Federal prosecutor a complete idiot? Or was the jury biased? Was there jury tampering?
What is clear is the racial bias in the jury system.
If they had been black or muslim some would not even have survived to stand trial, a trial that would have quickly resulted in long prison terms.
The government is quick to charge environmental activists on the flimsiest of excuses.
And look what is happening to the Native Americans in North Dakota.
I hope thinks drag on until Grandma puts a little discipline back in the system. Personally, I think Grandmas should be in charge of all of the governments. I think Nancy Pelosi has done a wonderful job.
You may have your beefs with Indira Gandhi or Margaret Thatcher, but they weren't limp panty waists like some of the men that have held office.
Nasty Women get shit done!
It's a shame they didn't have a Nasty Grandma as the judge or on the jury.
I SO agree with this.
DeleteHow can they not find a conspiracy in this? What, the Bundy's and their Bumbling Gang of Misfits were on their way to DisneyLand and just decided to pull off the highway to take over and desicrate a bird sanctuary?
Deleteone of the worse verdicts ever - unbelieveable !
ReplyDeleteOT - another woman comes forward about being groped by trump
Former Miss Finland is 12th woman to accuse Donald Trump of sexual assault
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/27/trump-twelfth-woman-sexual-assault-accusation-ninni-laaksonen
So depressing. I can't even read about it. I don't want to even think about it.
ReplyDeleteCan they be sued for the damages they did to the public lands?
ReplyDeleteNot only did they wreck the sanctuary, they also ruined the social atmosphere out there. Burns is creepy.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteDid they have permission to be there?
Did they break locks on gates and buildings?
Did they remove road equipment from buildings?
Did they remove and/or damage cameras?
Did they damage a sign?
Did they cut fences?
Did they use/damage computers?
Did they dig a hole and shit in it?
Did they fill the septic tank/pay to empty it?
Did they pay to have their garbage picked up and hauled away?
Are there pictures/film of known felons holding weapons?
Did they block any roads, state or county?
Did they stop any cars on these roads?
I could be way wrong. But I think any of the above are illegal. For you or me it sure as hell would be.
Step back and take a look at what's REALLY going on here. Can you see land grab? This has been a long time coming.
As usual, the big money people want more. They want all of the prizes that are in or under our public/federal lands. They will not stop until they have it all. Then what?
A handful of selfish, greedy whatevers want it all. And they will pay and do whatever it takes to get it. Lie, cheat, steal, kill, payoffs.
Not for the good of the country but for themselves. They do not give one single shit who or what they hurt to get it. Reality sucks, doesn't it?
Yeah, let them go they had rifles to law enforcement while first decendants get dog attacked, nace, violence AND get arrested. Where is the UN. Putin should assist natives....
ReplyDeleteWow, a oic on induanz dot com
ReplyDeleteIndianz dot com, a pic
DeleteThere's no justice in this world. If the perps were another race, you bet your bottom dollar, there would be fines, hell to pay and arrests for trespassing/stealing government property.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile the repubs doing everything to bring down madam president. Oops I already voted.
ReplyDeleteMore no nothing, or nothing so bad, leaked emails.
these sovereign citizen types
ReplyDelete----------------------
As far as I am concerned they are not sovereign and since they refuse to pay taxes and grazing fees they are not citizens.
Heck illegal aliens pay more in taxes than they do.