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Bundy Ranch gunmen face retrial in Las Vegas
Bundy Ranch gunmen face retrial in Las VegasNew evidence links defendants to other anti-government gatherings in the West.
Tay Wiles News July 6, 2017
Four men who took part in the 2014 standoff between the Bureau of Land Management and the rancher Cliven Bundy face a retrial next week. The defendants, who are accused of helping thwart the government’s attempts to impound Bundy’s cattle, received a hung jury in April. U.S. attorneys now get another shot at proving their case against the four men — Eric Parker, Steven Stewart, Ricky Lovelien and Scott Drexler — who face a raft of charges, including conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and assaulting federal agents. They face up to 100 years in prison.
Their trial may become even more complicated this time around. New evidence that prosecutors might bring in suggests the standoff in Bunkerville, Nevada, was not an isolated incident but a piece of a larger phenomenon. Prosecutors aim to show that the defendants have ongoing ties to militia groups, by describing two similar incidents in Oregon and Montana in 2015. According to court documents, prosecutors allege that the participation of Drexler and Parker in these events is “inextricably intertwined” with the conspiracy charges in the Bunkerville trial.
One of the events, in Josephine County, Oregon, centered on a dispute between two owners of the Sugar Pine gold claim and the BLM. When the agency told the miners their claim was out of compliance, and they needed to file a plan of operations, the two men asked for help from a local chapter of the Oath Keepers, a militant anti-government group.
That April, the Oath Keepers launched what they called “Operation Gold Rush.” They gathered for several weeks and used armed patrols to guard the mining claim because they said they feared the government would try to seize the property. The group put out calls on social media for others to join. Hundreds of people from around the country, many of whom were part of the so-called “patriot” movement, came to support the cause. Drexler and Parker were among them, as members of the Idaho III%, another militant group, according to court documents.
The second event prosecutors say they might introduce an event that took place just a few months after the Sugar Pine standoff. ..................
Their trial may become even more complicated this time around. New evidence that prosecutors might bring in suggests the standoff in Bunkerville, Nevada, was not an isolated incident but a piece of a larger phenomenon. Prosecutors aim to show that the defendants have ongoing ties to militia groups, by describing two similar incidents in Oregon and Montana in 2015. According to court documents, prosecutors allege that the participation of Drexler and Parker in these events is “inextricably intertwined” with the conspiracy charges in the Bunkerville trial.
One of the events, in Josephine County, Oregon, centered on a dispute between two owners of the Sugar Pine gold claim and the BLM. When the agency told the miners their claim was out of compliance, and they needed to file a plan of operations, the two men asked for help from a local chapter of the Oath Keepers, a militant anti-government group.
That April, the Oath Keepers launched what they called “Operation Gold Rush.” They gathered for several weeks and used armed patrols to guard the mining claim because they said they feared the government would try to seize the property. The group put out calls on social media for others to join. Hundreds of people from around the country, many of whom were part of the so-called “patriot” movement, came to support the cause. Drexler and Parker were among them, as members of the Idaho III%, another militant group, according to court documents.
The second event prosecutors say they might introduce an event that took place just a few months after the Sugar Pine standoff. ..................
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