Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
John Lamb ~ 9th day of Malheur Protest trial 2. Feb. 28. Ammon Bundy is testifying
http://youtu.be/YMB1LQA9v7U
https://youtu.be/YMB1LQA9v7U
Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
While prosecutors claim conspiracy defense unveils evicence of illegal FBI acts under Obama
When one hears of one incident of corruption within a federal agency, it can stand to reason it may have been a lone rogue employee gone bad. But when there are two and three reports of illegal activities within an agency there is a problem.
When the illegal activities involve the same people “investigating” the same “cases” or standing against a perceived “enemy” of the government then you have a conspiracy. A conspiracy against those legally exercising their right under the First Amendment to peaceably assemble and protest overreaching government agencies; one enforcing illegal ‘regulations” never voted on or approved by Congress or any state legislation.
Then we must ask: How far up the chain of command does the conspiracy go, and who ordered the now proven illegal activities of the FBI? Was it the local bureau chief in Oregon or were agents following the FBI chief at the helm of the federal agency in Washington D.C.? Were the attorney general and Department of Justice involved in this conspiracy?
Did the President of the United States order an illegal crackdown using drone technology that led to the henchman style assassination of an American citizen who was referred to as “the Virus” by a US Congressman in a secretly taped conversation?
As more evidence is revealed in the Nevada Bundy standoff trial and two trials involving most of the same ranchers who stood up against illegal activities by the BLM in Oregon, what is the answer?
The answer appears to be yes on all accounts. And yet what will be done? Will Obama and his hand- picked FBI chief Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch ever be held accountable?
A conspiracy to silence law abiding Americans pointing out to the American people illegal activities of federal agencies. Corruption that affects the freedoms and rights of all Americans as was the case in the western rancher’s stand at Oregon’s Malheur Refuge. A conspiracy to strike back in revenge against the same ranchers who through peaceful means forced the BLM to back down and return property it illegally confiscated without any due process of law.
The Oregon natural refuge is tax supported public property owned by the American people, and falls under the protection of the Constitution for people to gather and protest on the land, regardless of how the MSM and the federal government choose to mislead the American people.
The following video is an excellent breakdown of just the facts of the Oregon refuge occupation, and history leading up to the protest and the trumped up charges against the Hammond family and the protesting ranchers:
http://youtu.be/A1JzuQf4DMU
A jury already found five defendants not guilty in the first trial involving the ranchers’ protest including the Bundy brothers, Ammon and Ryan. In the first trial, it was brought to the jurors’ attention the FBI used paid “informants” to infiltrate the protest and then authorized illegal tactics and activities be used to incite violence and frame those there to peacefully voice a grievance. Activities the jurors found despicable and unconstitutional.
As reported here, jurors’ through an email exchange with OregonLive stated the prosecution failed to prove their “conspiracy” charges in explaining their unanimous decision to acquit. They also stated they were offended by the prosecution’s constant objection to the defense’s use of the Constitution as part of its strategy to show the defendants violated no laws.
Given the verdict and the reasons for the not guilty conclusion, one would think prosecutors and the FBI would go off somewhere to lick their wounds and call it day. They would drop charges against other protestors at the refuge who, according to jurors in the first trial, broke no laws. Wrong.
Last week, federal prosecutors moved forward with the second trial against more protestors, including Montana native Jake Payne. Payne received national attention because he, young and scared, decided to hide from the same authorities who had shot and killed rancher LaVoy Finacum even though Finacum stood with hands raised in compliance. A shooting now under investigation. Payne later turned himself into local law enforcement.
And though previous jurors specifically stated there was no proof of conspiracy prosecutors are once again pursuing “conspiracy” charges against the second round of defendants. Only this time prosecutors are putting a “new twist” on what defines a “conspiracy.”
According to OregonLive, prosecutors told jurors last week in opening arguments though there were no organized “meetings” which defines traditional conspiracy, a “meeting of minds” does prove there was a conspiracy.
And it gets worse. The FBI, the same FBI that used undercover paid “informants” in the Nevada Bundy standoff, also used them in Oregon and again authorized and ordered those “informants” to break the law.
http://youtu.be/bx4ocLdWE90
As reported here informants and agents under the direct orders of the FBI used alcohol to get ranchers drunk then incited them to make self-incriminating statements on video tapes that was allegedly for a “documentary.” The FBI set up a “fake” film company and lied to protestors, supplied them with booze, paid them money and then “coached” them to say things that would be “more” exciting and interesting to the “audience.”
And now prosecutors in Nevada are attempting to use the FBI’s “fake” documentary tapes against defendants in Nevada now in its second week of trial.
Does it not raise at least a small curiosity as to why both trials are suddenly being held simultaneously, one from the Nevada standoff and one from the Oregon protest? What else is the FBI trying to bury in the news cycle? Perhaps the fact it was their undercover agents who organized the activities in Oregon and not the ranchers?
The answer is yes, according to reports coming out of testimony in Oregon.
“FBI Special Agent Ronnie Walker, who was called by the government as a witness later in the day, was very clear. He testified that some informants were authorized to engage in “otherwise unlawful activity” during the occupation,” wrote Oregonlive on its website.
Walker’s testimony directly conflicts to what now “retired” FBI Special Agent Supervisor, Greg Bretzing. who was in charge at the Oregon standoff testified to earlier.
When directly asked during cross examination by the defense if any of the FBI agents and uncover informants were ordered or authorized to conduct illegal activities, Bretzing answered under sworn oath, he did not have any “direct knowledge."
https://conservativedailypost-guvbvz...pelement-1.jpg
Now retired FBI special agent in charge Bretzing is responsible for the illegal roadblocks that led to the death of Finacum.
When questioned further Bretzing maintained he was in charge and “briefed” on the activities of those undercover agents. So how is it a federal FBI agent running the show and responsible for handing down orders including “briefing” others, not know undercover agents were carrying out illegal activities ordered by the FBI?
Who is lying under oath? The ground agent Walker, who just follows his orders or Bretzing, the Oregon bureau chief in charge and holding daily phone conversations with chiefs in DC and the department of justice? Who has the most to lose?
The FBI is under investigation over the fatal Finacum shooting. An illegal roadblock set in a blind spot curve in an area known for no cell coverage using drone technology that former president Obama had already threatened to use against ranchers after the Nevada standoff gave the federal government a black eye in a humiliating defeat.
“I have one word for you boys, drones,” quipped Obama at a press correspondents dinner when talking about ranchers standing up for their rights.
Finicum's spilt blood is on Bretzing hands and the hands at the top who had to silence the “Virus” from talking to others, educating others on how to use the Constitution to defeat the BLM legally through the local sheriff’s offices and court system. A tactic Finacum used and won in Arizona.
A voice of reason that was spreading across the internet and resonating with every day Americans, not just the western ranchers. So Bretzing used the trap to murder a man as he stood with hands in the air. Most would be charged with murder in such cases, but Bretzing gets to “retire” with full government pay and benefits the rest of his life gratis the tax payer.
Joining Bretzing is Loretta Lynch and former President Obama; all sitting cozy being kept by the taxpayer for years to come.
Yep, who has more to lose? This writer’s bet is, it isn’t special agent Walker who like a good soldier merely did his duty and followed his orders.
Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
John Lamb ~ End of Day 9 Update Malheur Protest trial #2
http://youtu.be/yEJYWscxP5w
https://youtu.be/yEJYWscxP5w
Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
Ammon Bundy's wife and sister-in-law Feb. 28 video Malheur Protest Trial 2
http://youtu.be/yiNZNVd-h4g
https://youtu.be/yiNZNVd-h4g
Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
Ammon Bundy testifies for the defense Malheur Protest Trial #2
Ammon Bundy returns to federal courtroom in Portland as a defense witness
Posted on February 28, 2017 by Doug Knowles
By Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Updated February 28, 2017 at 8:42 PM
Prosecutors spent twice as long cross-examining Ammon Bundy when he returned to a Portland courtroom Tuesday compared to last fall during his own trial that ended with his acquittal on conspiracy and weapons charges.
This time, Bundy was the first witness for the defense of four men who say they were inspired by his videos and calls to take a “hard stand in Burns” and now face trial themselves in the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight began his cross-examination the same way he did last year, asking Bundy if he was the leader of the occupation. But Knight covered more ground and pointed out inconsistencies in Bundy’s testimony this time versus the first trial.
Knight’s 35 minutes of questioning stood in stark contrast to his less than 15 minute cross-examination in October.
Bundy’s direct testimony on behalf of the four defendants also was noticeably shorter: nearly three hours compared to three days last fall.
Bundy for the first time confirmed the account that occupier Blaine Cooper gave jurors a day earlier, saying that he shared his proposal to take over the refuge with a group of men at a Dec. 29, 2015, meeting at a home in Burns.
Bundy said he asked those attending to keep their cellphones and laptops in a separate room because he didn’t want to be interrupted and didn’t want what he shared to be “broadcast.”
He told them about his “journey of discovery” about the injustices he felt Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and son Steve Hammond faced in their federal prosecution for setting fires to public land, he said. He talked about how his efforts to urge local, state and federal officials to intervene or investigate the case were met with “zero response” and that he felt “more needed to be done.”
At the meeting, “I proposed going into the refuge,” he said.
“So I felt we should go into the refuge and occupy the refuge, and that would wake them up,” Bundy added.
He said Cooper, Jon Ritzheimer, Ryan Payne and B.J. Soper were at the meeting and several others. He said he didn’t remember if defendant Jason Patrick was there as well, as Cooper had testified Monday. He said he didn’t really know Patrick before the occupation.
Bundy said some in the group were opposed to his idea and no concrete plan was reached. “There was no plan to do anything. It wasn’t decided,” he said. “We left it open.”
Bundy also said he had shared his takeover plan with the Committee of Safety in Harney County that he helped form in the fall of 2015 and with a group of ranchers at another meeting and other individuals.
Yet in testimony later Tuesday, former Harney County and Burns Fire Chief Chris Briels directly contradicted Bundy’s testimony that Bundy had told the committee about the plan. Briels had been one of the people nominated to sit on the Committee of Safety.
“Did Ammon ever meet with the Committee of Safety and share his plan to take over the Malheur
refuge?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow asked Briels?
“No,” Briels answered.
The group opposed the refuge occupation, he said, and had wanted to address on its own some of the issues Bundy raised, such as federal management of public land and the Hammonds’ prosecution.
Knight also sparred with Bundy about inconsistencies Knight pointed out in his testimony last fall in which he said he first shared the refuge seizure idea at a morning meeting in the back rooms of the Ye Olde Castle restaurant in Burns with about 30 people before a planned Jan. 2, 2016, march to support the Hammonds.
Knight asked Bundy if he recalled testifying that the only time he discussed the occupation was at the Burns cafe.
“You need to keep reading in the transcript,” Bundy said.
Knight asked again.
“No, you’re not being honest,” Bundy said.
“So the answer is no?” Knight asked.
“The answer is no,” Bundy replied.
Bundy, in loose-fitting blue jail scrubs over a jail-issued pink shirt, winked to his wife as he sat beside the judge in the witness stand. He looked out at the defendants — Jason Patrick, 43, of Bonaire, Georgia, Duane Ehmer, 46, of Irrigon, Darryl Thorn, 32, of Marysville, Washington, and Jake Ryan, 28, of Plains, Montana — and smiled and nodded at them. They face conspiracy, weapons and misdemeanor charges.
Defense lawyer Andrew Kohlmetz took Bundy back to the fall of 2015.
At that time, Bundy said he was living in Emmett, Idaho, with his wife and six children. Spurred by concerns raised by his father, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, Ammon Bundy said he began to research the plight of the father-and-son ranchers.
“I felt a drive — an urge to find out all I can,” Bundy said. He retold to this jury how he wrote a letter to “concerned citizens and government officials” in November 2015 and then drove to Burns to meet the Hammonds.
What the Hammonds were facing was “very similar to what was happening to my family,” Bundy said.
“I felt what was happening to the Hammonds was a gross abuse of government, and I felt it needed to be exposed,” he testified as jurors listened raptly, some taking notes.
He said he also met with Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward in November 2015 “to see if he would bring light and stand for the Hammonds.” Bundy testified about how he believed the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the county and his job is “to make sure the people are protected.”
Under questioning by Kohlmetz, Bundy spoke of how he seized the refuge in an effort to stake claim to the property through a principle of adverse possession. In two occasions, Knight popped out of his seat to object and ask the judge to advise jurors that Bundy wasn’t stating the law.
Brown turned to jurors each time and cautioned that it’s not the role of a witness to tell jurors what the law is or isn’t.
In cross-examination, Knight suggested that Bundy didn’t believe the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service or U.S. Bureau of Land Management had authority to own land.
“They do have authority to control land but it’s limited,” Bundy replied.
Drawing on testimony last fall when Bundy called the refuge seizure a “win, win, win” situation, Knight asked if he thought it was a “win, win, win” for the 16 employees who couldn’t go to work because of his actions.
“It very well could be,” Bundy said.
Drawing from Bundy’s own testimony that the refuge occupation was “really neat,” Knight asked if Bundy thought it was really neat thing for the employees to not go to work?
“I do not know that,” Bundy said.
But it was for you?
“And a lot of people,” Bundy responded.
Knight played a video of occupiers firing guns near the refuge boat launch.
“So that’s an expression of a peaceful assembly?” Knight asked.
“That’s correct,” Bundy answered.
Knight pointed out that Bundy had testified that having “all these guns” at the refuge prolonged the occupiers’ ability to remain at the refuge. “Yes,” Bundy said.
Bundy claimed occupier Brian Cavalier, who earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wasn’t his bodyguard when asked.
“That’s a little extreme words, but I had people with me,” he said.
“He was protecting you?” Knight asked.
“There was a lot going on. He was concerned for me,” Bundy said.
Asked if there were armed guards at the refuge during the takeover, Bundy again called that “a little extreme terminology.”
When asked if Ryan Payne was leading the gun training near the boat launch in late January 2016, Bundy retorted, “Actually I think it was your FBI undercover guy.” He said Payne wasn’t the one who encouraged occupiers to shoot in the launch area, but an FBI informant, referring to Fabio Minoggio.
Knight showed Bundy photos that depicted him seated in refuge offices. Knight pointed out Bundy in the office of refuge fish biologist Linda Beck. “I learned that yes in trial,” Bundy said, the only time he referenced his prior trial.
“And you look pretty comfortable don’t you?” Knight asked.
“My feet were cold. It was a pretty cold day,” Bundy said. The photo showed him with his boots off, wearing socks.
“While you’re in there,” Knight said, people who work at the refuge can’t be in there?
“It’s inconvenient, sometimes yes, to petition your government for redress of grievance,” Bundy said.
Knight showed a photo of Bundy standing in front of a large group of occupiers gathered in the fire house at the refuge and asked if employees could have worked there during the occupation.
“They could have come if they wanted to,” Bundy said.
“It’s your testimony the employees were welcome to come in if they wanted to?” Knight asked.
“Absolutely,” Bundy said.
“Thank you,” Knight responded.
Bundy’s statement now opens the door for the prosecution to directly ask refuge employees if they felt welcome or feared returning to the refuge while occupiers remained – something prosecutors felt restricted from asking during the first trial.
Bundy was transferred on Saturday to Oregon from Nevada, where he awaits trial on federal conspiracy, extortion and assault charges stemming from the 2014 standoff with federal land agents near the Bundy Ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada.
Also Tuesday
Prosecutors rested their case after just over five days of testimony, ending with a video played of refuge occupiers using the boat launch area as a makeshift firing range, aerial videos of two defendants operating an excavator to dig trenches on the property and an FBI agent called to dispute some of the defense arguments.
FBI Agent Ronnie Walker testified that the first trench dug near the west embankment of the refuge left .16 acres of damage and the second one by the front gate caused .06 acres in damage.
He testified that defendants Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan operated the excavators on the morning of Jan. 27, 2016. Ryan was seen in video wearing a green parker jacket over his tactical vest as he operated the refuge excavator.
The agent also sought to rebut some defense arguments, such as showing that a defense photo of a helicopter flying above the refuge was really a Fox News copter, not the FBI’s.
He talked about papers found on the refuge that delineated the occupiers’ infantry squads and rapid response teams and their leaders. He pointed out that “SLYone” was defendant Darryl Thorn, who was in charge of Rapid Response Team 2. He said “Duane,” listed as team leader of the headquarters rapid response team, was defendant Duane Ehmer.
Ehmer’s defense lawyer, though, noted in cross-examination that there were at least two other men on the refuge during the occupation named “Duane.”
Defense lawyers sought to distance their clients from Bundy. Bundy said he didn’t know Jason Patrick until the occupation. He said he hardly spoke to Ehmer during the seizure, and only met Jake Ryan after they were arrested and brought to appear in federal court. He said he noticed Thorn on the refuge, but only made small talk in passing.
No laughing in the courtroom
The judge warned spectators and parties in the case not to laugh out loud during trial after some testimony from Bundy and defense witnesses elicited chuckles Tuesday.
At the end of the day, Burns resident and former fire chief Chris Briels drew laughter, for example, when he testified that he wanted to “chew on Ammon’s butt,” because he was angry he was caught by surprise by the refuge takeover.
“The next person who laughs out loud is out of this courtroom for the rest of the trial,” the judge cautioned.
When a deputy U.S. marshal first led Bundy into the federal courtroom, supporters and family stood in the courtroom gallery.
“Please you need to be seated,” U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown admonished. “Sit down or leave.”
— Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian
Source http://bit.ly/2mbEhIL
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Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
BLM Ranger testifies he turned off his body cam as situation escalated
BLM ranger testifies that he turned off body cam as Bunkerville standoff escalated
Posted on February 28, 2017 by Doug Knowles
By JENNY WILSON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated
As the 2014 standoff in Bunkerville escalated and authorities started to fear a gunfight, Bureau of Land Management Ranger Patrick Apley turned off his body camera.
“I was mad,” Apley testified Tuesday in the trial against six men accused of conspiring with rancher Cliven Bundy to block federal authorities from seizing cattle. “I felt like we were going to be in a firefight, and I really didn’t want to record that.”
Apley’s body camera recorded the events of April 12, 2014, until the situation reached a boiling point, with armed protesters on one side and armed law enforcement officers on the other. Testimony at the trial has revealed that both sides feared a spray of gunfire on the open range.
“It’s gonna get Western,” Apley said before he stopped recording. Federal prosecutors played the body camera footage in court Tuesday.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre asked Apley why he didn’t want to record a gunfight.
“I didn’t want to record any mayhem,” Apley replied.
Defense attorney Jess Marchese, who represents defendant Eric Parker, hammered the ranger for that decision.
“What’s the purpose of having a body camera?” Marchese asked.
“The purpose of a body camera is to record the incident, however, I was under a lot of stress at that point and I just didn’t want to continue with all that,” Apley said.
In direct examination Tuesday, Myhre, the lead prosecutor, extracted testimony from Apley about the nature and severity of the threat protesters posed to federal law enforcement. As the situation grew increasingly tense — but before federal agents decided to abandon the operation and head home — Apley spent 10 to 15 minutes standing with several other agents behind the bed of a pickup truck, their weapons drawn.
When asked to rate the threat level on a scale of one to 10, Apley said it was “about a 7” — which he said compared only to his combat days.
BLM agents eventually left the site, passing by protesters who Apley said were “flipping us off, telling us to go home.”
Myhre asked Apley how the events in Bunkerville had affected his ability to carry on with his duties.
“I’m more aware of my surroundings now,” the ranger said. “I’m a little bit more leery of people carrying guns, and how they’re carrying guns.”
The six men are standing trial on charges of conspiracy, extortion, threats, and assault for their role in the 2014 armed standoff that occurred after federal authorities tried to seize Bundy’s cattle. They represent the first of three groups of people who will be tried in the case, after federal prosecutors divided the 17 defendants into groups of culpability for trial.
None of the defendants in the first trial is a Nevada resident. Federal prosecutors characterize them as “gunmen” because they drove to Bunkerville and joined armed protests after learning of the clashes through online postings.
Contact Jenny Wilson at jenwilson@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Follow @jennydwilson on Twitter.
source http://bit.ly/2mbDw2j
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Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
John Lamb Mid-day update Malhuer Protest Trial #2 March 1
http://youtu.be/e2o0oL3i5O0
https://youtu.be/e2o0oL3i5O0
Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
John Lamb End of day report for March 1 Malheur Protest Trial
http://youtu.be/ZvvFgKgGSG0
https://youtu.be/ZvvFgKgGSG0
Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
Ammon Bundy Testifies ~ Shari Dovale version "The govt. not having their best day, but, the defendants were smiling."
Malheur II – Ammon Bundy Testifies
THE GOVERNMENT WAS NOT HAVING THEIR BEST DAY, BUT, THE DEFENDANTS WERE SMILING.
February 28, 2017 Constitution, FBI, Featured, Oregon 3
http://www.avantlink.com/gbi/11653/2...9211/image.jpg
https://i0.wp.com/redoubtnews.com/wp...size=641%2C360Ammon Bundy during a jailhouse interview. (KATU Photo)
Malheur II – Ammon Bundy Testifies
by Shari Dovale
Ammon Bundy entered the courtroom in his trademark “Political Prisoner” jailhouse scrubs and testified in the second Malheur Protest trial today.
During his own trial last fall, Bundy was on the stand for three days. Today’s testimony was complete in a few hours.
Bundy confirmed Blaine Cooper’s testimony of a meeting held on December 29, 2015 at a private home in Burns. He could not remember everyone that attended the meeting, specifically whether or not Jason Patrick had attended.
However, he did say that he asked everyone to leave their cell phones and computers in a separate room. Though it was not a “secret” meeting, he did not want his discussion to be broadcast.
He admitted that he was the one that originally brought up the idea of the “hard stand” and taking over the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.
Jason Patrick’s standby attorney, Andrew Kohlmets, took Bundy through the first part of his testimony, beginning in the fall of 2015, when he learned about the plight of the Hammond family.
Dwight and Steven Hammond are a father and son that were sent to prison under the Federal Antiterrorism Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 for starting a necessary backfire on their property.
Bundy felt the plight of the Hammond’s were very similar to what his family has been enduring at their ranch in Nevada.
After learning all of the details behind the Hammond’s troubles, Bundy attempted to get them help beginning with the Sheriff of Harney County, David Ward. Ward was a political appointee and immediately asked the FBI to take over for him, as he did not know how to deal with citizens on this level.
Bundy continued to tell the jury of how the Malheur Protest came about and what the actual plans were. These plans included educating the citizens and beginning ownership transfer of the Refuge property back to the citizens of Harney County through a legal doctrine called “adverse possession.”
As Bundy explained what adverse possession entailed, the prosecution objected to the legal premise being described. Judge Anna Brown reminded jurors that interpreting the law was for her alone in the courtroom.
By the time the prosecution questioned the witness, they seemed to be highly agitated. They fired several questions at Bundy intended to confuse his answers, however, he seemed confident and prepared for them.
Questions that Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight asked during cross examination included asking him if the Hammond’s had distanced themselves from “the refuge occupation and you?” Bundy was clear when he answered “No. They were threatened.”
Knight showed a video of protesters firing guns at the boat launch at the refuge and asked him, “That’s an expression of a peaceful assembly?”
“Correct,” was Bundy’s answer.
Knight made the mistake of asking Ammon if Ryan Payne led the group in the video at the boat launch. Bundy said, “No, I believe it was your undercover FBI guy that did that.”
Knight also asked if he thought it was a “Win, Win, Win for the 16 employees that could not go to work in their offices because of your actions?”
Bundy simply told him Yes.
Knight continued to get upset, “No one can work!”
“It is sometimes inconvenient to petition your government,” Bundy replied.
Each time the prosecutor would read quotes from the transcript of Bundy’s previous testimony, it seemed to get thrown back at him. “I would love for the jury to hear the whole audio,” Bundy said at one point.
The next witness was former Harney County Fire Chief Chris Briels. Briels had tendered his resignation when he caught the FBI being less-than-honest while in Burns last year. He was, basically, told to mind his own business by County Judge Steve Grasty.
Briels was also very effective with the jury, connecting with them with a few snarky comments.
At one point, Briels was asked what he first intended to do when he originally went to the Refuge. He told the court he “wanted to chew Ammon Bundy’s butt.” This produced snickers throughout the audience and jury.
Judge Anna Brown had to stop this immediately and threatened anyone that laughed again to be thrown out of the courtroom for the duration of the trial.
The government was not having their best day, but, the defendants were smiling.
Re: 150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters
Local witnesses testify to character of protesters. From Free Range Report, reprinted from the Oregonian
http://freerangereport.com/index.php...ff-defendants/
https://i1.wp.com/freerangereport.co...size=601%2C194
Local witnesses testify of kindness, good manners of Oregon Standoff defendants
March 2, 2017 editor Leave a comment
“They took very good care of my place. I trusted them completely,” she said.During cross, Overton acknowledged that Patrick left her a $100 tip at the truck stop one night. She also said the men paid her electric bill and bought her a new set of pots and pans.
Maxine Bernstein
Oregon Live
Refuge visitors, character witnesses testify for defense in refuge takeover trial
Montana resident Roxsanna Ryan, who home schooled her 12 children, said she wasn’t surprised when her middle child Jake Ryan, 28, chose to stay at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last winter when he accompanied his father and brothers on a drive from their home to deliver community-donated goods to the occupiers in Oregon.
She said the next time she heard from Jake Ryan was the night of Jan. 26, 2016, in a “goodbye” call, his voice shaking and in fear following the police fatal shooting of occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum.
“He says will you please tell everybody goodbye for me,” she recalled. “He said things are pretty hectic here. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I love you and please take care.”
Ryan’s mother was one of the many witnesses called Wednesday by defense lawyers in the second Oregon standoff trial to testify about the four defendants’ character and their motivations in going to the refuge last winter. Prosecutors sought to limit repetitive testimony from defense witnesses about the atmosphere they found at the refuge when visiting.
Jake Ryan, Jason Patrick, Duane Ehmer and Darryl Thorn are charged with conspiring to impede federal employees from doing their work at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge through intimidation, threats or force.
“More than anything I wanted my children to be able to think for themselves,” Roxsanna Ryan said.
Roxsanna Ryan said she has raised her children to read the U.S Constitution and the Bible. A typical writing assignment would be asking them to copy an amendment of the U.S. Constitution and then explain what they thought it meant, she said. Until his arrest on Jan. 27, 2016, Jake Ryan lived on his family’s 30-acre farm in the small town of Plains, Montana, its population of about 1,200, his mother said. She said he was heavily influenced by a man considered an “adopted
grandfather,” who suffered a bankruptcy and spoke to her boys about his support for limited government. She said the family also rallied for the election of a so-called “constitutional sheriff” in their county.
Since Jake Ryan had no cell phone of his own or a computer at their house, Jake Ryan’s older brother stopped by frequently and encouraged his younger brother to look at YouTube videos that occupation leader Ammon Bundy had posted about the refuge seizure, she said.
“The influence of LaVoy and Ammon were very strong because they spoke to the things that meant so much to Jake,” his mother said.
The next time Jake Ryan’s mom heard from him was when he was at the FBI checkpoint, having left the refuge on Jan. 27, 2016. Ryan wasn’t arrested until April, caught sleeping in a stranger’s shed in Clark County, Washington. He had a handgun by his side, according to the Clark County sheriff’s deputy who took him into custody.
Asked by defense lawyer Jesse Merrithew why he stayed at the refuge, his mother said, “He felt like he needed to go to support the Hammonds and be there.” In a prior response that was stricken by the court as non-responsive and beyond the scope of the question, she said, “It was his earnest desire to see and to stand with men who were willing to support their neighbor.”
$100 tip
Earlier in the day, jurors heard from local Burns and Vale residents who visited the refuge during the occupation, and character witnesses for Patrick and Ehmer.
Patricia Overton, who works at the Eddies Fastbreak Truck Stop in Burns, said she met Patrick and Ryan Payne in December 2015, waiting on them. She invited them to park Payne’s pickup full of sleeping bags under her carport, and they ended up staying in her horse trailer’s living quarters and using a guest room in her home while she was away visiting family in Nebraska from about Dec. 23, 2015 until Jan. 2, 2016. It was at her home that Ammon Bundy testified this week that he first shared his plan to seize the refuge with others.
“They took very good care of my place. I trusted them completely,” she said.
During cross, Overton acknowledged that Patrick left her a $100 tip at the truck stop one night. She also said the men paid her electric bill and bought her a new set of pots and pans. Asked if she saw the men with any guns, she first said no. But when pressed that she had told an FBI agent there were two handguns at the home, she said, “little pistol things. Nothing extreme.”
Refuge visitors
Debra Ann Johnson, a Burns resident, rancher’s wife and mother of five children, said she visited the refuge with her children on Jan. 4, 2016, after the local schools closed down for a week after the holiday break. When she drove up to the refuge gate, she was surrounded by a media crush, she said.
“Everybody wanted to know what in the world this crazy lady was doing there with her kids,” she testified. She called the refuge before arriving, and spent about three hours there.
“My goal was to help the kids see what was going on in Harney County,” she said. “Most of all, put my kids’ minds at ease about what was going on.”
She recalled meeting Patrick. “He just wanted people to read the Constitution and know it for themselves,” she said.
She said she didn’t find the refuge threatening or intimidating. Asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow whether she knew there are employees who worked at the refuge, she said yes, and noted, “during the winter people don’t go down there.”
Asked why she didn’t call the federal government before she went to the refuge, she said, “I didn’t have a number for the federal government.”
Asked if she supported the Bundys’ cause and the takeover, Johnson replied, “We didn’t support the way it happened but in the end, we’re glad it took place.”
Pat Horlacher, who lives along Highway 205 a few miles outside of Burns, called the atmosphere at the refuge during the occupation peaceful, calm and “laid back,” and said the media coverage “spewed” a lot of “baloney” about it being threatening.
Morrow County sheriff’s deputy Todd Siex, who met Ehmer in Irrigon, Oregon, described him as a “peaceful individual.” Prosecutors then brought up 1998 misdemeanor convictions Ehmer had in Kansas for aggravated assault on an officer. His defense lawyer pointed out that was at least 18 years old.
Ken Medenbach back in court
Kenneth Medenbach, who was acquitted of conspiracy in a trial last fall, testified that he had “Closed Permanently” signs ordered and made and screwed them to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s dispatch center in Hines, outside of Burns in January 2016. He said he did so after consulting with Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan Bundy, but with none of the four defendants now on trial.
Why? “To show the people of Harney County they were going to get their property back. It was unconstitutionally stolen from them in the 1800s..We’d already taken it by adverse possession,” he said.
Medenbach also would not acknowledge the refuge is owned by the government, calling it “The Harney County Resource Center.”
Just as defense lawyer Andrew Kohlmetz was about to ask whether it was Medenbach’s opinion that adverse possession is a legal mechanism to take control of federal property, prosecutor Ethan Knight asked to address the court outside the presence of the jury.
Once the jury left, Knight urged the court to admonish attorneys not to ask additional questions about adverse possession. He also successfully argued for the judge to read a stipulation to jurors later that the refuge is federal property and adverse possession is not a legal defense to the crimes charged.
The judge directed Medenbach to just answer the questions asked and not go beyond the scope of each or she’d strike all his testimony.
Turning to the judge from the witness stand, Medenbach protested, “I took an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” But moments later, he said he’d abide by her wishes.
Court testimony ended early, with defense lawyers having run out of witnesses to call on Wednesday, but they said they had a full line up for Thursday. They’re expected to rest their case by late Monday, and the jury could begin deliberating sometime next week.
Free Range Report
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Land Disputes, Legal, Property Rights adverse possession, Ammon Bundy, defense witnesses, Harney County, Malheur Refuge, Oregon Standoff, trial
