At Bundy Ranch trial, questions on guns and violence

As the nation reels from violent protests that left one person dead and 19 others injured in Charlottesville, Virginia, a trial of Cliven Bundy’s armed supporters in Nevada is raising thorny issues around the threat of violence and its relationship to free speech. Defendants in the first of three Bunkerville trials, which wrapped up this week, […]

At Bundy Ranch trial, questions on guns and violence

As the nation reels from violent protests that left one person dead and 19 others injured in Charlottesville, Virginia, a trial of Cliven Bundy’s armed supporters in Nevada is raising thorny issues around the threat of violence and its relationship to free speech. Defendants in the first of three Bunkerville trials, which wrapped up this week, have described their actions as being protected by the First and Second Amendments to the Constitution. But prosecutors say the trial is about men who used the threat of violence to defy law enforcement, and that the law does not protect people who intimidate, threaten or assault others.

During the six-week trial of Eric Parker, Scott Drexler, Steven Stewart and Ricky Lovelien, the prosecutors and defense team painted starkly different pictures of the events of April 12, 2014, when armed supporters of the recalcitrant rancher Cliven Bundy stopped the Bureau of Land Management from seizing cattle grazing illegally in southern Nevada. The defense characterized the Bunkerville standoff as a peaceful protest in which no one was hurt: Bundy supporters didn’t actually use the rifles they carried, but had them in case the BLM or National Park Service opened fire. Government prosecutors argued that even though defendants didn’t fire their weapons, they used the threat of violence to force federal officers to abandon their jobs that day.

This story originally appeared at High Country News and is reprinted with permission.

In fact, prosecutors said, the defendants have been part of self-styled militias that strategically used the threat of violence to thwart federal officers. Prosecutors described how defendants traveled in 2015 to Oregon and Montana to prevent federal authorities from accessing mining claims in those states. “The point is that these operations were done to show force to federal agencies… to make them stand down and stop what they are doing,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadia Ahmed said in closing statements this week.

The end of the trial has come just as national debate over similar issues has reached a new pitch. Dozens of far-right groups and hate groups have become emboldened since the election of President Donald Trump. These groups—which hold a vast diversity of beliefs but share many far-right values—have sponsored what they call “free speech” rallies across the country for months, often leading to violent clashes with counter-protesters. “We’re trying to show that folks can stand up for white people,” Jason Kessler, an organizer of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, told a local radio station. “The political correctness has gotten way out of control, and the only way to fight back against it has been to stand up for our own interests.”

Last week the American Civil Liberties Union defended people’s right, even if they are racist, to gather in Charlottesville. Street brawls broke out, and a man allegedly drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing activist Heather Heyer. State and local officials across the country must now grapple with the conundrum of whether to revoke permits for more “free speech” rallies that threaten violence.

Meanwhile, at the courthouse in Las Vegas, Bundy supporters show no real desire to respect federal authority. Friends, family and other followers who have rallied outside the courthouse for months say that the judge has put unfair restrictions on the defendants’ case. U.S District Court Judge Gloria Navarro has in fact been stricter than she was in the previous trial, which ended in a hung jury for these four defendants. On Aug. 10, she kicked defendant Eric Parker off the witness stand because he would not keep his testimony within her court orders. Navarro had set limitations on testimony to exclude statements about what the defendants felt at the time of the standoff, which she deemed part of an irrelevant self-defense.

Bundy supporters have harshly criticized Navarro for months, sharing social media posts from outside the courthouse, saying she is biased and calling for her to be impeached. A New Mexico rancher who met Cliven Bundy decades ago and shares similar views on federal authority told me outside the courthouse this week that the judge, who is Latina, should be “strung up by that tree over there”—a comment recalling a period in U.S. history in which African Americans were lynched as a form of systemic oppression and terror.

The Bunkerville standoff was a rally against federal authority, not for white supremacy. Among the rancher’s supporters, the faceoff has become a symbol for standing for free speech. But for Bundy critics, it was a threat of violence.

Defendant Scott Drexler of Idaho testified in court this week that he traveled to Bunkerville in 2014, thinking he was attending a protest. “I guess the idea at the time was we were going to stand around with some signs,” Drexler said. “Did you bring a sign?” a prosecutor asked him. No, he said, though he brought an assault rifle and a pistol. To drive home her point, Ahmed played a video of Cliven Bundy’s son Ammon, shortly following the standoff, in which he said: “We did have militia and weapons, and that was important because (the federal officers) didn’t know whether or not we were going to fire on them.” Creating that uncertainty, the prosecutors argued, was a threat of violence, punishable by law. Whether this line of reasoning will hold remains to be seen. A verdict in the trial is expected as early as this week.

High Country News is a nonprofit news organization that covers the important issues that define the American West. Subscribe, get the enewsletter, and follow HCN on Facebook and Twitter.

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

A New Mexico-based LGBTQ rights organization endorsed 15 candidates for state House and Senate seats for the 2024 elections.  Marshall Martinez, executive director of…
Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…
Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republican-backed legislation in the U.S. Congress would make it harder for the government to designate new national monuments. The proposed Congressional Oversight of the…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News Four years after hospitals in New York City overflowed with covid-19 patients, emergency physician Sonya Stokes remains shaken by…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid announced on Wednesday that it will cover the cost of Opill, the first oral contraception approved for over-the-counter use. It is…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

The Navajo Nation and San Juan County reached an agreement Monday about commission districts after the tribe alleged that its members were not adequately…
MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

New Mexico’s 2022 election was ranked most well-run in the country by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Data and Science Lab’s Elections Performance Index.…
Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report