The Bundy Family - Mischaracterization Hides the Truth of States Rights and Government Overreach

Community Support Foundation
November 15, 2023
Logan, Utah

Bundy Ranch Standoff

A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday December 20, 2017 in the case against rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons and another self-styled militiaman. The men had been charged with conspiracy and assault after their 2014 dispute over cattle-grazing rights in Nevada developed into an armed standoff with federal agents. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro found that prosecutors had failed to turn over documents that could be used to support the defense’s case. As NPR’s Kirk Siegler reports, Navarro also noted “that the government had erroneously claimed several things, including that there weren’t snipers surveying the Bundy ranch when there were.” Judge Navarro stated, “The court does regrettably believe a mistrial in this case is the most suitable and only remedy.” https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/20/572426023/judge-declares-mistrial-in-conspiracy-case-against-bundys

A U.S. appeals court refused Thursday August 6, 2020 to resurrect the criminal case against states’ rights figure Cliven Bundy, family members and others stemming from a 2014-armed standoff with federal agents trying to round up Bundy cattle near the family ranch in Nevada. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco denied prosecutors’ efforts to overturn U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro’s decision to stop a months-long trial in January 2018 for “flagrant” prosecutorial misconduct and her dismissal of the criminal indictment so it could not be re-filed. “The judgment is affirmed,” Judge Jay Bybee wrote for the three-judge panel that heard oral arguments May 29. The judges found Navarro properly identified violations of “recognized statutory or constitutional” rights, and she had the authority to punish the government “to deter future illegal conduct.”

The Nevada case stemmed from a years-long dispute between Bundy and the federal Bureau of Land Management over years of unpaid grazing fees. It grew to involve self-described personal militia members from 11 other states who answered a Bundy family plea for help in March 2014. It became a symbol for advocates of states’ rights, anti-federal policies and the sovereign citizen movement. “They still say I’m trespassing,” Bundy, 74, said Thursday. He maintains the federal government has no authority and U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over state lands. He acknowledged he continues to refuse to pay fees for his cows grazing in the scrub desert of what is now Gold Butte National Monument. “These feds came in here and overreached on my land and my ranch,” he said. “We’re willing to go through what we’ve had to defend our rights and the constitution and freedom. I have no contract with the federal government.”

The judges said they found “a serious constitutional violation based on choices made by the government.” Ammon Bundy’s attorney, Daniel Hill, dubbed the ruling “the Republic in action.” “We have courts so that someone can tell the government when it’s done wrong. Judge Navarro’s order dismissing the case was righteous, and the 9th Circuit agreed,” Hill said.

Navarro found “deliberate attempts” by the FBI and prosecutors “to mislead and distort the truth.” She blamed FBI agents for “reckless disregard” of requirements to turn over evidence relating to government snipers and cameras that monitored the Bundy homestead.

The appeals court said pre-standoff “threat assessment” reports prepared by government agents should have been turned over from the FBI to federal prosecutors to defense attorneys. “These documents could have helped bolster the defense’s claim that the government had engaged in an overmilitarized impound operation that the Bundys claim fueled their fears of being surrounded by snipers,” the court said. “Someone in the government made a conscious choice to withhold these documents. It may not have been a malicious choice, but it also was not a matter of simple oversight.”

Cliven Bundy’s attorney, conservative activist Larry Klayman, said evidence showed government agents “threatened the Bundys’ lives, killed their cattle, assaulted family members and perpetrated tyrannical executive power over them.” https://apnews.com/article/u-s-news-cliven-bundy-trials-jay-bybee-las-vegas-1a387febe5c80da2dcdcf307f22cc9b0

Oregon Militia Standoff

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 defendants were acquitted on the conspiracy and firearm charges, though the jury could not come to an agreement on a property theft offense that faces Ryan. The court proceedings drew packed crowds of rightwing supporters, who see the Bundy family as a symbol of the American west and the fight against government overreach, as well liberal environmentalists, who have called for harsh prison sentences to send a message that the government will protect public lands and promote conservation.

During the trial, federal prosecutors argued that the protesters organized a “dangerous” invasion and conspired to stop refuge workers from doing their job. Ammon’s attorney and other defense lawyers argued that the defendants were leading a peaceful demonstration and were lawfully speaking out against federal actions and policies. Prosecutors also revealed during the court proceedings that US authorities relied on more than a dozen confidential informants during the occupation, and defendants’ lawyers have raised concerns about how the government has used that information and how those individuals shaped the actions at the refuge. Neil Wampler, one of the acquitted defendants, appeared joyful outside of court, telling reporters: “This is a stunning victory for rural America and an extremely humiliating defeat for a corrupt and predatory agency.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/27/oregon-militia-standoff-bundy-brothers-not-guilty-trial

Baby Cyrus

On March 12, 2022 Ammon Bundy and Diego Rodriguez held a press conference at St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise, Idaho where they attempted to set the record straight in regards to what happened to Baby Cyrus and even the American Frontline Doctors exposed the incompetence, wickedness, corruption, and illegal nature of the Baby Cyrus’ story in a succinct article—which was actually a series of 20 questions sent to Dave Jeppesen (the director of Idaho Health and Welfare) that they demanded answers to. Read it for yourself here: https://aflds.org/news/post/baby-cyrus-returned-to-parents-after-frontline-news-inquiry-to-cps/

Thus began the long and laborious legal battle for Ammon Bundy and Diego Rodriguez against the corrupt St. Luke’s Medical Center, Child Protective Services, Ada County Sheriff’s Department and the Ada County Courts. This nightmare has been a continuous violation of rights for the Defendants, resulting with Judge Norton’s Declaration of War when she issued a warrant for Ammon Bundy’s arrest.

Judge Norton then filed a default judgement against Ammon Bundy for $52 Million and $700,000 in legal fees right before she recused herself from the case (curiously right after Tom Fairbanks filed a criminal referral against her on June 30, 2023). In response to this egregious behavior, Fairbanks filed a Criminal Referral to the Judge Advocate General (JAG) against Merrick Garland as US Attorney General, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and Judge Norton’s replacement Judge Nancy Baskin.

As a nation, and as a people, we have learned from sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, they do not learn this one lesson — That the rights to authority are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that these powers of heaven cannot be controlled except by principles of righteousness.

Ammon Bundy, his family, friends, and supporters have all been mislabeled, by those who seek authority over them, as “far right extremists” who seek to overthrow the government and the American way of life. Nothing could be further from the truth!     

Where there is smoke, there is fire!

Tom Fairbanks
Intelligence Support Activity (ISA)
Community Health Advocate
Community Support Foundation