[Vision2020] Four Idahoans among 14 newly indicted in 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Idaho Statesman at:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article63878682.html

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Four Idahoans among 14 newly indicted in 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff

Eric Parker and Steve Stewart of Hailey, O. Scott Drexler of Challis and Todd Engel of Boundary County were arrested Thursday
They are accused of conspiracy, weapons violations and threatening federal law enforcement officers
Three of the four Idaho defendants are scheduled to appear Friday morning in U.S. District Court in Boise

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article63878682.html#storylink=cpy
Four men were arrested in Idaho Thursday after they were indicted on charges stemming from a 2014 armed standoff with federal officials rounding up cattle that belonged to rancher Cliven Bundy.

Eric James Parker, 32, and Steve Arthur Stewart, 36, both of Hailey; O. Scott Drexler, 44, of Challis; and Todd Engel, 48, of Boundary County were taken into custody, U.S. Attorney for Idaho Wendy Olson said.

They were among 14 defendants charged this week in the armed assault against federal law enforcement officers that took place in the Bunkerville, Nev., area on April 12, 2014.

“This investigation began the day after the assault against federal law enforcement officers and continues to this day,” U.S. Attorney for Nevada Daniel Bogden said in a release. “We will continue to work to identify the assaulters and their role in the assault and the aftermath, in order to ensure that justice is served.”

Parker and Stewart were lodged in the Ada County Jail in Boise, according to the National Victim Information and Notification Everyday service (VINE). It was unclear where Drexler and Engel were being held. They did not appear on the VINE system.

The others arrested are Melvin D. Bundy, 41, of Round Mountain, Nev.; David H. Bundy, 39, of Delta, Utah; Brian D. Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nev.; Blaine Cooper, 36, of Humboldt, Ariz.; Gerald A. DeLemus, 61, of Rochester, N.H.; Richard R. Lovelien, 52, of Westville, Okla.; Gregory P. Burleson, 52, of Phoenix, Ariz.; Joseph D. O’Shaughnessy, 43, of Cottonwood, Ariz.; and Micah L. McGuire, 31, and Jason D. Woods, 30, both of Chandler, Ariz.

Twelve defendants were arrested earlier Thursday. Two defendants, Brian D. Cavalier and Blaine Cooper, were already in federal custody in Oregon.

“These indictments and subsequent arrests send an irrefutable message to the American people that our determination remains steadfast to protect them and pursue individuals who participate in violent acts of this nature,” said Special Agent in Charge Laura Bucheit.

Parker, vice president of the Three Percent of Idaho and a onetime electrician who has spent an increasing amount of time since 2014 confronting federal officers, appeared in a photo that was printed in newspapers around the world in 2014. It showed him crouched on a bridge aiming his assault rifle at federal officials at the Bundy Ranch. Parker’s group also took part in protests earlier this year in Burns, Ore., to protest the prison sentences of Dwight and Steven Hammond, two Oregon ranchers, for arson on federal land. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott wrote in a court filing that Parker “embraced his new-found fame” and became one of the most recognizable figures outside the Bundy family members who participated in the siege. Parker frequently changed his Facebook profile photo to show images of himself pointing his assault rifle at law enforcement officers on April 12, 2014.

Since the Bundy Ranch confrontation, Parker took part in an armed April 2015 confrontation between miners and the Bureau of Land Management in Grants Pass, Ore., and at a protest four months later in Lincoln, Mont. There, Parker set up an armed checkpoint on public land leading to the White Hope Mine. Miners wanted the U.S. Forest Service to cease regulation of the mine, Whatcott wrote.

The newly-added defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer. They’re also charged with at least one count of using and carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, assault on a federal officer, threatening a federal law enforcement officer, obstruction of the due administration of justice, interference with interstate commerce by extortion, and interstate travel in aid of extortion. 

The indictment also alleges five counts of criminal forfeiture, which upon conviction would require forfeiture of property derived from the proceeds of the crimes totaling at least $3 million, as well as the firearms and ammunition possessed and used on April 12, 2014.

Five other defendants in the Nevada indictment were arrested last month. Cliven D. Bundy, 69, of Bunkerville, Nev., was taken into custody in Portland after arriving by plane to support sons Ryan C. Bundy, 43, of Mesquite, Nev., Ammon E. Bundy, 40, of Emmett, who were arrested at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Ryan W. Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Mont., and Peter T. Santilli, Jr., 50, of Cincinnati, Ohio, were also arrested at the refuge.

Prosecutors accuse the defendants of planning, organizing, and leading an assault to extort officers into abandoning 400 head of cattle in their custody. They also accused the defendants of leading hundreds of armed followers against law enforcement officers to thwart the seizure and removal of Cliven Bundy’s cattle from federal public lands. 

Bundy. federal officials said, trespassed on public lands for more than 20 years, refusing to obtain the legally-required permits or pay the required fees to keep and graze his cattle on the land.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article63878682.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article63878682.html#storylink=c
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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still.
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
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