Good day all. A few years ago, the Bureau of Land Management decided to raid and destroy the property of a Nevada rancher by the name of Bundy. That situation blew up into a massive confrontation, and the BLM broke and ran.
Last year, another family in Oregon was in legal trouble and the Bundys and others decided to “do something”. That something was taking over an unmanned ranger station in Oregon. Long story short, when several members left the station, apparently to discuss things with the local sheriff, the federal agents ambushed and open fire on the car, killing one of the people.
The remainder were arrested and the U.S. Attorney decided to throw everything he could at them. The trial has concluded with the acquittal of all defendants. Then things really went nuts. Here are some of the details from the Washington Times:
All seven defendants in the Oregon standoff, including brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, were found not guilty Thursday by a jury in Portland in a stunning conclusion to a charged episode in the federal-lands debate.
There was more drama after the verdict was announced: Ammon Bundy’s attorney Marcus Mumford was tackled to the ground by U.S. marshals after he began shouting that his client should go free, even though the Bundy brothers still face federal charges in Nevada. Mr. Mumford was taken into custody by marshals.
According to the Oregonian, when Mumford started arguing with U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown regarding the release of the defendants, things became a bit heated verbally. What happened next appears to me to be flat out assault and battery by the United States Marshals.
U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown told him that there was a U.S. Marshal’s hold on him from a pending federal indictment in Nevada.
“No, he’s released on these charges. He’s acquitted. Nevada doesn’t have jurisdiction,” Mumford yelled, standing before the judge. “If there’s a detainer, show me.”
“Mr. Mumford, you really need to never yell at me now or never again,” the judge responded.
So far, other than Mr. Mumford becoming a bit loud, it still appears that he was doing his job as a defense attorney. Judge Brown told Mumford that she was releasing Bundy on all holds in the now settled Oregon case, but he would have to talk to the marshals about the other holds. This didn’t sit well with Mr. Mumford.
“If they want him, they know where to find him,” Mumford told the judge. “I don’t see any paper proving their authority to hold him.”
This is where the Marshals decided to demonstrate their displeasure with anyone standing in their way.
Suddenly, a group of about six to seven U.S. Marshals, who had been either standing or seated around the perimeter of the courtroom, slowly moved in and surrounded Mumford at his defense table. The judge directed them to move back but moments later, the marshals grabbed onto him.
So, these Federal Agents, (U.S. Marshals), ignored a direct order from a federal judge to step back away from the defense attorney. What happened next should, at the very least, get every one of them fired.
“What are you doing?” Mumford yelled, as he struggled and was taken down to the floor.
The Judges was not amused.
As deputy marshals yelled, “Stop resisting,” the judge demanded, “Everybody out of the courtroom now!”
The next thing these thugs with badges did was hit Mumford with a stun gun.
According to Wahlstrom, Mumford was shocked with a stun gun in what’s called a dry-stun mode, meaning no probes were fired into his body but a Taser was placed up against his body.
The excuse they used for their illegal actions was that Mumford was resisting having the cuffs put on. Gee, I wonder why he was resisting their blatantly illegal actions in direct disobedience to step back from Mumford by a federal judge? As you would expect, they filed some phony charges to justify their actions.
He was cited for failure to comply with a federal lawful order and disturbance and released with a Jan. 6 date to return to federal court, said Eric Wahlstrom, supervising deputy of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Good luck making that stick.
Observers who were close to the arrest decried the use of force against a lawyer in court.
“What happened at the end is symbolic of the improper use of force by the federal government,” Mumford’s co-counsel J. Morgan Philpot said. Philpot explained that Mumford was attempting to point out that since the judge previously had said in court that she had no authority over detention orders made by the court in Nevada, she couldn’t now maintain the right to order his client held.
You don’t think the Federal Agents gave a damn about the law, do you?
Margaret “Margie” Paris, a University of Oregon law professor and former dean, said she couldn’t believe what occurred when she learned of the confrontation.
“It just blows my mind,” Paris said. “To have a lawyer who’s making an argument in court physically restrained and taken down is extraordinary. He’s entitled to make these arguments. If he was repeating himself over and over, the more typical response is to hold him in contempt. But to physically accost him is just shocking.”
And now you know why people out west have had it with the Federal Government. The two Bundy’s were taken away by the Marshals, however the rest of the former defendants have been released. According to the Washington Times, the Governor of Oregon was disappointed with the verdict.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said in a statement she was “disappointed.”
“While I respect the jury’s decision, I am disappointed. The occupation of the Malheur Refuge by outsiders did not reflect the Oregon way of respectfully working together to resolve differences,” the Democratic governor said.
Brown is a typical Democrat governor and has no real clue about the anger that is building in her own state, never mind the rest of “Flyover Country”. There’s a reason Donald Trump won the GOP nomination. He is seen as the last hope to restore the balance of power and the role of the Constitution in the United States.
The jury acquitting the seven defendants, even though no one denied what had happened, was a classic case of Jury Nullification. This was probably one of the reasons the marshals assaulted Marcus Mumford. They were angered that “The little people” dared to stand up to them. I fully expect that the charges against Mr. Mumford to either be dropped, probably by some deal, or if it goes to trial, Mumford will be acquitted. Then the hammer will be dropped on those marshals in a nice, big lawsuit.
If I were Mumford, and the U.S. prosecutors tried to make a deal, I would tell them the only deal would be the summary termination of those marshals from government employment and a public apology. Anything less and I would say “See you in court.
Thatisall
~The Angry Webmaster~
[yasr_visitor_votes size=”large”]
