2016-10-28
Seven defendants involved in a standoff at a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon have been acquitted of felony charges of conspiracy and possession of firearms.
They were cleared by a jury that had been deliberating for more than a week.
Prosecutors said the defendants, led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, had kept federal employees from their jobs.
The defendants and at least 19 others occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January and early February.
The 41-day standoff highlighted the simmering resentment among rural communities in the US West over federal control of land.
Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionClockwise from top left: Ryan Bundy, Ammon Bundy, Brian Cavalier, Peter Santilli, Shawna Cox, Ryan Payne and Joseph O'Shaughnessy,
Drama erupted in the courtroom after Ammon Bundy's defence lawyer Marcus Mumford angrily demanded his client be set free immediately. When he wouldn't calm down, US court marshals used a stun gun and tackled him.
The Bundys are still facing charges in Nevada stemming from a high-profile 2014 standoff with federal agents and their father, Cliven Bundy.
During the occupation earlier this year, the group established armed patrols and vetted those who visited the refuge.
After several weeks one of the protesters was shot dead when police and the FBI arrested the leaders of the occupation.
Robert "LaVoy" Finicum died during a 26 January traffic stop outside the refuge as the Bundys and several others were detained.
Image copyrightAP
Image captionThe Malheur Refuge was seized in January, the culmination of a two-decade dispute over grazing rights on federal land
After the acquittals, US Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy Williams said he had "hoped for a different outcome".
But he said he strongly believed the case needed to be brought before a court and decided by a jury.
The FBI also said it was "extremely disappointed in the verdict".
Friends of the occupiers - and there are plenty of them in the western United States - will trumpet this verdict as a victory for freedom in the face of federal oppression.
The rationale behind the protest was the charge that the US government acts unconstitutionally in its treatment of ranchers.
A bird sanctuary established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 might not have been the most obvious symbol of such "oppression", but in truth it was an easy, empty target for the heavily-armed militia.
Indeed, the lack of resistance may have helped to secure their acquittal. How could the occupiers have impeded US Fish and Wildlife Service workers "by force, intimidation, and threats," if they walked in to the reserve unchallenged?
Whether the jury acquitted them on such technical grounds or whether it was striking a blow for states' rights is impossible to know at this stage. Still, both interpretations amount to the same thing: a slap in the face for the feds.
Yet with one protestor dead, 11 having pled guilty and seven more still to face trial, neither is it a resounding victory for the militia.
Image copyrightAP
Image captionCelebrations outside the courthouse
During the occupation, Ammon Bundy had held frequent news conferences in an effort to win public sympathy.
At trial, the defendants argued they never discussed stopping individual workers from accessing their offices, but merely wanted the land and the buildings.
They also said the takeover was a justified act of civil disobedience against an overreaching federal government.
Several co-defendants will stand trial early next year.
Image copyrightAFP
In October last year, a federal judge ruled that sentences on two Oregon ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond, for burning federal land were too short and jailed them for about four years each.
Angered by the ruling, Nevada native Ammon Bundy began a social media campaign backing them and travelled to Burns, Oregon, organising meetings.
His group attracted supporters from across a number of states and Mr Bundy called it Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.
On 2 January the armed militiamen took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge - and widened their range of demands.
What were the militia's aims?
It was an extension of the Sagebrush Revolution of the 1970s and 1980s that demanded the transfer of federal land in many Western states to local control.
Mr Bundy's own father - a Nevada rancher - had been involved in a protest over cattle-grazing rights in 2014. One policy is to try to persuade ranchers to tear up their federal grazing contracts.
Although many local residents were sympathetic with the cause, many also opposed the occupation of the refuge.
Even the local ranchers who are serving the longer sentences distanced themselves from the militia.
The term has a complex history and generally refers to those outside the official military who can be called on in times of need.
The US constitution refers to the president having command of "militia of several states" and that Congress "can call forth militia" to tackle insurrection and invasion.
Those who form such militias cite the constitution and various references in federal and state law as granting them legality.
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