Bröder frias för beväpnad ockupation i Oregon
En jury har beslutat att fria bröderna Ammon och Ryan Bundy som ledde en beväpnad ockupation av en myndighetsbyggnad i ett naturreservat i delstaten Oregon i januari. The Guardian skriver att domslutet var överraskande och att det ses som ett hårt slag mot den amerikanska staten och rättsväsendet.
bakgrund
Ockupationen av naturreservatet
Wikipedia (en)
On January 2, 2016, armed militants seized the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, United States, and continued to occupy it until law enforcement made a final arrest on February 11, 2016. Their leader was Ammon Bundy, who participated in the 2014 Bundy standoff at his father's Nevada ranch. Other members of the group were loosely affiliated with non-governmental militias and the sovereign citizen movement.
The organizers were seeking an opportunity to advance their view that the United States Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and other agencies are constitutionally required to turn over most of the federal public land they manage to the individual states. In 2015, the militants decided they could do this by protesting the treatment of two area ranchers convicted of federal land arson, even though the men in question did not want their help. The occupation began when Bundy led an armed party to the refuge headquarters following a peaceful public rally in the nearby city of Burns.
On January 26, 2016, several leaders were arrested by the Oregon State Police (OSP) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) while en route to a public meeting in a neighboring county. One of them, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, was shot and killed while resisting arrest and appearing to reach his hands towards his semi-automatic handgun. Afterwards, most of the other militants withdrew from the occupation, peacefully returning to their homes.
By January 28, only four militants remained in occupation of the site, and the last of them surrendered peacefully on February 11, 2016. More than two dozen of the militants have been charged with federal offenses including conspiracy to obstruct federal officers, firearms violations, theft, and depredation of federal property. As of August 15, twelve have pleaded guilty, while others are awaiting trial.
On October 27, 2016, a jury acquitted seven of the defendants, including Ammon and Ryan Bundy, of all federal charges.
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