A federal judge Tuesday ordered Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy to remain in custody pending trial on a complaint stemming from his 2014 standoff with federal agents trying to round up his cattle grazing on public land.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Janice M. Stewart found Bundy, 69, remains a danger to the community and a risk to flee, citing his "ongoing defiance of federal court orders.''
If Bundy is allowed to return to his Nevada ranch, Stewart said she agreed with the government that will likely be "the last we see of him.''
Bundy is expected to return to Nevada for his next court appearance, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Nevada. That suggests an indictment may be issued soon, canceling a scheduled preliminary hearing on Friday in Portland.
Bundy was arrested by FBI agents last Wednesday night after he flew into Portland International Airport.
Bundy had come to Portland intending to protest against the continued detention of his sons, Ammon Bundy, 40, and Ryan Bundy, 43, and their co-defendants, stemming from their armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. He also planned to travel to the refuge outside of Burns to support four occupiers still there. That changed when FBI agents swept in and took him into custody at the airport shortly after he landed at 10:10 p.m.
A six-count federal complaint out of Nevada charges Cliven Bundy with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, assault on a federal law enforcement officer, obstruction of justice, interference with commerce by extortion and two counts of carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.
Read federal complaint against Cliven Bundy
Government memo seeking Cliven Bundy's pretrial detention
The complaint alleges that Bundy and four unnamed co-conspirators organized and led a massive armed assault against federal officers in and around Bunkerville, Nevada, in April 2014 to thwart them from seizing and removing 400 cattle on public land.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre argued that Cliven Bundy is "lawless and violent,'' drawing supporters to his ranch to prevent federal officers from doing their job.
Myhre also argued that the Bundy patriarch and his supporters have "pledged to do it again'' if the U.S. Bureau of Land Management takes any other action against him or his cattle.
"It's about violence. It's about raising guns,'' Myhre told the court.
The elder Bundy drew more than 200 supporters to his ranch from more than 10 states, and more than 60 guns were raised and pointed at federal officers to prevent them from rounding up Bundy's cattle, Myhre said.
The federal officers "thought they were going to die that day,'' he said.
Myhre noted that Cliven Bundy has refused to obey four federal court orders requiring him to pay grazing fees or fines to the Bureau of Land Management.
Cliven Bundy swiveled in his chair beside his court-appointed lawyer, his arms folded across his chest, and sat facing the prosecutor as he listened to Myhre urge to court to detain him.
"He does not recognize federal courts – claiming they are illegitimate – does not recognize federal law, refuses to obey federal court orders, has already used force and violence against federal law enforcement officers while they were enforcing federal court orders, nearly causing catastrophic loss of life or injury to others,'' Myhre's detention memo said. "He has pledged to do so again in the future to keep federal law enforcement officers from enforcing the law against him.''
The memo is filled with references to specific actions taken by Bundy's sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, in helping their father keep federal officers away from their cattle two years ago. It also challenges Cliven Bundy's claim of being a Nevada cattle rancher, noting that he lets them run wild on public lands until he has them trapped and hauled off to be sold or slaughtered for his own consumption.
"Bereft of human interaction, his cattle that manage to survive are wild, mean and ornery,'' the memo said.
Cliven Bundy's court-appointed lawyer Noel Grefenson questioned why federal authorities were now seeking to hold his client when they backed away from him and his ranch in 2014 and have left him alone ever since.
"One has to wonder why if Mr. Bundy is Public Enemy No. 1 that the state of Nevada has taken 22 months to bring him into custody?'' Grefenson asked.
He also asked why authorities allowed Cliven Bundy to board a plane and fly to Oregon this month if they found him so dangerous.
"Everybody knew he was coming -- apparently the government as well,'' Grefenson said.
Cliven Bundy came to Oregon, he said, to visit his two jailed sons and drive to Boise to visit with grandchildren. Several weeks before his visit to Oregon, Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore met with Cliven Bundy and his wife, Carol Bundy, at their Nevada ranch and mentioned her plan to come to Oregon with other Western lawmakers to draw attention to his sons' plight.
Cliven Bundy had planned to fly with Michele Fiore to Oregon, but he missed his flight and arrived later the same night, his lawyer said. Grefenson offered to call Fiore to testify at Cliven Bundy's detention hearing, but the judge said it wouldn't be necessary.
Myhre pointed out that Cliven Bundy, in a rare instance, didn't have a bodyguard when he landed in Portland and wasn't armed.
The federal prosecutor said the government also hasn't identified the supporters who stood with Cliven Bundy in the 2014 standoff but many "still pledge their loyalty to him and could still muster the armed support.''
"Everyday he's loose, everyday he's back on his ranch, he's in violation of a court order,'' Myhre said.
The government's fear is that Cliven Bundy, if released, will return to his ranch, "hunker down, muster more gunmen.''
Cliven Bundy's lawyer countered that Oregon is seeking "to do what Nevada didn't do'' by holding his client -- a "quiet man'' with high blood pressure and no criminal history -- because of his anti-government beliefs. He argued that federal authorities have never showed that Cliven Bundy had a firearm in the 2014 standoff near his ranch.
According to the federal complaint, federal officers said they backed off from Bundy's cattle because they were outnumbered four to one. More than 400 Bundy followers, some openly brandishing assault rifles and others bearing side arms, had converged at the cattle impound site, the complaint says. About 40 supporters were on horseback, and there were "militia snipers concealed on the bridges'' with rifles zeroed-in on officers, the complaint said.
The latest government memo identifies Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Arden Bundy and Ryan Payne as acting to intimidate federal officials who drove near the Bundy Ranch in Nevada in 2014 and in 2015. It also says Ryan and Dave Bundy spoke out publicly in March 2014 warning the BLM to stay away from the region.
The government memo quotes Bundy bodyguard Brian Cavalier saying at a public meeting in Mesquite last March 6 as saying, "If the BLM wants to go to the field to play ball, then me and my crew will come play ball too.''
The federal government has been investigating Cliven Bundy since the day after the April 12, 2014 "assault,'' and is ongoing to identify those who supported him, came to Nevada and their roles in the assault against BLM officers. The government has conducted hundreds of witness interviews, executed more than 40 search warrants, analyzed thousands of public documents (mostly social media),as well as phone records and audio and video recordings, Myhre wrote in the detention memo.
"The presence of many gunmen in and near the area of the Bundy Ranch, the armed checkpoints and patrols, the presence of assault weapons in the militia camps, including (by some accounts) a .50-caliber machine gun, further increased the difficulty of conduct a physical investigatino of Bundy Ranch or the impoundment site,'' the memo said.
If convicted, Bundy faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge, up to 10 years in prison on the obstruction of justice charge, up to 20 years in prison on the assault on a federal law enforcement and interference with commerce by extortion charges and a mandatory minimum consecutive seven years on the use and carry of a firearm in relation to a crime a violence charge. The charges could also bring up to $250,000 per count.
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian