Ammon Bundy and his fellow anti-government whackjobs are facing new charges. They could be facing some serious prison time if convicted.

New charges are far more serious

The previous charges were pretty insignificant compared to those listed in the new indictment. Under 8 U.S. Code § 930 and 1361, some of these crimes carry sentences up to 10 years in prison. If served consecutively, Bundy and the other protesters could serve about 20 years in prison. I wonder if they will think it was worthwhile after they are convicted.

The new charges include damaging and trespassing on government property during their hostile takeover of a remote bird sanctuary in Oregon. They are also charged with possessing weapons on federal property and possessing weapons in conjunction with a violent crime.

The new charges are more serious than those outlined in the previous indictment. Bundy and the other protesters were originally only charged for hindering federal law enforcement officials.

While the debate has persisted for decades, Bundy was the first rancher crazy enough to stage an armed protest against the federal government. The whole fiasco arose because Bundy and his sympathizers believed they deserved special privileges to use taxpayer owned property to graze their cattle:

• the limits of state rights
• the rights or private citizens to access property owned by the federal government
• the line between peaceful protesting and being a law-breaking asshat
• law enforcement officials’ responsibility to discharge their weapons responsibly

While there is some room for nuance in these discussions, the majority of the country feels Bundy and the other protesters took things too far. A poll from MSNBC found that 80 percent of Americans felt Bundy should be held accountable and pay restitution.

FBI agents under investigation in justified shooting

Other developments have surfaced over the past week. FBI agents are under investigation for their role in the shooting death of one of the other protesters, Robert Finicum. According to the FBI and state prosecutor’s office, the agents failed to disclose that they fired their weapons at Finicum.

The shots that actually killed Finicum were fired by Oregon State Troopers and were ruled justified, so the accusations against the agents seem fairly benign so far. They are also unlikely to have any effect on the new charges against the protesters.

Featured image via screenshot