Ammon, Ryan Bundy return to Nevada for trial over armed standoff at family ranch

PORTLAND, Ore. — Brothers who were acquitted in the armed occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge are heading to Nevada, where they will be tried on charges stemming from a 2014 standoff with federal agents near their father’s ranch.

The Multnomah County Jail roster shows Ammon and Ryan Bundy left the downtown Portland jail Wednesday morning. They are being flown to Las Vegas, where they will face more than a dozen felony charges at trial next year related to an April 2014 armed standoff near Bunkerville, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, after federal agents had rounded up his cattle on the Gold Butte range. Their father, Cliven, and brothers Melvyn and David also face charges in that incident.

An Oregon jury acquitted the Bundys and five co-defendants last week of conspiring to impede federal employees from doing their jobs at a national wildlife refuge.

The brothers led the occupation to call attention to the plight of two imprisoned ranchers and express their opposition to federal control of Western lands.