Supporters of rancher Bundy build mock jail cell near prison

Supporters of Nevada cattleman and states’ rights advocate Cliven Bundy and his sons have built a mock jail cell outside a rural Nevada federal prison where 17 defendants are being held pending trial in a 2014 standoff with government agents near the Bundy ranch outside Las Vegas.

Bundy family friend and protest organizer Jonathon “Skipper” Speece said Wednesday that protesters have been taking turns in the plywood box outside the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump to raise money for a defense fund for Bundy sons Ammon and Ryan Bundy.

The protest began last week, after Ryan Bundy filed court documents complaining about frequent strip searches and periods of solitary lockdown

Speece said Ammon Bundy told family members he was kept shackled in a shower stall last week for more than 12 hours.

The Bundys and other defendants face trial June 26 on multiple charges in the standoff that stopped the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from rounding up Bundy cattle in what prosecutors said was an effort to enforce federal court orders to get Bundy cows off public rangeland.

A U.S. District Court jury in Las Vegas found two gunmen guilty last month of some charges in the case, but deadlocked on charges against four other defendants. The judge declared a mistrial after two months of proceedings.

Of 19 co-defendants arrested and charged more than a year ago, two pleaded guilty before trial to lesser charges. They await sentencing.