Jury acquits leaders of Oregon standoff

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A jury delivered a blow to the government Thursday in a long-running battle over the use of public lands when it acquitted all seven defendants involved in the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in rural southeastern Oregon.

Tumult erupted in the courtroom after the verdicts were read when a lawyer for group leader Ammon Bundy demanded his client be released immediately, yelling at the judge repeatedly.

U.S. marshals tackled lawyer Marcus Mumford to the ground, used a stun gun on him several times and arrested him.

U.S. District Judge Anna Brown said she could not release Bundy because he still faces charges in Nevada stemming from an armed standoff at his father Cliven Bundy's ranch two years ago.

The Portland jury acquitted Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy and five others of conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 300 miles southeast of Portland.

Even lawyers for the defendants were surprised by the acquittals.

"It's stunning. It's a stunning victory for the defense," said Robert Salisbury, attorney for defendant Jeff Banta. "I'm speechless."

Said defendant Neil Wampler: "This is a tremendous victory for rural America and it is a well-deserved, overwhelming defeat for a corrupt and predatory federal government."

The U.S Attorney in Oregon, Billy J. Williams, issued a statement defending the decision to bring charges against the seven defendants: "We strongly believe that this case needed to be brought before a court, publicly tried and decided by a jury."

A Bundy daughter, Bailey Logue, said family members were savoring the victory and would begin to determine their next step today.

"First thing, we're going to get down on our knees and thank our heavenly Father, and we're going to enjoy our families," Logue said.

"Tomorrow, we're going to figure out what we're going to do next."

Messages left for Bundy family matriarch Carol Bundy in Bunkerville, Nevada, weren't immediately returned.

The Oregon case is a continuation of the tense standoff with federal officials at Cliven Bundy's ranch in 2014.

Cliven, Ammon and Ryan Bundy are among those who are to go on trial in Nevada early next year for that standoff.

While the charges in Oregon accused defendants of preventing federal workers from getting to their workplace, the case in Nevada revolves around allegations of a more direct threat: An armed standoff involving dozens of Bundy backers pointing weapons including assault-style rifles at federal Bureau of Land Management agents and contract cowboys rounding up cattle near the Bundy ranch outside Bunkerville.