海角大神

After only five days of deliberation, a jury found seven occupiers of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, including Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy, not guilty of federal conspiracy and weapons charges Thursday afternoon.聽

The Bundy brothers, along with a number of armed followers, took over a wildlife refuge in rural Oregon for 41 days during January and February of this year. The occupiers say they were protesting tyrannical federal land-management policies, which has led to the poverty and plight of local ranchers.

During the trial that began in early September, the Bundys say their plan was to take ownership of the refuge before handing it over to the discretion of local officials. The occupation required firearms, argued the Bundys, because they would have been immediately arrested otherwise.

鈥淲e鈥檙e so grateful to the jurors who weren鈥檛 swayed by the nonsense that was going on,鈥� defendant Shawna Cox told Reuters after the verdict was read. 鈥淕od said we weren鈥檛 guilty. We weren鈥檛 guilty of anything.鈥澛�

But the prosecution felt otherwise, accusing the occupiers of possessing firearms in a federal facility and conspiring against the federal government.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 stunning. It鈥檚 a stunning victory for the defense,鈥� Robert Salisbury, attorney for defendant Jeff Banta, told reporters. 鈥淚鈥檓 speechless.鈥澛�

It is not just the verdict that is surprising: by any measure, the occupiers鈥� trial was unorthodox.聽

For example, Ryan Bundy chose to represent himself in court, claiming his innocence as a member of the 鈥渟overeign Bundy family,鈥� and therefore immune to federal law.聽

As the 海角大神 Science Monitor鈥檚 Gretel Kauffman reported in September, the older Bundy brother also drew attention by referring to himself as an 鈥渋diot鈥� in one court motion, seeking $800,000 in damages for his arrest, and attempting to subpoena Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and other government officials to testify in this case.

And Ammon Bundy鈥檚 attorney Marcus Mumford was anything but traditional in his defense. At one point in the case, Mr. Mumford cited the 1948 western film 鈥淭he Treasure of the Sierra Madre鈥� to make a point about federal jurisdiction. When the verdict was read Thursday afternoon, Mumford was tackled and tasered by US Marshals after a heated argument with the judge.聽

In Mumford鈥檚 opinion, the not guilty verdict meant his client was free to go. However the judge disagreed: The Bundy brothers will remain in custody as they still face charges in Nevada due to a previous armed standoff against the federal government in 2014 with their father, Cliven Bundy.

Regardless of the strange trial or surprising verdict, some worry about the acquittals鈥� future implications.

鈥淭he Bundy clan and their followers peddle a dangerous brand of radicalism aimed at taking over lands owned by all of us,鈥� Kier谩n聽Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Associated Press. 鈥淚 worry this verdict only emboldens the kind of intimidation and right-wing violence that underpins their movement.鈥�

Protesters of the verdict also took to Twitter, many attributing the acquittal to the protestors鈥� race.

But the defense attribute the protesters鈥� weapon supply to their Wild West-like culture.聽

鈥淔or these defendants and these people, having a firearm has nothing to do with a threat or anything else,鈥� defense lawyer Matthew Schindler told The Washington Post. 鈥淚t鈥檚 as much a statement of their rural culture as a cowboy hat or a pair of jeans. I think the jury believed at the end of the day that that鈥檚 why the guns were there.鈥�