Bunkerville standoff figure plays media card in bid for freedom

Pete Santilli is playing the media card in a bid to gain his release from federal custody in the criminal case stemming from the Bunkerville standoff. In court papers this week, defense lawyer Chris Rasmussen argued that Santilli was covering the April 12, 2014, armed confrontation between the Bundy family and law enforcement as a member of the media. He hosts the Internet-based Pete Santilli show from Cincinnati on YouTube. “The court should carefully consider the chilling effect on the media that the detention of the main journalist covering the Bundys would have on other journalists interested in these land issues,” Rasmussen wrote. “Santilli is situated much differently than the other defendants. His role as a journalist here in Nevada and Oregon should be considered in his release. Santilli never carried a firearm, never threw a rock, never came into any type of physical confrontation with government officials.” Federal prosecutors, however, do not share Rasmussen’s opinion. They contend in court documents that Santilli and his web-based Guerilla Media Network are not part of the mainstream media and that his podcast espouses anti-government rhetoric and conspiracy theories...more