Ryan Bundy says occupiers came to help in Oregon

An attorney for one of the leaders of the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon this year says his client did not conspire to impede U.S. government workers. That's the charge Ammon Bundy faces in a trial that began Tuesday in Portland for him, his brother Ryan and five other defendants. Ammon Bundy's lawyer, Marcus Mumford, told jurors during his opening statement, that the 41-day occupation was a legitimate attempt to take possession of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Mumford also told the U.S. District Court jury that only one side of the standoff shot anybody — a reference to the FBI's fatal shooting of armed protester Robert "LaVoy" Finicum during a traffic stop. Ryan Bundy, the brother of group leader Ammon Bundy, is acting as his own attorney. He told the court in opening statements Tuesday that he and others went to Burns, Oregon, to protest against the imprisonment of two Oregon ranchers convicted of setting fires. The group's members have said they were protesting federal land use policy and wanted locals to control the area...more