Ammon Bundy’s Lawyers are Pushing Forward to Get His Charges Dismissed, Bringing His Anti-Government Claims to Court

American anti-government protester Ammon Bundy has been advocating various issues, including the government's public land use in the west. His protest movements have led him to face some serious felony charges from U.S. prosecutors. Now, his lawyers are bringing his claims of government land use to the court.

According to The Guardian, the move to bring the activist's anti-government claims lays the groundwork for a request to dismiss the criminal charges against Bundy. The U.S. prosecutors have filed a slew of serious felony charges against him, including over the latest protest in this year's occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, where he led armed protestors against the government.

"The purposes intended for the federal government, were, among other things, defense, trade, and to settle disputes between States," stated Lissa Casey as one of Bundy's lawyers. "Defendant will argue that the Constitution only intended to give broad federal power of property in Territories, as the Founders contemplated the expansion westward," Casey added.

In the filing, Casey argued the case that was advocated by Bundy in the protest. She wrote that the land that has now become the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was not always the 'federal land'. "The federal government relinquished that land when it was previously deeded and homesteaded," the filing stated.

Portland Patch elaborated further that Bundy's lawyers also challenged federal jurisdiction in the filing. The legal team argued that the government cannot prove it owns the land. Therefore, the government does not have the right have its employees to work on the land. "Jurisdiction, in this case, will determine whether the Federal Government can prosecute protesters for being there all," said the filing.

Bundy is one of the total of 27 militants indicted on federal charges in regard to the armed protest movement in Malheur National Wildlife earlier this year. They seized the refuge land on January 2 in an armed protest. Bundy was then arrested on January 26, when another occupier, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, was shot to death.

Mail Online reports that upon his arrest, Bundy pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and gun charges. The trials for him and other protesters in the incident have been scheduled in September. The lawyers have made moves to ask a federal judge to extend the deadline for filing motions to dismiss the case.

The lawyers for Ammon Bundy who led the armed protest movement in the Malheur National Wildlife earlier this year have filed a claim based on Bundy's arguments on anti-governmet land use. The lawyers are seeking to dismiss the charges against Bundy regarding that incident.

Tags

Ammon Bundy, Lawyers, Protest, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Government, Court