Ryan C. Bundy (born 1972) is an American cattle rancher
and former
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
candidate
in
Nevada's 2018 Gubernatorial Election. He is the brother of
Ammon Bundy
Ammon Edward Bundy (born September 1, 1975) is an American anti-government militant and activist. A car fleet manager by profession, Bundy gained widespread attention by leading the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. He is t ...
and the son of
Cliven Bundy
Cliven D. Bundy (born April 29, 1946) is an American cattle rancher who was charged and underwent pre-trial detention for his role in the 2014 Bundy standoff. Bundy vocally advocated a philosophy opposed to what he views as federal government o ...
, who was a central figure in the
2014 Bundy standoff in Bunkerville, Nevada over his unpaid
grazing fee A grazing fee is a charge, usually on a monthly basis, for grazing a specific kind of livestock.
Australia
In New South Wales, Australia, maximum grazing fees have been set by regulation at $1.00 per head of large stock or per 10 (or less) head of ...
s on federally-owned
public land
In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...
. Ryan Bundy was noted as a participant and leader in both the 2014 Bundy standoff and the 2016
occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
On January 2, 2016, an armed group of far-right extremists seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, and continued to occupy it until law enforcement made a final arrest on February ...
in
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
.
Early life
Bundy was born in Nevada in 1972, the son of
Cliven Bundy
Cliven D. Bundy (born April 29, 1946) is an American cattle rancher who was charged and underwent pre-trial detention for his role in the 2014 Bundy standoff. Bundy vocally advocated a philosophy opposed to what he views as federal government o ...
, and his first wife, Jane Marie Brown Bundy. When he was seven, a
Ford LTD ran over and stalled over his head. The driver, unaware of Bundy's location, hit the gas and spun the car with Bundy's head still under the vehicle. This incident resulted in Bundy having a broken arm, a cracked skull, and a severely ripped motor nerve that left part of his face immobile.
Protests and legal trials
Bundy spoke at a 2014 protest against the
Bureau of Land Management's decision to bar all-terrain vehicles from
Recapture Canyon
Recapture Canyon is a canyon along Recapture Creek (a tributary of the San Juan River) east of Blanding, San Juan County, Utah, United States. It is an archaeological site, and is located on federal land. The Bureau of Land Management closed ...
, an environmentally sensitive area of southeastern Utah. The protest drew 40-50 protesters, and the
Salt Lake Tribune
''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871."
History
A ...
said Bundy shouted down one of the protest event's organizers who got cold feet about driving ATVs near protected archeological sites.
2014 Bundy standoff in Bunkerville
For over twenty years, Bundy's father
Cliven Bundy
Cliven D. Bundy (born April 29, 1946) is an American cattle rancher who was charged and underwent pre-trial detention for his role in the 2014 Bundy standoff. Bundy vocally advocated a philosophy opposed to what he views as federal government o ...
had been illegally grazing his cattle on public land near his melon farm in Mesquite, Nevada. Cliven believed that the federal government did not have the jurisdiction over the grazing rights on this public land and refused to pay his grazing fees. By 2014, he owed over $1 million in unpaid grazing fees and fines to the national government. The
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
attempted to collect by impounding some of Bundy's cattle and closing some of the public land that he had been using. In response, the Bundy family called on militia groups across the county to help them defend their property rights. Tensions between the Bundys with their militia followers and the BLM ran high until the federal officers pulled out to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Ryan Bundy was cited as a leader during this standoff and announced to their followers what he saw as a victory for their movement.
Malheur Wildlife Refuge Standoff
In 2015, Bundy and his brother heard about the story of
Dwight and Steven Hammond, two Oregon ranchers who had been previously convicted of arson on federal land and jailed for that crime. In support of their fellow ranchers and in protest of the Hammond's renewed jail sentence, the Bundys rallied hundreds of people to march through the town of
Burns Burns may refer to:
* Burn, an injury (plural)
People:
* Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters
Business:
* Burns London, a British guitar maker
Places:
;In the United States
* Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...
with their firearms and then moved this protest to the nearby
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located roughly south of the city of Burns in Oregon's Harney Basin. Administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuge area is roughly T-shaped with the sout ...
. The two brothers led their militia group, known as the
Citizens for Constitutional Freedom
Citizens for Constitutional Freedom (C4CF), later also known as People for Constitutional Freedom (P4CF), was the name taken on January 4, 2016, by an armed private U.S. militia that occupied the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Malheur Nationa ...
, to take over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife buildings at the refuge and occupied the land for 41 days. The standoff ended on February 11, 2016 after the FBI forced the final four protesters to surrender. The occupation resulted in several arrests, including Ryan and Ammon Bundy, and the death of LaVoy Finicum
ne of the organizers Bundy was also reportedly injured during this shooting and was one of the 26 people indicted as a result from this armed standoff.
Acquittal and mistrial
In October 2016, jurors voted to acquit Ryan Bundy, his brother Ammon, and five others of charges ranging from conspiracy to possession of firearms in federal facilities and depredation of government property. There is uncertainty about why jurors found for acquittal, with some saying the prosecutors failed to prove conspiracy and others arguing that it was due to
nullification
Nullification may refer to:
* Nullification (U.S. Constitution), a legal theory that a state has the right to nullify any federal law deemed unconstitutional with respect to the United States Constitution
* Nullification Crisis, the 1832 confront ...
. The jury was undecided on only one charge facing Ryan Bundy: theft of government property over allegations that he removed surveillance cameras at the refuge. Soon after, the Bundy brothers and their father Cliven were tried in Nevada on charges related to the 2014 Bunkerville standoff. During this trial, Bundy represented himself and forced prosecutors to admit that they had illegally withheld evidence that might have helped his defense. The judge declared a mistrial and ordered all charges dropped against the Bundy trio, citing "flagrant prosecutorial misconduct" by government prosecutors. Ryan Bundy was then released from jail after being held there for nearly two years after the government argued that he was too dangerous to await trial in the community.
2018 Nevada election
In 2018, Bundy ran for
Governor of Nevada
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
as an
Independent Candidate
An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views th ...
. Throughout the course of the race he raised $37,000. Most of these donations came from out of state and $24,000 of it was from
in-kind donations. His father Cliven reportedly did not donate to his campaign.
He ran his campaign based on a strict interpretation of the Constitution, support for state sovereignty, and vehement opposition to public lands. Bundy, like his father, believes that the federal government has no authority to own and manage the public land in the West, harkening back to the beliefs of the
Sagebrush Rebellion
The Sagebrush Rebellion was a movement in the Western United States in the 1970s and the 1980s that sought major changes to federal land control, use, and disposal policy in 13 western states in which federal land holdings include between 20% a ...
in the late twentieth century.
The general election was held on November 6, 2018 and Bundy received 13,891 votes out of 971,799 for a total of 1.9% of the electorate. He came in third place behind
Adam Laxalt and current Governor
Steve Sisolak
Stephen F. Sisolak (born December 26, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 30th governor of Nevada since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Clark County Commission from 2009 to 2019 and on t ...
.
Controversial beliefs
Bundy was met with controversy over his anti-gay views, belief in conspiracy theories, and extreme ideology. He has said that being gay is "sick and wrong" and that homosexuality "is a disease." He believes that
chemtrails
The chemtrail conspiracy theory is the erroneous belief that long-lasting condensation trails are "chemtrails" consisting of chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic prope ...
are being sprayed from aircraft onto the general population for unknown but nefarious reasons and that former president Barack Obama is
not a US citizen. He maintains a distaste of politicians and the criminal justice system, and has said that the people who live in Nevada are not free. Bundy has called for securing the sovereignty of the state of Nevada as more than just a US province. This echoes the ideology of the
sovereign citizen movement
The sovereign citizen movement (also SovCit movement or SovCits) is a loose grouping of litigants, activists, tax protesters, financial scheme promoters and conspiracy theorists, who claim to be answerable only to their particular interpret ...
, which generally consists of individuals in the US who believe they can declare themselves sovereign and not be bound by federal laws or agencies. When asked about the phrase sovereign citizen, Bundy said "You're either a sovereign, or you're a citizen. I believe that I am a sovereign. People created government, government didn't create people. So the government is not my master, I am theirs."
Personal life
Bundy is married to Angie Huntington Bundy, and the couple has eight children.
Like his father Cliven and his brother Ammon, Bundy is a devout Mormon.
Arizona court records show Ryan Bundy accumulated traffic violations from 2007 through 2015, including failure to show evidence of financial responsibility, no current insurance, no current registration and no valid license.
In 2016, Bundy and his wife lived in
Cedar City
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. At that time, he owned a construction company
and ran a melon business.
In 2018, Bundy and his wife lived in
Mesquite
Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas.
They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...
, Nevada, where he ranched and worked in construction while he mounted his bid for Governor of Nevada.
References
External links
Bundy family's official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bundy, Ammon
1972 births
Living people
Far-right politicians in the United States
Nevada Independents
Latter Day Saints from Nevada
American prisoners and detainees
Bundy standoff
People from Bunkerville, Nevada
People from Mesquite, Nevada
Sovereign citizen movement individuals