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WASHINGTON – President Trump pardoned two Oregon cattle ranchers on Tuesday who were serving arson convictions on federal lands – punishments that inspired the armed occupation of a wildlife preserve. in 2016 and drew attention to a move against federal land Breeders, Dwight L. Hammond, now 76, and his son, Steven D. Hammond, 49, have become a famous cause for the anti-government group that has been held for several weeks at the National Wildlife Refuge. The armed occupation of the shelter by the group resulted in the death of an Arizona rancher.
The Hammonds have a long history of conflict with the federal government, prompting some of their supporters to argue that their 2001 and 2006 fire sentences were unfair and reflected the need to wrest control from the fires. public lands in the federal government and entrust it to the states.
"The Hammonds are multigenerational livestock breeders from Oregon jailed because of a fire that has spread to a small portion of the nearby public. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the press secretary of the White House, said in a statement Tuesday. "The evidence at trial of the Hammonds' liability in the fire was contradictory and the jury acquitted them of most of the charges."
Pardons will reduce Hammond's five-year sentences – Dwight Hammond served three years old and Steven Hammond served four. They also defy the Obama administration's call to impose longer sentences for the Hammonds and suggest that the Trump administration supports the ranchers in the battle on federal lands. "1965" Awesome, awesome, awesome, "said Ryan Bundy, who helped at the federal wildlife preserve near Hammond Ranch." It's been a long time coming. It has been a long time coming. "
" Forgiving the Hammonds sends a dangerous message to forest rangers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and public land managers in the United States, "Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western priorities, said in a statement. "President Trump, at the request of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, has again sided with lawless extremists who believe that public lands do not belong to all Americans."
The Hammond were sentenced in 2012 and served in prison. But a federal court of appeal ruled in 2015 that they had been wrongly convicted and ordered them to return to jail and serve more time. The Hammond surrendered to the federal authorities in January 2016, and their lawyers asked President Barack Obama to grant clemency, arguing that the five-year sentences were excessive.
"The Hammonds are dedicated family men, respected contributors have broad support from their neighbors, local law enforcement, and farmers and ranchers from the West", said Mrs. Sanders in a statement issued on the occasion of a NATO meeting in Brussels. "Justice is late for Dwight and Steven Hammond, who fully deserve these concessions of clemency of leaders "
The federal government owns about half of the land in the western United States, which has long been frustrating for pastoralists, others who use it to make a living. and are subject to rules set by federal officials, rules with which they sometimes disagree.
For decades, a subgroup of Westerners and their political allies on departmental commissions, in the most local control of these lands And some called for their surrender to the state.
In recent years, the Bundy family, a sprawling clan based in Bunkerville, Nevada, has emerged as a symbol of the most extreme version of this push for local control. . First, in 2014, they held a very public confrontation with federal agents outside their ranch, after the federal authorities tried to confiscate their livestock. (The cattle grazed illegally on federal land.)
Then, inspired by the Hammond case, they stormed the Wildlife Refuge of Woe in what turned into a confrontation with federal officials. Many of those who joined the Bundy in protest were members of unofficial militias who carried long guns and guns and disguised themselves as war
At the time, the Bundy declared that this type of Action was needed to bring national attention to the Hammonds. & # 39; difficult situation – and the situation of breeders everywhere. Finally, a jury acquitted the Bundys for their role in the takeover. Ryan Bundy now lives on the Bunkerville Family Ranch and is running for Governor
. Obama's policy on federally controlled public lands, including the establishment of a record amount of land and seas under increased federal protection, served as foil to the family
. Trump took a more favorable tone to calls for local control, helped by Mr. Zinke. In December, the president sharply reduced the size of two conservation areas in Utah, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. This was the biggest setback of federal land protection in the nation's history.
The Hammond's pardon, which has become a symbol of perceived rural persecution, is the latest sign of M.'s concessions. Trump to those who also say the federal government. often overstepped the western part of the country.
The Hammonds are the sixth and seventh people to receive pardons from Mr. Trump. In all his pardons, Mr. Trump has bypbaded the typical process (a waiting period of five years is required for requests to be made to the Department of Justice) and spent on more than 10,000 requests for forgiveness and clemency. President has the power to forgive anyone convicted of a federal offense
Rep. Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon, said this month that the president was "seriously considering" to forgive the Hammonds, and he applauded on Tuesday. "Today, it is a victory for justice and a recognition of our unique way of life in the high desert, rural West," Walden said in a statement.
The Hammonds said that they lit fires to handle the spread of forest fires, a tactic that Walden said was "something the federal government is doing all the time."
million. Walden introduced a law last year that, he said, would protect farmers like the Hammonds from being prosecuted as terrorists. (The men were prosecuted under a terrorism law enacted in 1996 after the Oklahoma City bombing and were subject to a mandatory five-year sentence. )
Eileen Sullivan of Washington and Julie Turkewitz of Denver. Emily Cochrane contributed to Washington reports.
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