Trump pardons Oregon cattle ranchers in case that sparked 41-day occupation of national wildlife refuge
By John Wagner and Mark Berman
July 10 at 12:05 PM
President Trump granted pardons Tuesday to father-and-son cattle ranchers in southeastern Oregon who were sentenced to serve prison time on two separate occasions for the same charges of arson on public lands.
The return to prison of Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond helped spark the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in early 2016. Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, a rancher who acted as the protesters’ spokesman, was killed by a state trooper during an encounter between the armed occupation group and law enforcement — a shooting that led to charges against an FBI special agent.
In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said an “overzealous appeal” of the Hammonds’ original sentences during the Obama administration, which sent them back to prison, was “unjust.”
“The Hammonds are devoted family men, respected contributors to their local community, and have widespread support from their neighbors, local law enforcement, and farmers and ranchers across the West,” Sanders said, adding: “Justice is overdue.”
The Hammonds were convicted of crimes that require a mandatory minimum jail sentence of five years in prison under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. A judge, however, initially gave Dwight Hammond three months and his son Steven Hammond a year and a day behind bars.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-pardons-oregon-cattle-ranchers-in-case-that-sparked-41-day-occupation-of-national-wildlife-refuge/2018/07/10/8f7aefa0-844c-11e8-8553-a3ce89036c78_story.html?utm_term=.0848a4b22500
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