No Grazing Permits for Trump-Pardoned Arsonists, Judge Rules
PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) – A federal judge yanked a permit to graze cattle on public land from the father and son whose prison sentences for arson on the land in question sparked a 2016 armed standoff between right-wing extremists and federal law enforcement.
Rancher Dwight Hammond Jr. greets protesters outside his home in Burns, Ore., Jan. 2, 2016. President Donald Trump pardoned Dwight and Steven Hammond, two ranchers whose case sparked the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon. The Hammonds were convicted in 2012 of intentionally and maliciously setting fires on public lands. (Les Zaitz/The Oregonian via AP, File)
Dwight Hammond and his son Steven were distant stars of the 41-day standoff between the FBI and armed right-wing militants that ended with one man dead. Among his demands, standoff leader Ammon Bundy called for the release of the Hammonds, who were convicted in 2012 of setting fire to their grazing allotments on public land adjacent to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge where the standoff took place.
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