http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/us/ryan-ammon-bundy-oregon.html 2016-09-29 20:37:41 Bundy Brothers Launch Defense of Armed Occupation of Oregon Refuge Seven defendants, including Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who led the protest in January, are charged with impeding federal workers. === PORTLAND, Ore. — Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who led an armed occupation to protest federal control of Western lands — much of which was captured on video and streamed online — launched their defense in court this week. The trial, which began Sept. 7, revolves around the question of whether the Bundy brothers and five co-defendants conspired to impede federal workers at a Ammon Bundy is expected to testify on Thursday. The occupation in January of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon began as a protest of the imprisonment of two local ranchers and grew into a stand against federal control of land in the West. The protest was viewed widely as the sequel to a 2014 stand against federal power in Nevada. That confrontation was led by the men’s father, Cliven Bundy, a rancher. The Oregon occupation was billed by its leaders as a political protest and a rallying point for frustrated ranchers who wanted to reclaim land under federal control. But it drew all sorts of people, all with their own grievances. The occupiers ultimately failed to achieve their goal of forcing Washington to hand the sanctuary over to the county. Eleven people have already pleaded guilty. One participant, Ammon Bundy | Ryan Bundy | The occupation was led by Ammon Bundy, now 41, and his brother Ryan Bundy, now 43. During the occupation, at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, it often felt as if Ammon Bundy was in charge. The two were often spotted around the compound, dressed in flannel shirts and cowboy hats, pledging fealty to the Constitution and evoking the Bible to justify their cause. Neither is a full-time cowboy. Ammon Bundy started a company that provides Shawna Cox | Ms. Cox has a long history of protesting federal involvement on Western lands, including President Bill Clinton’s decision in the 1990s to turn a vast area of Utah into a national monument called Jeff Banta | Mr. Banta was one of the last holdouts at the refuge. His father Kenneth Medenbach | Mr. Medenbach has been protesting federal power for at least two decades. He is a woodworker by profession. David Lee Fry | At the refuge, Mr. Fry seemed out a place in the band of older Westerners. He was a skinny, longhaired 27-year-old from Ohio who had connected with leaders over the internet. Back at home, he had worked at a dental practice with his parents. During the takeover, he became increasingly erratic, and he was among the last participants to leave the refuge. In a tense negotiation with the authorities that was streamed live on YouTube, he threatened to kill himself before giving up his freedom. “I will not go another day as a slave to this system,” Neil Wampler | Mr. Wampler was a familiar face at the refuge, and in an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting during the occupation, he called himself a 68-year-old hippie. “Here I am, out doing this marvelous, fantastic stuff,” he told reporters. “It’s just fantastic.” Mr. Wampler is also a felon, having killed his father with a steel rod in 1977 while the man slept. He was convicted of second-degree murder and spent four years in prison. Sean and Sandra Anderson of Riggins, Idaho; Dylan Anderson of Provo, Utah; Duane Ehmer of Irrigon, Ore.; Jason Patrick of Bonaire, Ga.; Darryl Thorn of Marysville, Wash.; Jake Ryan of Plains, Mont. Blaine Cooper of Dewey-Humboldt, Ariz.; Eric Flores of Tulalip, Wash.; Wesley Kjar of Manti, Utah; Corey Lequieu of Fallon, Nev.; Joseph O’Shaughnessy of Cottonwood, Ariz.; Ryan Payne of Anaconda, Mont.; Jon Ritzheimer of Peoria, Ariz.; Geoffrey Stanek of Lafayette, Ore.; Travis Cox of Bend, Ore.; Brian Cavalier of Bunkerville, Nev.; Jason Blomgren of Murphy, N.C. Peter Santilli | Mr. Santilli, an internet radio host, broadcast live from the refuge during the standoff, making frequent calls for people around the country to join the occupation. He was known to harass journalists and other onlookers during his show. Cliven Bundy | Mr. Bundy was not involved in the Oregon occupation. He is jailed on separate charges stemming from the 2014 Nevada standoff. In that case, federal prosecutors accuse Mr. Bundy of participating in a “