State board seeks investigation into Grant County sheriff

The Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training is asking the state Department of Justice to investigate Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer after it received numerous complaints from the public and others, including dispatchers and the John Day police chief..

The Department of Public Safety Standards Director Eriks Gabliks told NewsChannel 21 on Thursday one of those filing a complaint against Palmer is the local police chief.

The DOJ will now review the case and could revoke Palmer’s license as a law enforcement officer.

Palmer has made comments sympathetic toward the militants in the past and has met with some of them. On Jan. 26, Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy and other militants were on their way to Grant County to meet with Palmer when they were arrested and LaVoy Finicum was fatally shot.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors are throwing the book at Cliven Bundy for his role in the 2014 standoff with the federal government in Nevada over grazing rights.

However, it is not just Cliven Bundy who is charged with 16 felonies in an indictment filed on Wednesday.

The 51-page indictment is charging Cliven Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Ammon Bundy, Ryan Payne and Pete Santilli with 16 felony charges for their roles in a “massive armed assault against federal law” in Nevada in 2014. The indictment alleges “the defendants recruited, organized and led hundreds of others in using armed force against law enforcement officers.”

The list of charges include conspiracy, assault and obstruction of justice. There’s also five counts of criminal forfeiture against each defendant. If convicted the defendants would have to turn over property allegedly obtained through the proceeds of their crimes, totaling at least $3 million.

On Thursday, Ammon Bundy released a statement from jail, calling the indictment an overreach by the federal government.

Federal prosecutors say Cliven Bundy has been trespassing on federal public lands for over 20 years, since he stopped paying grazing fees.

Over the years, Cliven Bundy received several warnings from the government. After he ignored all warnings, the government decided to seize his cattle.

That’s when he called for armed supporters to come to his ranch. Hundreds showed up and Bundy said he was ready to do “whatever it takes” to keep the government from seizing his cattle.

Eventually federal agents decided to leave, “unwilling to risk harm to children and other unarmed bystanders who had accompanied the {Bundy’s} followers.”

Here’s the U.S. District Court indictment (Adobe Acrobat PDF file)