Ryan Bundy urges refuge jurors to ‘stand for freedom’

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ryan Bundy told jurors Wednesday during his closing argument in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff case to “stand for freedom,” and find him not guilty.

Bundy is among seven defendants being tried on a charge of conspiring to impede federal workers from doing their jobs at the refuge during last winter’s 41-day occupation.

Acting as his own attorney, Bundy quoted Martin Luther King Jr., saying injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere.

Bundy said that explains why he joined the protest in support of two ranchers he believes were wrongly imprisoned.

He acknowledged taking over the workspace of federal employees, saying the occupiers didn’t know whose seats they were sitting in and didn’t care. He said it might sound callous, but the purpose of the movement was beyond such considerations.