Ammon Bundy testifies in second refuge trial

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Ammon Bundy is testifying for the defense in the conspiracy trial of four men who followed his call to occupy a national wildlife refuge in Oregon to protest federal control of Western lands and the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires on public land.

Bundy testified Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland in the second such trial to play out over the Oregon case.

Bundy, his brother Ryan and five others were acquitted last fall of conspiracy for their role in the armed standoff.

Four lesser-known men involved in the standoff are being tried on similar charges.

Bundy was brought from Las Vegas, where he’s awaiting trial on charges he led armed gunmen to block a federal cattle roundup near his father’s Nevada ranch in April 2014.