Three C. Oregonians travel to Nevada to support Bundys

Cliven Bundy and other defendants facing a federal trial for a 2014 standoff with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Nevada are gaining support in Central Oregon, as three area residents traveled to Nevada to play a role in an ongoing protest at the jail where they are being held.

Supporters of the Bundy family built a mock jail cell in Pahrump, Nevada last week when Ammon Bundy got word to friends and family that he was left handcuffed in a small 3-by-3-foot cell for 13 hours.

Protesters took turns standing in the mock cell to raise money for the Bundy family’s defense fund. A friend of the family, B.J. Soper of Redmond, said they built the cell to show the public what it really looks like to put somebody in a cell of that size, protesting not only the Bundy trial, but also possible inmate abuse.

Soper, of the Central Oregon Constitutional Guard, told NewsChannel 21 on Sunday that he doesn’t think people realize how often prison abuse happens, and it’s time to see how the prison system is run. He said he and the other two Central Oregonians spent six day at the site.

“People make mistakes, and they’re going to pay their debt to society,” Soper said. “But they don’t need to be abused in the process of that.

“There is a fine line, when it comes to abuse. And it needs to be a very thick line in how these prisons operate and deal with inmates,”Soper said. “It’s terrifying, and the for-profit prison system is something we will have to address as a nation.”

The protest in Nevada is on its 10th day, and according to Soper, they have raised around $25,000 for the Bundy family defense fund.

Soper said they have no intention of leaving until something is done to address the issue of prison abuse. He said this is not an isolated issue.