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In a bizarre cap to Thursday's stunning acquittal of Ammon Bundy and his crew of "patriots," U.S. Marshals wrestled Bundy's attorney to the ground and Tased him multiple times after he refused to stop arguing for Bundy's immediate release.
After the jury delivered the verdict, U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown made plans to release David Fry, the only Oregon defendant who was still in jail, but not charged in a related Nevada case. (Fry was released late Thursday night to a crowd of supporters who greeted him with hugs, praise and pizza.)
Brown said Bundy and his brother Ryan would remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals, pending their transfer to Nevada.
Marshals there had placed a custody hold on the Bundy brothers, pending their scheduled February trial over charges related to the 2014 standoff at the Bunkerville ranch owned by their father, Cliven Bundy.
Bundy's attorney Marcus Mumford didn't find that persuasive.
Judge Brown had earlier refused to consolidate Bundy's detention order in the Nevada case with his detention in Oregon, finding that she had no authority over orders made by the federal court in Las Vegas.
Marcus Philpot, co-counsel for Bundy, said later that it was Mumford and Bundy's position that the judge had either absolute authority over Bundy's detention status or she had none.
"If you don't have authority to consolidate, then how do you have the authority to detain him?" Philpot asked. "Our argument is that is illegal. And that's the discussion that Marcus wanted to have. It's a legal distinction that he should have been allowed to have with the judge without any expectation that the marshals would assault him and Tase him for doing it."
Mumford began to argue that case to Brown following the verdict.
"If they want him, they know where to find him," Mumford told the judge. "I don't see any paper proving their authority to hold him."
Mumford continued to argue for Bundy's immediate release, leaping to his feet and raising his voice.
Judge Brown, who often seemed exasperated by Mumford during the roughly six-week trial, wasn't having it.
"You really need to not yell at me, now or ever again," Brown said.
That's when the marshals started to close in from all directions.
Mumford seemed surprised by their response, looking around and asking, "What are you all doing?" The biggest, tallest marshal stood inches from Mumford's face.
"You need to stand down," he said.
"Take a step back, gentlemen," Brown said.
But Mumford continued to press his point.
"No, your honor," he yelled. "He is acquitted."
About half a dozen marshals piled atop him.
"Everyone out!" Judge Brown ordered.
Philpot said after the verdict announcement that the scene was a perfect example of the sort of government tyranny Ammon Bundy was trying to fight when he led the January armed seizure of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that caused an estimated $6 million in damage and left dozens in jail and one man killed by Oregon State Police.
"There was insufficient provocation," Philpot said. "They assaulted an attorney that had made no aggressive move whatsoever – threw him to the ground and Tased him—which is very symbolic of the federal government's over-violent and aggressive actions that led up to this very trial."
Mumford was released two hours later. Standing on the front steps of the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse, he told press that he was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting lawful order.
Surrounded by cameras, Mumford described his version of events.
"They surrounded me and Mr. Bundy and I said if you have authority to arrest him, please show me your authority. And instead they took me down on the ground and they rammed my head into the ground and they Tased me."
Willamette Week