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Ryan Bundy urges jurors to "stand for freedom"

Posted at 2:02 PM, Oct 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-19 16:02:12-04

Ryan Bundy told jurors during his closing argument Wednesday in the Oregon wildlife refuge standoff case to "stand for freedom” -- and find him not guilty.

Bundy is one of seven defendants being tried on a charge of conspiring to impede federal workers from doing their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife 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.