A handful of people showed up outside a federal courthouse in downtown Portland Tuesday morning as the trial got underway for seven people involved in a weeks-long standoff earlier this year at a national wildlife refuge near Burns.
Opening statements began Tuesday for the defendants, including brothers Ammon Bundy (pictured) and Ryan Bundy, part of a Nevada ranching family embroiled in a long-running dispute over land use.
Those outside court waved an upside-down American flag and were joined by a horse named “Lady Liberty.”
They plan to march around the courthouse during the trial's lunch breaks.
John Lamb drove from Bozeman, Montana, to take part in the protest. He says the federal government has no more authority to manage ranching lands than he does to run the New York City subway.
(story by: Associated Press)
