Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who came to Oregon to support the armed occupation of a national wildlife preserve led by his sons, will remain in jail pending trial after prosecutors called him "lawless and violent."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Janice Stewart said Tuesday that Bundy should not be released ahead of trial because there is a risk he won't show up for future court dates. "If he is released and he goes back to his ranch, that is likely the last the government will see of him," Stewart said.
Bundy, 69, was arrested in Portland last week on charges stemming from a 2014 armed standoff with federal officials who were rounding up his cattle over unpaid grazing fees.
He came to Oregon to support a weekslong occupation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which his sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, launched Jan. 2 to demand the federal government turn over public lands to local control.
His sons were arrested Jan. 26 and remain in jail, but four holdouts extended the occupation until Thursday, when they surrendered.