Prosecutors have begun opening statements in Las Vegas in the case against six defendants accused of illegally wielding weapons to block a federal roundup of states' rights advocate Cliven Bundy's cows nearly three years ago.
A chief deputy U.S. attorney is telling a jury Thursday that the men brought weapons from Idaho, Arizona and Oklahoma to Nevada and conspired with Bundy to mount a massive armed assault against federal law enforcement officers.
Defense attorneys are expected to cast their clients as citizens who were only exercising their constitutional free speech and weapon rights.
No shots were fired in the April 2014 standoff near Bunkerville, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.
But the incident reverberated across Western rangeland where Bundy is revered by backers for declaring that the property belongs to the people, not the federal government.
