Advertisement
Singapore markets closed

  • Straits Times Index

    3,280.10
    -7.65 (-0.23%)
     

  • Nikkei

    37,934.76
    +306.28 (+0.81%)
     

  • Hang Seng

    17,651.15
    +366.61 (+2.12%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    8,139.83
    +60.97 (+0.75%)
     

  • Bitcoin USD

    63,891.85
    -845.96 (-1.31%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,331.94
    -64.60 (-4.63%)
     

  • S&P 500

    5,099.96
    +51.54 (+1.02%)
     

  • Dow

    38,239.66
    +153.86 (+0.40%)
     

  • Nasdaq

    15,927.90
    +316.14 (+2.03%)
     

  • Gold

    2,350.50
    +8.00 (+0.34%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    83.66
    +0.09 (+0.11%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.6690
    -0.0370 (-0.79%)
     

  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,575.16
    +5.91 (+0.38%)
     

  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,036.08
    -119.22 (-1.67%)
     

  • PSE Index

    6,628.75
    +53.87 (+0.82%)
     

Biden Officials Block Public Grazing Permits For Arsonist Ranchers Pardoned By Trump

Mary Papenfuss
·Trends Reporter, HuffPost
·2-min read

The Biden administration’s Bureau of Land Management has rescinded a new permit for grazing on public lands granted to two Oregon arsonist ranchers pardoned by Donald Trump.

The arson convictions of Dwight Hammond and his son Steven for torching public lands was at the center of an armed takeover in 2016 of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, which led to a 41-day armed standoff with federal authorities. The assault was led by militant rancher brothers Ryan and Ammon Bundy.

Despite the record of violence, Trump Interior Secretary David Bernhardt granted the Hammonds a new grazing permit on Trump’s last day in office. The permit would have allowed the ranchers’ livestock to use public land for 10 years.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Biden administration blocked the permit Friday, a day after environmental groups sued, arguing the Trump government ignored legal requirements, reported Oregon Public Radio. The Biden administration cited the same concerns in its notice rescinding the permit.

The Hammonds were sentenced to a minimum prison term of five years in 2015. Steve Hammond’s nephew testified that his uncle handed out matches and told members of a hunting party to drop lighted matches on the ground to “light up the whole country in fire,” apparently to cover up the illegal slaughter of deer on taxpayer land. The blazes burned 139 acres.

The Hammonds’ arson conviction led to the revocation of their previous grazing permit. Trump pardoned the Hammonds in 2018.

Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, denounced the pardon at the time and said Trump “has once again sided with lawless extremists who believe that public land does not belong to all Americans.”

The Hammonds’ criminal record also includes death threats against federal officials and a 1994 arrest for trying to stop federal workers from fencing off a canal at Malheur.

Related...

Ex-Trump Aide Paul Manafort Can't Be Prosecuted In New York Following Pardon

Trump Ally Erik Prince Supplied Arms, Mercenaries For Planned Libya Coup: Report

FBI Reportedly Probing Roger Stone's, Alex Jones' Possible Links To Capitol Violence

Prosecutors Fight Against Dismissing Steve Bannon Indictment, Despite Trump's Pardon

Also on HuffPost

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.