President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned father-and-son cattle ranchers in southeastern Oregon who were sentenced to serve prison time on two separate occasions for the same charges of arson on public lands, a move their supporters hailed as a shift in how federal agencies approach the West.
Trump's decision to set aside the convictions of Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond could have major implications for how federal officials enforce rules on grazing and other activities on tens of millions of acres owned by taxpayers. The two men's return to prison helped spark the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in early 2016. Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, a rancher who acted as the protesters' spokesman, was killed by a state trooper during an encounter between the armed occupation group and law enforcement officers -- a shooting that led to charges against an FBI special agent.
In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said an "overzealous appeal" of the Hammonds' original sentences during President Barack Obama's administration, which sent them back to prison, was "unjust."
"The Hammonds are devoted family men, respected contributors to their local community, and have widespread support from their neighbors, local law enforcement, and farmers and ranchers across the West," Sanders said, adding: "Justice is overdue."
The Hammonds were convicted of crimes that require a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years in prison under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. A judge, however, initially gave Dwight Hammond three months and his son Steven Hammond a year and a day behind bars.
The government won an appeal over the Hammonds' sentences in 2015, and the two men were resentenced to serve out the remaining years of a five-year minimum.
Their convictions have drawn sharp rebukes from the community amid allegations that the family was aggressively prosecuted using anti-terrorism statutes because they were outspoken about public land use in rural Oregon.
Jerome Rosa, president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, said in an interview Tuesday that the pardons "send a signal that the new administration really understands the significance and the importance of what the ranching community provides for these Western landscapes."
Land Tawney, president of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, said in an interview that while it is understandable that the ranchers' supporters were anxious for them to be released, the fact that Trump pardoned them outright rather than commuted their sentences "sends a message of tolerance for lawbreakers who could diminish our public lands and waters."
"You are just empowering and emboldening those who disrespect the people who are there to manage these lands for all the people of America," Tawney said, predicting that the decision "will send shock waves up the ranks of the BLM."
In her statement, Sanders characterized the arson as "a fire that leaked onto a small portion of neighboring public grazing land." She noted that Dwight Hammond is 76 and has served about three years in prison and that Steven Hammond is 49 and has served about four years.
The two fires for which the Hammonds were convicted took place five years apart. The first one occurred in 2001, when, according to the Justice Department, witnesses told a jury that Steven Hammond "handed out 'Strike Anywhere' matches because they were going to 'light up the whole country on fire.'" The second fire was five years later, and the men said it was a prescribed burn -- lit in the midst of a burn ban and without permission from the bureau -- that spread out of control.
Jamie Rappaport Clark, president of the group Defenders of Wildlife, noted that the Hammonds were convicted of arson, a serious crime.
"Whatever prompted President Trump to pardon them, we hope that it is not seen as an encouragement to those who might use violence to seize federal property and threaten federal employees in the West," Clark said.
Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, who lobbied the White House for the pardon of the Hammonds, said Trump's decision was "a win for justice, and an acknowledgement of our unique way of life in the high desert, rural West."
The dozens of armed people who occupied the refuge near the Hammond ranch for 41 days said the Hammonds were victims of federal overreach. They changed the refuge's name to the Harney County Resource Center, reflecting their belief that the federal government has only a limited right to own property within a state.
Cliven Bundy, whose sons were leaders of the occupation, said he was glad Trump pardoned the Hammonds.
"Finally, an elected official did something," Bundy said. "He can't give them back their life. They're going to go back to ranching and put their lives together the best they can."
Bundy and his sons Ammon and Ryan faced trial after an armed standoff at their Nevada ranch in 2014 that was sparked by land-grazing fees. A federal judge in January dismissed the charges against them.
The brothers and five other defendants were acquitted in 2016 by a federal court jury in Portland on charges stemming from the takeover.
The Hammonds had been held at a federal lockup south of Los Angeles. Lyle Hammond, son of Dwight Hammond, said his father and brother were freed Tuesday.
"Our family is grateful to the president and all who worked to make this possible," the Hammond family said in a statement.
Information for this article was contributed by John Wagner, Juliet Eilperin, Mark Berman and Leah Sottile of The Washington Post; and by Andrew Selsky, Jill Colvin and Zeke Miller of The Associated Press.
A Section on 07/11/2018