Photo Credit: Getty Images
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Witness testimony is beginning in Las Vegas for six defendants accused of taking up arms to stop a federal roundup of cattle near Nevada cattleman Cliven Bundy's ranch in April 2014.
A U.S. District Court jury that heard opening statements Thursday returns to court Monday to begin hearing evidence.
A prosecutor last week described the defendants as lawbreaking gunmen who answered Bundy's call to prevent federal Bureau of Land Management agents from seizing his cattle in a decades-long dispute over grazing rules and unpaid fees.
Defense attorneys portrayed the men as law-abiding citizens spurred by reports of scuffles between federal agents and Bundy family members to protest government heavy-handedness.
Cliven Bundy, two sons and two other accused leaders of the conspiracy are due for trial after the first trial concludes.
(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)