Oregon occupiers hit with same federal charges as some animal rights activists, anti-war protesters

Ammon Bundy and his band of anti-government protesters are facing federal charges familiar to some animal rights activists, anti-war protesters, and Jewish extremists, The Oregonian reports.

It is a felony to conspire to impede or injure an officer through the use of force, intimidation, or threats, with a maximum prison sentence of six years and fines. Bundy, who had been occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge for weeks before his arrest Thursday, had demanded the land be handed over to the ranchers and vowed violence if law enforcement tried to remove them.

The Oregonian reports that the same charge was also brought against Iraq War protesters in Ithaca, New York, in 2004. Three men and a woman laid down on the floor of a military recruiting station, although they were eventually acquitted of the conspiracy charge.

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Also in 2004, an environmentalist protested a federal mountain lion hunt in Arizona, warning that his activist group would do anything to stop the hunt; he was charged with conspiracy to impede an officer as well. In 2001, a former member of the Jewish Defense League was arrested in a plot to bomb a mosque, pleading guilty to "carrying an explosive device in connection with a conspiracy to impede or injure an officer of the United States."

Bundy was arrested during a traffic stop late Thursday that left one militiaman, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, dead.