President Trump on Tuesday pardoned two cattle ranchers who were convicted of arson on public lands in 2012 and inspired an armed protest in Oregon in 2016, The Associated Press reports.
The White House announced that Dwight Hammond, 76, and his son Steven Hammond, 49, would be granted full presidential clemency and pardoned from their "overzealous" sentencing. The two men were sentenced to five years in prison in 2015, which the White House called "unjust."
"The evidence at trial regarding the Hammonds' responsibility for the fire was conflicting," read the statement. "The Hammonds are devoted family men, respected contributors to their local community."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Hammond case was central to the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. After prosecutors won an appeal to give the Hammonds more jail time in 2015, organizers protested at the refuge, near the Hammond ranch, for more than a month. Demonstrators said the government was overstepping its bounds in federal land ownership, reports the Chicago Tribune, and continued the armed protest until leader Ammon Bundy was arrested during a traffic stop.
"Justice is overdue for Dwight and Steven Hammond," said the White House, noting that they have paid $400,000 to settle the case. The "grossly disproportionate" punishment, continues the statement, makes them "entirely deserving of these grants of executive clemency."
-
Political cartoons for November 29Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include Kash Patel's travel perks, believing in Congress, and more
-
Nigel Farage: was he a teenage racist?Talking Point Farage’s denials have been ‘slippery’, but should claims from Reform leader’s schooldays be on the news agenda?
-
Pushing for peace: is Trump appeasing Moscow?In Depth European leaders succeeded in bringing themselves in from the cold and softening Moscow’s terms, but Kyiv still faces an unenviable choice
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
