Area man indicted for standoff role
SANDPOINT — A North Idaho man is among 14 people who were indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a 2014 rangeland standoff in Nevada.
The grand jury indicted Todd Christopher Engel, a Boundary County resident, on 11 charges on Wednesday, according to U.S. District Court records.
Engel, 48, is charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, assault of a federal officer, threatening a federal officer, obstructing the due administration of justice, interference with interstate commerce by extortion, interstate travel in aid of extortion and four counts of use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.
The status of the proceedings, including bail information and future court dates, was not immediately available on Friday because the federal courts website for the district of Nevada was inoperable.
The charges arose from Engel’s involvement in an armed standoff near Bunkerville, Nev., on April 12, 2014. Federal officials sought to impound some 400 head of cattle belonging to rancher Cliven Bundy, who also faces a host of charges in connection with the standoff. Authorities maintained that Bundy had trespassed on federal land over a 20-year period by refusing to obtain permits or pay grazing fees for his cattle.
Bundy and his sons are accused of organizing the standoff by making false accusations against the government to rally support for their cause and intimidate federal officials into abandoning the cattle roundup, according to the indictment.
As many as 200 people sympathetic to the Bundys, some of whom were armed with assault rifles, gathered at a desert wash. Some took up sniper positions using highway infrastructure, giving protesters a tactical advantage. Protesters, which included children, also outnumbered federal officers by a 4-to-1 ratio.
Due to those circumstances, federal officials abandoned the roundup.
The 63-page indictment alleges that Engel drove from Idaho to Nevada on April 11 to take part in the standoff.
Engel posted 9-minute video to Facebook admitting his involvement in the Nevada standoff, which he blamed on the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.
“The BLM and Forest Service have been overreaching and oppressing ranchers, miners and loggers in the West for decades now and people have had it,” Engel said in the video.
Engel posted the video on Jan. 10, during the first week of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon.
He urged the occupiers to use the Nevada standoff as a blueprint for successful resistance of federal might.
“We learned that these agencies will oppress ranchers, loggers and miners until they have had enough and are forced to make a stand and put out a national plea for help. And when men with weapons arrive, the feds back down.
“Such a shame that it’s come to this, but this is where we are right now,” Engel said in the video.
Engel was listed as a real estate agent with a Sandpoint company, according a cached version of a realty association’s web page. Engel’s name is no longer listed on the site.
The Oath Keepers of Kootenai County posted a message on its Facebook page defending Engel’s involvement in the Nevada standoff.
“His actions down there were completely non-violent and he acted as a mediator to stop any potential violence from either side,” the post said.
The group pledged to hold a protest against Engel’s arrest once it determines where he is being jailed while awaiting trial.
Aside from some traffic infractions, Engel has no prior criminal record in the state of Idaho, according to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository.