Las Vegas trial starting for 6 in Bundy ranch standoff

Prosecutors are expected to tell the U.S. District Court jury the six men deserve prison for what could amount to the rest of their lives for conspiring with Bundy in what their indictment characterizes as "a massive armed assault against federal law enforcement officers."

Defense attorneys are expected to cast their clients as law-abiding citizens who protested government heavy-handedness and are now jailed for exercising their constitutional free speech and weapon rights.

The government said Bundy owed more than $1.1 million in unpaid grazing fees and penalties and ignored federal court orders to get his cattle off public rangeland near his ranch outside Bunkerville.

The victory of self-styled militia over federal rangers spread like a shock wave across vast rangelands in Western states where the federal government owns most of the land and ranchers chafe at grazing restrictions.