Midday Roundup: FBI arrests rogue rancher Cliven Bundy

Protest arrest. FBI agents arrested Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy at the Portland, Ore., airport Wednesday night as he traveled to Burns, Ore., to rally support for four men who remain holed up at a federal wildlife refuge. The standoff began 40 days ago as a protest over the amount of land the federal government owns in the Northwest. Bundy has been a vocal opponent of the restrictions placed on ranchers, loggers, and other residents by the federal government, which charges fees for grazing and other activities. Bundy’s son Ammon organized the Burns protest and was arrested last month. The remaining holdouts had planned to surrender today but it’s not clear whether that will happen after last night’s developments. Cliven Bundy had not been involved in the Burns protest, but federal officials are planning to charge him finally for his actions during a 2014 standoff with the government at his ranch in Nevada, according to The Oregonian. The charges, which will be revealed in Las Vegas later today, allegedly include conspiracy to interfere with a federal officer.

Out of patience. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced yesterday the Justice Department is suing the city of Ferguson, Mo., for unconstitutional policing policies. The lawsuit comes a day after the Ferguson city council voted to modify an agreement between the city and the federal government on police and court reforms. Local representatives said the changes would be too expensive. On Wednesday, Lynch said that was too bad: “There is no price for constitutional policing.” Ferguson’s policing practices came under scrutiny in 2014 after police officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager. The shooting and the grand jury’s eventual decision not to indict Wilson sparked days of protests and riots. The federal lawsuit alleges a “pattern or practice of law enforcement” that violates the First, Fourth and 14th amendments, as well as federal civil rights laws. “We intend to aggressively prosecute this case, and I have no doubt that we will prevail,” Lynch said.

Tit-for-tat. North Korea has ordered its military to take over the Kaesong Industrial Complex a day after South Korea announced it would shut down operations there in response to the North’s recent rocket launch. Kaesong is a unique joint venture between the two countries that combines cheap Northern labor with industrial and technical expertise from the more advanced South. But South Korean officials said yesterday the arrangement benefits only the North Korean government, which has taken in $560 million from the facility since it opened in 2004. The North has likely used at least some of that money to finance its ambitious weapons system improvements, South Korean officials said. While Kaesong’s closure symbolizes the ongoing rift between the two countries, the 124 South Korean firms that operate at the complex likely will be the ones most hurt by the move. During a similar closure in 2013, the companies claimed they lost 1 trillion won in five months.

Deadly riot. A massive prison riot in Mexico has killed 52 inmates and injured 12 others. The fracas, which started as a fight between rival gangs, ended with explosions that started a fire in the Topo Chico prison in Monterrey. At least some of the injured inmates had burns. Nuevo Leon Gov. Jaime Rodriguez said the fight involved a faction of the infamous Zetas drug cartel. According to a 2013 report from Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission, 65 of the country’s 101 most crowded prisons are run by inmates, not corrections officials.