We spent a few minutes looking through the list of presidential pardons after hearing word that President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, and one of former President Donald Trump’s pardons stuck out to us. Back in 2020, then-President Donald Trump pardoned Utah State Representative Phil Lyman for riding his UTV through native land while protesting a Bureau of Land Management decision restricting motorized vehicle access in Utah.
Fast-forward a few years, and the Don’t Tread on Me movement was in full swing. The Recapture Canyon closing, pot-hunting raids, and the Cliven Bundy standoff, in which a rancher was ordered to pay fines tied to years of grazing on public land, all led to Lyman’s protest. In May of 2014, he gathered around 50 ATV riders to ride into the restricted Recapture Canyon. The group of riders, including Bundy’s son, Ryan Bundy, showed up to the canyon sporting guns and Gadsden (don’t tread on me) flags.
Lyman was among four people who were tried for conspiring to operate off-road vehicles on public lands closed to motorized vehicles, and of operating vehicles on said lands. Lyman had little to no defense, as his crimes were well documented. He had announced the original plans for the protest in a local newspaper, publicly invited the Bundys to the ride through social media, and multiple photos from the ride were posted around the internet, which all featured Lyman’s name or face. Lyman was sentenced to 10 days in prison and had to pay $86,000 in damages.
Lyman paid off his fines in 2020, which put him back in the news a year after he retired in 2019, and he was included in Trump’s wave of pardons in December of 2020 and January of 2021, which was mainly comprised of Trump-supporting Republicans like George Papadopoulos, Christopher Collins, Charles Kushner, and Roger Stone. Although Lyman had already served the 10 days in jail and paid the fines, the pardon wiped the misdemeanor from his record.
Want to stay up to date on the latest UTV Driver news and reviews? Sign up for our weekly newsletter!
