Not "purportedly" you dumba** (ABC)... They very definitely were, and are, defending that ranch. I guarantee you, as in bet anything you care to name that had there not been "too many witnesses" and too many firearms aimed at the BLM thugs things would have turned out very, very differently. Bundy would probably be dead, as would several others, the rest in jail and all his lands confiscated.
Also, the showdown hasn't ended, just moved to a different phase. For now.
Ditto on the “purportedly” - one of the favorite weasel words of the .gov apologists formerly known as the Fourth Estate.