Sovrun Cattle - The Sagebrush Saga of Cliven Bundy

[JamesVincent]

The Bundys announced on their Facebook page that they would be going to the Sheriff to file criminal complaints against the Bureau of Land Management at 10 am today (Friday, May 2).

No word on what, if anything, might have happened.

Probably nothing since a local sheriff can't process criminal complaints against a Federal agency?

[Demosthenes]

Within the past few days, local 8 News NOW received Police Reports and other information that show Bundy's Anti-American, Anti-Government thugs:

- "poured lighter fluid around" news trucks,
- Issued "bomb threats" against Hotels where Federal employees were lodging,
- told hotel staff they would be "dragged out in the parking lot and shot"
- Bundy thugs asked Metro Police Sgt Jenkins if "he was ready to die"

[fortinbras]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/0 ... mb-Threats

How I wish the Nevada law enforcement would actually show up and do something useful!



More about the bad blood between the two gangs that have camped out in Bunkerville:
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/milit ... ew-weapons

One of the militia guys is actually eager for a civil war and has even written a Turner Diaries type novel about it (titled "Absolved" -- can anyone tell us about it?):
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/b ... alls-rippe

A radio preacher ("Dr. Chaps") is advocating for people to go to the Bundy compound in anticipation of a Tienamin Square type massacre there:
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/k ... protesters


--- ---
I'd say The idiots are back -- but it seems they never left.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/e ... ng-race-wa
http://aattp.org/extremist-radio-host-w ... ter-video/

[webhick]

Within the past few days, local 8 News NOW received Police Reports and other information that show Bundy's Anti-American, Anti-Government thugs:

- "poured lighter fluid around" news trucks,
- Issued "bomb threats" against Hotels where Federal employees were lodging,
- told hotel staff they would be "dragged out in the parking lot and shot"
- Bundy thugs asked Metro Police Sgt Jenkins if "he was ready to die"

And yet, the governnent are the bad guys.

[grixit]

The name "Bunkerville" is starting to look prophetic.

[The Observer]

And yet, the government are the bad guys.

Yes, irony meters are being pushed to their limits with these guys. LPC's example of the constitutional right to travel being violated by the very people who scream about the government "forcing" them to have licenses and insurance shows that our sovruns lack a considerable amount of self-awareness. Even to the point that they were intimidating the local sheriff - an official that the militias claim is the only real law in the country. If they don't even respect that, then I can't disagree with the Kos opinion article labeling them as thugs

One of the links mentions that the sheriff felt that Bundy was inciting the crowd to escalate the situation and I thought this was another parallel between Ed Brown and Cliven. I remember Brown,with a smirk on his face, implying on a video that his supporters should be dealing with the prosecutor(s) in his case.

[fortinbras]

One of those localized radio (or internet) programs, this time by somebody who knows something about ranching and the BLM, and debunks some of the Bundy claims:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGJ8XFpSsQA#t=349

[fortinbras]

The RuSA (Republic FOR the United States, whch has a thread here all its own) has sent out, as a courtesy to the Bundy family, a public statement by Cliven's son. He talks about "hundreds" of armed federals riding through the town of Bunkerville (literally referencing a movie about an imagined Soviet invasion of the US) and how the local sheriff refused to fight the feds as if he should have:

Republic for the
United States of America

http://www.republicfortheunitedstates.org
publicinfo@republicoftheunitedstates.org
media@republicoftheunitedstates.org

1-(855) RUSA411 - 1-(855) 787-2411

Courtesy Forwarding of Bundy Family Press Release
by: Media Relations Team
Date: May 6,, 2014

Secured ID PR364424164RUSA

BUNDY RANCH
BUNKERVILLE, NEVADA
Read by Ammon Bundy at the Clark County Sheriff Precinct, May 2, 2014

As we have had the opportunity to reflect on the events that took place between March 26th and April 12th, 2014-we have experienced feelings of concern, confusion, fear, anger, sadness and joy.

Our peaceful community has been shaken. In many ways, we are still processing the magnitude of what took place. We ask ourselves so many questions; did the federal government really come into this valley and terrorize our community?

Did hundreds of armed forces, in Red Dawn fashion, lock down the hills and valleys of our peaceful home-threatening at gunpoint, anyone who stepped off the paved road, with forceful and lethal action?

Did we really see armed forces convoying through the streets of our town, diligently recording names and identities of anyone who glanced wrong or opposed them in any way?

Was there really heavy equipment in the form of dump trucks and backhoes, on our mountains, tearing up infrastructure that we have used for hundreds of years, and is vital to our survival? Were we truly in the cross-hairs of snipers, and under surveillance by the latest in technological weapons?

Did these forces actually point their rifles in the faces of our little children, while beating their unarmed fathers to the dirt and hauling them off in chains?

Did they really body-slam our friend, a 59 year old woman to the ground, and sic German Shepherds on our neighbors-even a pregnant woman?

Did they actually shock a man multiple times with a 50,000 volt Taser for honorably protecting his aunt, while she gathered herself out of the dust?

We reflect in sadness and awe that this could take place in our little town. The terror of armed men occupying our land will never be forgotten. The feelings of despair of these events will long reside in our hearts. Thoughts of anxiousness that this may ever happen again, will awaken us from our pillows from time to time.

During quiet reflection, we may ask ourselves if we did the right thing by resisting. Were we in the right when we acted to safeguard ourselves? When the only response to our multiple pleas for help was silence, when we were left alone to clean our cuts and wounds, did we have a divine right, duty, and obligation to protect our family and ourselves?

We recall the many times we pleaded with our local government to protect us; the numerous times we called 911, and begged our Sheriff to send his deputies to assist. Our cries of distress were met with silence. We ask ourselves, "Did we try hard enough to get our local government and law enforcement to act as a buffer and perform their duty to protect and serve?"

Were the hundreds of phone calls not enough, or is it just that our elected leaders and Sheriff have forsaken the people in trade for power and money? We whole-heartedly want to believe that our Sheriff would not abandon us, but where has his shielding influence been?

Why was he not here to represent and protect the very men, women and children of his county that he swore an oath for? Why did he stand silent and neutral, knowing our community was in terror? What was his motivation of inaction; was it fear of the federal government or political reprisal from powerful politicians?

The scars of this traumatic event will heal over time. We hope our community will eventually return to a sense of normalcy. We fervently hope and pray that these heavy-handed tactics will not be used on us or any other American ever again. We wonder if our hopes will be in vain; will they return?

Will they come back with greater force and more cunning tactics than before? Will our Sheriff keep his oath this time, and use his lawful forces to stop them, or will the people be left to their own protection? Will the good people of this nation yet again have to come running to the rescue of a neighbor?

Will veterans, retired police force, churches, businesses, families and individuals have to unite once again to confront these acts of governmental terror upon the American people?

Will our local government rouse themselves from disaffection and intervene-protecting the people? Will they stop fearing to do the right thing and come to the realization that the people are more important than a government agency? Will they fight for the rights of the state and her people?

They must stop putting personal gain and advancement in front of the rights of citizens.

They need to recognize, that as our elected representatives, they have more power than those governing in brute force, as they have the might of the people of this state backing them. With that power we invest in them, they have the obligation to safeguard our livelihoods, combat forces of fear, and protect our lives with their own.

A few weeks ago, our community was in a state of innocence and naivety. We felt safe and mostly kept to ourselves. We thought the world's problems would only affect us through television, and could be shut off with the push of a button.

Our innocence has left us now, we have experienced first-hand the breath of force upon our necks. We have gasped in desperation as our lives and agency were threatened. Our cries have been ignored by our guardians in the next room.

We faced a choice-either lie down and submit helplessly in defeat, or bite, scratch, and fight until help would come. We are eternally and profoundly grateful for the many heroic neighbors who heard our desperate cries and crashed through the windows to rescue.

We additionally thank the thousands that came from every States in this great nation, and stood in front of raised guns in our defense, and for the hope that those same guns would never come to their doors and their families.

We are grateful for those that arrived with pen and camera, those that arrived with faith and prayers, and those that arrived with fist and gun. The variety of support from all walks of life has shown that this was an event that truly touched the good hearts of many Americans.

We cannot thank you all enough-you have restored our faith in the goodness of the American people. Our message to all, is that it is time to make things right. It is time to adhere to the supreme law of the land-The Constitution of the United States.

It is time to understand right, stand for what's right, and do whatever it takes to make it right. We must continue the vision of our Founding Fathers in preserving the freedoms of the American people and the sovereign rights of the States.

A nation can never abandon its fate to an authority it cannot control.

Men must decide if their rights and freedoms are God-granted or are assigned by a federal government. We believe in the rule of laws and sustain a limited government. May God bless us to protect this sacred instrument.

Thank you,
The Bundy Family

Please Forward to friends and family
_____________________________________________________

And another article about the goings-on: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/b ... uncensored

[AndyK]

Facts We don't need no stinkin' facts

[rogfulton]

We believe in the rule of laws we make up if we don't like the ones the rest of society uses and sustain a limited government by refusing to contribute our share toward it's maintenance.

Fixed it for them.

[LPC]

Las Vegas KLAS TV has reported that the FBI is investigating "alleged death threats, intimidation and possible weapons violations" in connection with the confrontations over the Bundy cattle round-up.

From the article:

"Metro officers who intervened to protect the lives of federal employees from the 400 or so Bundy supporters and armed militia members" reportedly said that "they feared for their lives that day because of the assembled firepower, and because many in the crowd had pointed weapons at officers, taunted them, told them they should be ready to die."

And:

"Bundy supporters have insisted in emails and calls to 8 News NOW that no one in the crowd pointed weapons at BLM or Metro, but officers told the I-Team that is exactly what they saw, that many with guns set up behind women and children." (Emphasis added.)

Bundy had some real brave Patriots there that day.

[Demosthenes]

I posted some information about the use of children as human shields in my second article.

I'm up to three articles so far, and a fourth will post in a couple of hours.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjmacnab/20 ... ff-part-1/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjmacnab/20 ... ff-part-2/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjmacnab/20 ... ff-part-3/

[Demosthenes]

Part 4 of my series on the Bundy Standoff is up. This one has some details about the family's criminal records.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjmacnab/20 ... ff-part-4/

[LPC]

If you following the links to the Forbes articles, you will learn in the sidebar that:

JJ MacNab is the nation’s leading expert on sovereign citizens, tax protesters, and the various right-wing extremist groups that make up the modern Sovereign movement.

Which I guess is true, but sort of a dubious distinction, like being the leading expert on people who pound square pegs into round holes.

And:

Her book on the movement is scheduled for publication in 2015 by Palgrave MacMillan.

Wow. A date?

[The Observer]

After reading all four installments, I think I came away even more convinced that the Bundys are just deadbeats looking for any way to avoid paying for use of government land. For them, it is just serendipty that the sovrun movement happens to provide Cliven and Family with a rationalization for their thieving ways. If a "better" theory were to present itself. I have no doubt that the Bundy's would drop the sovrun arguments like a hot rock.

[Judge Roy Bean]

...

Her book on the movement is scheduled for publication in 2015 by Palgrave MacMillan.

Wow. A date?

I think that assumes there won't be more stories to add.

It's the never-ending story in "modern" true-life adventure.

[AndyK]

The book needs must be published either in loose-leaf with an update service or in monthly instalments.

Otherwise the creativity of the deniers and sovereignorami will obsolete it before the presses start to roll.

Alternatively, the book could be the first in a series.

[The Observer]

And now the militias are finding allies with local sheriffs in Utah for more protests against BLM.

[Demosthenes]

Interesting bits:

Cliven Bundy's great great grandfather (Dudley Leavitt) purchased a five year old Indian girl in the mid 1860s to teach her how to clean house and sold her to another Mormon rancher a few years later. Slavery had already been outlawed in the Utah territory at the time.

Leavitt had also participated in the Mountain Meadows Massacre in Southern Utah in 1857, killing 120 men, women, and children who were trying to travel from Arkansas to California in their covered wagons. The killers blamed the massacre on the local Paiute Indian tribe, and divided the spoils (cattle, clothings, supplies) amongst themselves.

Leavitt later settled in Bunkerville in 1877. Both the land he homesteaded, and the federal land next door where Bundy now feeds his cattle had been part of the 2,000,000-acre Indian territory that had been assigned to the Paiutes in 1869 per their Treaty with the US, but that land was taken away in 1875 by Congressional Act. The Paiutes were relocated, given a 1,000-acre reservation instead, and Leavitt and the 22 other Mormon settlers moved in.

In 1929, Hoover thought it would be a good plan to transfer federal public land directly to the western states. Studies were done, debates were held. The states said no thanks -- the land was overgrazed and would be too expensive to manage.

[Demosthenes]

What's with all the "peaceful" references on the Bundy Standoff Wikipedia page? Anyone who was watching the live feed on April 12th knows it came very very close to being a bloodbath.

Confrontations and protests in April 2014[edit]

In late March, Bundy sent letters entitled "Range War Emergency Notice and Demand for Protection" to county, state, and federal officials.[57] In media interviews, Bundy used the language of the sovereign citizen movement as a rallying call, beckoning support from members of the Oath Keepers, the White Mountain Militia, and the Praetorian Guard.[58] In early April, armed individuals and private militia members from across the United States joined peaceful protesters against the trespass cattle roundup in what has become known punningly as the Battle of Bunkerville (evoking an association with the Battle of Bunker Hill).[23][59] BLM enforcement agents were dispatched in response to what were seen as threatening statements by Bundy, such as calling the events a "range war".[60] There was no armed battle.

With many roads closed to ensure safety during the cattle removal, designated First Amendment zones where protesters could safely congregate or exercise their First Amendment right to peaceably assemble were marked with signs and orange plastic fences adjacent to the road.[61][62] On April 8, 2014, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval issued a statement calling for the removal of the First Amendment restrictions he described as offensive.[63] After stating that peaceful protests had crossed into illegal activity, the federal agencies allowed protesters to go anywhere on the public land as long as they were peaceful.[64]