Bundy family say they're 'still ranching' 10 years after armed standoff with feds.  Exactly ten years after the infamous Bundy standoff, Cliven Bundy's cattle continue to graze on federal land.  "Since then, we've relatively lived in peace," Bundy's eldest son, Ryan, told the Associated Press last week.  "The BLM [Bureau of Language Management] doesn't contact us, talk to us or bother us."  Bundy concurred, telling the AP, "We're all a little bit older, but we're still doing the same thing: ranching."  Indeed, according to the AP via Bundy's family members, over 700 of his cattle graze comfortably on federal lands daily.  [Video clip]

Ammon Bundy Responds to $50M Court Ruling: 'I Owe Them Nothing'.  "I owe them nothing," anti-government activist Ammon Bundy told Headline USA after an Idaho jury ruled Monday that he and his fellow defendants must pay the state's largest hospital more than $50 million in a defamation lawsuit.  Monday's jury decision stems from a protest Bundy organized at St. Luke's Health System in March 2022, after a baby at the hospital was allegedly taken into custody by child protective services for health problems.  Bundy, who did not attend the St. Luke's trial, is known for his family's years-long battle with the federal government over the use of land that the Obama administration illegally sought to commandeer from them.  The hospital protest led to St. Luke's to go into lockdown, forcing the hospital to close to visitors and reroute their emergency services.

Ammon Bundy remains defiant after jury hands him $12 million punishment.  Truculence and disdain flowed from activist Ammon Bundy after he was ordered to pay more than $12 million as part of a defamation lawsuit that neither he nor his co-defendant fought in court.  The overall settlement in the case filed by St. Luke's Hospital and other defendants totaled $52.5 million, according to the Idaho Statesman.  The report said Bundy, who received national attention after leading an armed standoff at an Oregon wildlife refuge in 2016 for which he was later acquitted, was ordered to pay $6.2 million in compensatory damages and $6.15 million in punitive damages.  Two groups affiliated with him — the People's Rights Network and Ammon Bundy for Governor Committee — were ordered to pay $6.75 million in compensatory damages and $6.85 million in punitive damages.

Ammon Bundy [is] Running for Governor of Idaho.  [Video clip only]

The Continued American Awakening of The FBI as an Official Enforcement Mechanism of The Fourth Branch of Government.  The DOJ and FBI now claim "anti-law enforcement violent extremists [...] pose the 'greatest threat' domestically this year and likely into 2022," the narrative continues.  WHY?  Perhaps I am wrong, but the only time I can recall in modern U.S. history that aggressive and illegal federal activity was halted mid-effort, was the example of the Clive Bundy ranch in 2014.  Armed citizens forced federal authorities, including the FBI, to back down.  In response to their loss, former AG Eric Holder vowed to revive "a domestic terrorism task force."  Contemplate that response against the 2021 statements of the FBI saying domestic violent extremists (DVE's) represent the greatest threat.  Can you see the connective tissue?  From the worldview of the DOJ/FBI, law-abiding U.S. citizens, pushed to the point of taking up defensive arms against federal agents, are a threat.  Ergo, the newest definition of "Domestic Violent Extremists, or DVEs", to define who the FBI view as their most substantive enemy.  Two years after the Bundy Ranch standoff, the FBI shot and killed LaVoy Finicum, fulfilling their promise to eliminate extremists as defined by their worldview.

Let's Take the FBI at Their Word.  Perhaps I am wrong, but the only time I can recall in modern U.S. history that aggressive and illegal federal activity was halted mid-effort, was the example of the Clive Bundy ranch in 2014.  Armed citizens forced federal authorities, including the FBI, to back down.  In response to their loss, former AG Eric Holder vowed to revive "a domestic terrorism task force."  Contemplate that response against the 2021 statements of the FBI saying domestic extremists represent the greatest threat.  Can you see the connective tissue?  From the worldview of the DOJ/FBI, law-abiding U.S. citizens — pushed to the point of taking up defensive arms against federal agents — are a threat.  Ergo, the newest definition of "Domestic Violent Extremists, or DVEs", to define who the FBI view as their most substantive enemy.

Ammon Bundy Comes Out in Support of BLM, Calls to Defund the Police.  Ammon Bundy, an anti-government activist who led the 41-day armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge back in 2016, expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement and for defunding the police in a recent Facebook video.  He said in the video that he had considered attending, near his home in Boise, Idaho, "a rally with the Black Lives Matter in support of defunding the police because yes the police need to be defunded."  He decided not to attend the rally, citing concerns about potential violence from fellow "Patriots" who have criticized his stance on the issue.

Pardoned ranchers who inspired Oregon occupation win back grazing permits.  Dwight and Steven Hammond's journey from ranchers to convicted domestic terrorists back to ranchers concluded this week when the federal government reissued permits allowing the father and son to graze cattle again on public land.  A Bureau of Land Management spokesman confirmed Tuesday that the agency had reinstated grazing permits for Hammond Ranches in Harney County, Oregon, who received full pardons from President Trump in July.

Bundy Son Sues US for Nevada Standoff Prosecution.  A rancher's son best known for participating in an armed standoff with federal land agents four years ago and now an independent candidate for Nevada governor is suing the federal government for malicious prosecution.  In a federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Ryan Bundy contends the government wrongfully tried to convict he and he his father, Cliven Bundy, after the men tried to stop a roundup of Bundy cattle from federal land.  Charges were dismissed against most defendants by a federal judge in Las Vegas in January, after a whistleblower, Larry Wooten, revealed federal prosecutors had engaged in intentional and willful prosecutorial misconduct.

The Hammond Pardons Bring Justice to Obama's Victims.  The media very deliberately misreported the Bundy standoff, ridiculing the men involved and shrugging at the murder of LaVoy Finicum.  When the court case completely collapsed, the media buried the story.  Just as it failed to provide any meaningful information about the background of the case.  That was in part because it would have been damaging to Obama.  And because they didn't care.  But President Trump listened to the voices asking him for justice.

Trump Issues Full Pardons To Oregon Ranchers Forced Back Into Prison Under Anti-Terror Law.  President Donald Trump pardoned two Oregon ranchers forced back into prison in 2016 to serve out the rest of the mandatory minimum sentence required under an anti-terrorism law.  "The Hammonds are multi-generation cattle ranchers in Oregon imprisoned in connection with a fire that leaked onto a small portion of neighboring public grazing land," the White House said in a statement.  "The evidence at trial regarding the Hammonds' responsibility for the fire was conflicting, and the jury acquitted them on most of the charges.

Trump pardons Oregon ranchers at center of 40-day standoff.  President Trump on Tuesday pardoned a pair of Oregon ranchers whose arson conviction became a focus for opponents of federal government land ownership.  Dwight Hammond, 76, and his son Steven, 49, were convicted in 2012 and sent to prison on arson charges.  They had set a series of fires on their ranch that spread to federal land.  The Hammonds' case became the inspiration for the 40-day armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.  The organizers wanted to protest federal land ownership.

Trump should pardon Oregon ranchers — They aren't terrorists.  In April, President Trump pardoned I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., top aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was convicted in an abuse of prosecutorial discretion.  Now the president should do the same thing for Dwight L. Hammond, Jr., 76, and his son Steven Dwight Hammond, 49, long-suffering ranchers in rural Oregon.  The Hammonds were charged with terrorism and sentenced in 2015 to five years in prison, despite the outraged protests of ranchers and other citizens.

Ryan Bundy, figure in rancher standoff with feds, running for Nevada governor.  Ryan Bundy, whose Nevada ranching family was involved in two armed standoffs with U.S. agents over federal ownership of public land, announced Thursday he is running for governor of Nevada.  A federal judge dismissed all charges against Bundy, his father Cliven, as well as with his brother Ammon in January over the 2014 armed standoff to block authorities who planned to capture and impound Bundy cattle that allegedly crossed onto government land.  The 45-year-old said he decided to run for governor because he doesn't believe anyone else vying to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval will do enough to protect states' rights.

Bundys draw big crowd to Paradise.  Cliven Bundy received a minute-long standing ovation when he arrived in the Old Paradise School on Saturday [1/20/2018].  His family got national attention for its 2014 armed confrontation with federal authorities in Nevada.  That standoff, and one at an Oregon wildlife refuge in 2016, endeared the Bundys to many Americans at odds with the federal government.  Cliven, and his sons Ammon and Ryan, had charges related to the Nevada protest dropped on Jan. 8.  Quick to return to their activism, they visited Paradise for an event entitled "Freedom and Property."  It was organized by Plains residents Dan and Roxsanna Ryan, whose son Jake joined the Oregon occupation, and a group called the Coalition of Western Property Owners.

Cliven Bundy walks free as federal judge dismisses Bundy Ranch standoff case.  Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy walked free from the federal courthouse Monday for the first time since his arrest two years ago on charges that he led an armed rebellion against the government in 2014.  Bundy, 71, was greeted by cheers from a crush of supporters who jammed a courtroom and greeted him outside with hugs, placards, cards, tears and cries of "liberty" and "freedom."  An hour earlier, Bundy sat stoically in prison garb and shackles as a judge dismissed the case against him, two of his sons and a militia supporter, saying federal prosecutors violated the men's rights to a fair trial by withholding evidence.

Trump Needs to Transfer All Federal Land Back to the States.  [Scroll down]  However, most readers will remember the Cliven Bundy incident, the Nevada rancher who refused to pay $1.2 million in grazing fees to the BLM on grounds the land belonged to Nevada, not to the feds.  When the Bureau threatened to seize the ranch in 2014, hundreds of cowboys and militia members poured in from all over the country to defend the property.  Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and the feds backed down.  Many Americans were shocked at the appearance of armed citizens, but the reality is that our founding fathers argued in favor of gun ownership precisely for the purpose of resisting government tyranny.  The Bureau of Land Management's police-state actions at the ranch were recently exposed, thanks to former BLM Special Agent and whistleblower Larry Wooten, whose shocking report details the agency's complete disregard for the rights of the Bundy family.

Cliven Bundy-FBI debacle:  Another example of why the feds need to be leashed.  The Justice Department was caught in another high-profile travesty last month that continues to reverberate through the western states.  On Dec. 20, federal judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and others after prosecutors were caught withholding massive amounts of evidence undermining federal charges.  This is the latest in a long series of federal law enforcement debacles that have spurred vast distrust of Washington.  Bundy, a 71-year old Nevadan rancher, and his sons and supporters were involved in an armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) beginning in 2014 stemming from decades of unpaid cattle grazing fees and restrictions.  The Bundys have long claimed the feds were on a vendetta against them, and 3,300 pages of documents the Justice Department wrongfully concealed from their lawyers provides smoking guns that buttress their case.

Case Against Bundys Dismissed:  Obama's FBI And DOJ Are The Real Criminals.  Judge Navarro's ruling was based on the egregious misconduct of the FBI and Justice Department lawyers handling the case, that led her to conclude that a new trial would not be sufficient to address the problems in the case and would provide the prosecution with an unfair advantage going forward.  The judge criticized both the prosecution and the FBI for not providing evidence to the defense as required under court rules.  "The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated," Navarro said according to reporting by Robert Anglen for the Reno Gazette Journal.  Navarro said it was clear the FBI was involved in the prosecution of the case, and that it was not a coincidence that most of the withheld evidence came from the FBI.

The Bundys and an Egregious Case of Prosecutorial Misconduct.  In a stunning development further underscoring the corruption that exists at the highest levels of the federal government, U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro threw out felony conspiracy and weapons charges against rancher Cliven Bundy, sons Ammon and Ryan, and co-defendant Ryan Payne.  "The government's conduct in this case was indeed outrageous," Navarro explained.  "There has been flagrant misconduct, substantial prejudice and no lesser remedy is sufficient."  How outrageous?  Navarro dismissed the case "with prejudice" — meaning the government cannot try the case again on the same charges.  And in a 30-minute explanation, the Barack Obama-appointed jurist ripped the conduct of the prosecutors and the FBI.  She blasted the Nevada U.S. Attorney's Office for willful violations of due process that included several misrepresentations to both defense attorneys and the court that showed "a reckless disregard for the constitutional obligation to seek and provide evidence."

Charges against rancher Cliven Bundy, three others are dismissed.  A federal judge dismissed all charges against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons and another man on Monday after accusing prosecutors of willfully withholding evidence from Bundy's lawyers.  U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro cited "flagrant prosecutorial misconduct" in her decision to dismiss all charges against the Nevada rancher and three others.  "The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated," Navarro said.

Judge Orders Case Against Cliven Bundy And His Sons Dismissed.  This has not been a good year for the federal government's efforts to prosecute the people associated with Cliven Bundy and his brushfire war with the Bureau of Land Management.  Back in August, a federal jury acquitted four men involved in a 2014 stand-off with federal authorities (oddly enough, one of the two men they did convict was an FBI informant who got sentenced to 68 years).  I found this verdict to be stunning as federal juries tend to be much less sympathetic to this kind of thing than do state juries which typically consist of people from the county where the offense took place.  And it marked the second time in a year that juries had refused to convict the Bundys over their protest movement.

Bundys Walk Free!  Judge Smacks Down Fed's Case Against Ranching Family "With Prejudice".  Three strikes — you're OUT! That was the stunning verdict that U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro delivered Monday to federal prosecutors, who had failed in two previous attempts to convict Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his two sons, Ryan and Ammon, of multiple felony charges related to the 2014 armed standoff between Bundy supporters and federal agents.  As we reported previously, Judge Navarro had cited multiple egregious abuses by federal authorities in her declaration of a mistrial on December 20. However, in that ruling she had left open the possibility of another retrial, which is what the prosecutors were arguing in favor of.  Her latest ruling dismissed the charges "with prejudice," meaning the government may not retry the case.  Judge Navarro's decision, which she read to a courtroom packed with Bundy family members and supporters, was a forceful smack-down to the federal government, using words not often heard in judicial rulings.

Bundy Attorney:  I Will Never Practice Law In Oregon Federal Court Again.  In what is a historic day in federal court in Nevada and Oregon, as Judge Gloria Navarro dismissed the case with "prejudice" against Cliven, Ammon, and Ryan Bundy, along with Ryan Payne, Bundy attorney Marcus Mumford said he would never practice law against in Oregon federal court.  Mumford, who was tased and tackled in the courtroom by federal marshalls after his clients were acquitted of all charges in the Malheur Wildlife Refuge protest in 2016, said that he will never practice law in Oregon federal court again.  A federal judge was told by Mumford that he was voluntarily giving up his standing to practice law in federal court in Oregon.

Judge throws out case against Bundys, bars retrial in devastating defeat for federal prosecutors.  A federal judge dismissed Monday all charges against rancher Cliven Bundy stemming from the 2014 Nevada standoff and barred prosecutors from retrying the case, citing "flagrant prosecutorial misconduct." U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gloria Navarro's dramatic ruling during a hearing in federal court in Las Vegas wasn't entirely unexpected, given that she declared a mistrial last month after finding that federal prosecutors had willfully withheld evidence from the defense.

Freedom!  Bundys Have Case Dismissed With "Prejudice".  After nearly two years of sitting in jail, Cliven Bundy will be free to go home and his sons and Ryan Payne will no longer be under the thumb of federal tyranny in Nevada.  These men will not face another retrial as Judge Gloria Navarro dismissed the case against them with "prejudice" on Monday.

The Judge Has Just Dropped All Charges.  Rancher Cliven Bundy has had all charged dropped from his 2014 armed standoff in a land dispute.

There is only one way to stop this stuff.  Not only must [Cliven] Bundy and his sons (and the third man) be fully compensated for all of their economic losses, including their attorneys fees, the prosecutor and everyone involved in it under his direction must be imprisoned for the full term of years sought by them against Bundy. This wasn't a mistake — it was a clear and documented intentional act and fraud upon not only the court but upon the defendants and every citizen of the United States.  It must be punished, and the only appropriate punishment is for the prosecutors to face exactly the same sanction they intended to impose through their misconduct.

Federal Judge Throws Out Case Against Cliven Bundy — "With Prejudice", "Gross Prosecutorial Misconduct".  In a stunning rebuke to federal prosecutors a federal court judge has thrown out the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy "with prejudice".  Bundy and his sons cannot be retried, and will walk free.

Bundy Ranch Prosecutor Steven Myhre Gets a Demotion.  This is a start, but it's just not good enough, Mr. Sessions!  On Wednesday [1/3/2018], it was made official by the Department of Justice that Bundy Ranch standoff prosecutor Steven Myhre was demoted to his previous position as First Assistant US attorney.  That's right, he was demoted for his violations of the law, not led away in handcuffs.  Taking his place will be Dayle Elieson, a Texas federal prosecutor.

BLM Agent in Bundy Case Accused of Misconduct.  Federal Judge Gloria Navarro has denied motions to dismiss charges against 17 defendants in the Bundy Ranch standoff trials, but she has ordered prosecutors to turn over an investigative report that could severely damage the government's case.  "The OIG (Office of the Inspector General in the Department of the Interior) Report details several violations of federal ethics regulations, misuse of government property, misuse of a government position, and 'a lack of candor when interviewed," Navarro wrote in a ruling this past week.  "At a minimum, [defendants] may use this alleged misconduct on cross-examination to impeach [the agent]."  Las Vegas attorney Bret Whipple represents cattle rancher Clive Bundy in the case.  He charged that Daniel Love (shown), an agent prominent in the Bundy case, is the same agent mentioned in the report.  "I'm sure it is him," Whipple said late last week.  "If it is Dan Love.... He is the primary figure in the government's case.  He put together the plan."

Unsealed Court Docs Show How Prosecutors Tried To Rig Bundy Trial.  Unsealed court documents detail how the team of prosecutors tasked with convicting Cliven Bundy and his sons of crimes relating to a 2014 armed standoff failed to turn over potential exculpatory evidence to the court, The Oregonian reports.  The Bundys' case ended in a mistrial Dec. 20 after Judge Gloria Navarro ruled that prosecutors violated the civil rights of the defendants by withholding evidence supporting the Bundys' case.  Navarro is considering dismissing the case "with prejudice" and blocking prosecutors from retrying the case.  Her decision will come Jan. 8, according to The New York Times.

Unsealed Court Docs Show How Prosecutors Tried To Rig Bundy Trial.  Unsealed court documents detail how the team of prosecutors tasked with convicting Cliven Bundy and his sons of crimes relating to a 2014 armed standoff failed to turn over potential exculpatory evidence to the court, The Oregonian reports.  The Bundys' case ended in a mistrial Dec. 20 after Judge Gloria Navarro ruled that prosecutors violated the civil rights of the defendants by withholding evidence supporting the Bundys' case.  Navarro is considering dismissing the case "with prejudice" and blocking prosecutors from retrying the case.  Her decision will come Jan. 8, according to The New York Times.  "There were approximately 3,000 pages that were provided to us only after we started trial," Bundy lawyer Bret D. Whipple told The NYT.  "I personally have never seen anything like this, especially in a case of such importance."  Those 3,000 pages include the Bundys' requests for multiple federal assessments that showed the Bundy family was likely not dangerous.

Latest Bombshell:  BLM Not Only Knew About the Bundy's Water Rights but Sought to Eliminate Them!  The control of water out West is a very big deal.  It's all part of a United Nations Agenda 21/Agenda 2030 plan and endgame by the Bureau of Land Management.  In one of the latest developments in the ongoing Bundy Ranch issue is the revelation that not only did the head of the BLM in the district at the time where the Bundys live know that they had water rights, but apparently perjured herself in the courtroom and a sought to eliminate them.  Previously, Mary Jo Rugwell, who simply confirmed the Bundy's claims about what they owed while on the stand, also testified that she knew nothing about water rights at Gold Butte, which have been in the Bundy family for well over 100 years, and yet, she did know and sought to eliminate those rights.

AG Sessions orders examination of Bundy case after mistrial over prosecution bungling.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions has stepped into the Bundy prosecution after Wednesday's [12/20/2017] mistrial, ordering a third-party examination of the case in light of the latest government snafu.  "The Attorney General takes this issue very seriously and has personally directed that an expert in the Department's discovery obligations be deployed to examine the case and advise as to the next steps," said Ian D. Prior, principal deputy director of public affairs, in a late Wednesday statement.  The decision to intervene came after U.S. District Chief Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial over the government's "willful failure to disclose information" to the defense, saying it would have been "impossible" for the four co-defendants to receive a fair trial.

Case against Cliven Bundy, Nevada rancher involved in 2014 armed standoff, declared a mistrial.  A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a Nevada rancher accused of leading an armed standoff against the government in 2014, blaming prosecutors for withholding key evidence from defense lawyers, including records about the conduct of FBI and Bureau of Land Management agents.  Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro in Las Vegas dismissed a jury seated last month for the long-awaited trial of Cliven Bundy, his sons Ryan and Ammon Bundy and self-styled Montana militia leader Ryan Payne.

Judge declares mistrial in case of Nevada rancher's standoff with federal government.  A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case involving Cliven Bundy and his two sons after she found that prosecutors "willfully" failed to turn over evidence related to an armed standoff three years ago.  U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro pointed to several violations of the Brady rule — which requires prosecutors to disclose evidence that could be favorable to a defendant — and then dismissed the jury.  "It was not possible to go forward with the case," Navarro told the jurors.  It marks yet another setback for federal prosecutors, who have struggled to obtain convictions against the Bundy family and its supporters, and the cases have become a rallying point for those who believe the federal government has overstepped its authority by controlling public lands operated by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Lawmakers Seek Investigation After Whistleblower Exposes Federal Thugs.  Outraged by new whistleblower revelations of horrifying wrongdoing by federal officials in the Bundy case — one official kept a "kill list," others withheld evidence from the defense — prominent lawmakers in Western states are asking Congress and the Trump administration to investigate.  The government's case, which gained national attention after a 2014 armed standoff in Nevada between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Bundy family and its supporters, appears to be crumbling.  But even as it appears increasingly likely that the defendants will soon walk free, officials say the alleged crimes perpetrated by government officials must not be allowed to go unpunished.  As The New American reported on December 19, a memo by whistleblower Larry "Clint" Wooten, who served as the lead BLM investigator on the case, revealed an incredible array of misconduct by heavily armed bureaucrats.  Among the most alarming revelations:  Special-agent-in-charge Dan Love, already under investigation by Congress, kept a "kill list" as a "trophy" commemorating ranchers whose deaths he contributed to.  Apparently the bureaucrat was proud of his role in driving three Utah ranchers to commit suicide. [...] Throughout the explosive memo, aside from the unethical conduct and the bigotry against Mormons expressed by officials, there is also evidence that some BLM officials wanted to instigate a conflict and even kill some of the defendants and their supporters.  On top of that, there are several allegations that officials withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense.

Whistleblower: Federal Thug Behind Bundy Fiasco Had "Kill Book".  The government is in big trouble.  At least it will be, if there is justice.  The now-infamous standoffs in Nevada and Oregon could have ended in disaster for liberty and ranchers.  And for some, such as rancher LaVoy Finicum, who was shot dead by government officials while traveling on a public highway, it did end in tragedy.  But after years of terror and pain felt by the embattled Bundy family and those close to them, there may finally be a very happy ending visible on the horizon for the Nevada ranchers and for justice.  It seems the tables have turned, dramatically against the out-of-control Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other elements of the federal bureaucracy.  In fact, rather than putting the liberty-loving ranchers and their staunchest supporters behind bars for life — or even six feet under, as some Obama administration officials apparently hoped — there is now explosive evidence from a whistleblower that could put some of the rogue bureaucrats on the case in prison for extremely serious crimes.

Report: Fed Agency Committed 'Militaristic' Operation Against Nevada Rancher.  An investigation into the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) handling of the 2014 Nevada standoff with rancher Cliven Bundy revealed "incredible bias," widespread misconduct and likely illegal actions by the BLM.  Prosecutors shared the report with the Bundys' defense attorneys, prompting a petition to Judge Gloria Navarro for a mistrial, or for the case to be dismissed altogether, The Oregonian reports.  Navarro's judgement is expected to come down Wednesday [12/20/2017].

Cliven Bundy refuses to leave jail amid ongoing trial.  Cliven Bundy, the 71-year-old rancher who sparked a national debate over states' rights, refused a federal judge's offer to be released from jail during his ongoing trial on Wednesday [11/27/2017].  Bundy, who engaged in an armed standoff with government agents over a cattle round-up in 2014, turned down the judge's option of house arrest while others involved in the standoff are still jailed awaiting trial.  A federal grand jury in Nevada indicted Cliven and four others on 16 charges related to the armed standoff near his ranch over unpaid grazing fees last year.

Why Is No One Talking About the Malheur Documents Found by the Bundys?  As news outlets across America are reporting on a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant being allowed to testify before Congress on the Clinton-Obama Uranium One deal with Russia, no one in the media is referencing the documents that were uncovered by the Bundy brothers and others during the Malheur Wildlife Reserve protest in early 2016. [...] This issue is much bigger than Hillary Clinton.  This goes all the way to the Constitutional issue of federal land grabs and then the tyranny it exercises over the usurpation of that land.

Bundy Ranch Trial Exposes Just How Corrupt The Prosecution Is.  The twists and turns in the ongoing Bundy Ranch trials continue in Nevada, and the corruption never ceases to be uncovered.  On Tuesday of this week [10/24/2017], we reported on how Special Agent Daniel P. Love, who has a host of truly criminal issues that need to be addressed, seemed to implicate the Obama Justice Department in the Bundy Ranch standoff of 2014.

6 Examples of Jeff Sessions' Cowardice.  [#4] Sessions, despite promising me that he would neutrally review the Obama DOJ commenced political prosecution of Cliven Bundy, whose family was beaten up and his cattle killed by the then-Sen. Harry Reid-run goons of the Bureau of Land Management over alleged failure to pay grazing fees, again took an exit stage left, telling the Las Vegas Review Journal that he was not "taking sides," all the while praising the Obama holdover DOJ prosecutors for their "courage."  The likely reason AG Sessions, who himself has unfairly been branded a racist, does not want to get involved because Bundy, too, has been similarly falsely smeared.  Cliven's unjust trial is set to begin in just a week, and he faces possible life imprisonment.

Prosecutors to retry Bundy Ranch standoff defendants for 3rd time.  Federal prosecutors who didn't succeed in the Bundy Ranch standoff trial will retry and retry again.  The U.S. Attorney's Office in Las Vegas confirmed Wednesday it will go back to court for the third time in an attempt to convict two men accused of taking up arms against federal agents.  Less than 24 hours earlier, a jury had acquitted two standoff defendants and dismissed the most serious charges against two others.  Now federal prosecutors say they will retry the men next month on outstanding weapons and assault charges.

Four linked to Bundy ranch standoff acquitted in Nevada.  A federal jury in Las Vegas declined Tuesday [8/22/2017] to convict four defenders of Cliven Bundy's Nevada ranch who were accused of assaulting and threatening federal agents by wielding weapons during a 2014 confrontation.  The surprise ruling to acquit Ricky Lovelien and Steven Stewart of all 10 charges, and rule not guilty on most charges against Eric Parker and Scott Drexler, is considered a major setback for federal prosecutors attempting to try Bundy and his two adult sons later this year.

Plot Behind Bundy Ranch Showdown Thickens.  Poor Harry Reid.  The entire world that doesn't pay heed to the mainstream media thinks he and his son Rory are involved in the Bundy Ranch grazing rights showdown with the Bureau of Land Management, and all he can do is sputter that "this isn't over" and make vague threats about a mysterious federal task force he plans to sic on rancher Cliven Bundy. [...] The mainstream media have tried to dismiss the Reid connection by deliberately misrepresenting it.

The trial of Cliven Bundy:  A travesty of justice.  The federal government did not shoot anyone that day, but the damage had already been done.  Video footage of what led up to the tense moments Lynch witnessed made its way to the American public; agents were seen knocking a woman to the ground and tazing Cliven Bundy's son over and over after he kicked a police dog that attacked him.  A grisly video of dead cattle, killed in the standoff, stunned viewers.  Government snipers trained their rifles on the Bundys' supporters day and night; in response, the citizens did likewise.  Some who were there that day say it was a miracle that the standoff ended without bloodshed.  Ultimately, Cliven Bundy got his cattle back — at least what was left of them.

6 Bundy Ranch 'Gunmen And Followers' To Begin Trial.  A federal jury in Nevada is about to be picked to decide whether a tense standoff pitting armed ranchers and rangers against federal agents over a herd of cattle in a dry river bed amounted to a peaceful expression of free speech and weapon rights, or an insurrection against the U.S. government.

Ammon Bundy, 6 others acquitted in Oregon standoff trial.  Seven people who were among the armed occupiers of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon earlier this year were acquitted Thursday of charges related to the 41-day standoff.  Ammon Bundy; his brother, Ryan Bundy; and three other people were found not guilty of firearms charges and conspiracy to impede federal workers.  Two others who were acquitted were charged only with conspiracy.  The federal jury couldn't reach a verdict on a theft charge against Ryan Bundy.

As trial ends, surreal scene leaves defense lawyer stunned with Taser, tackled by U.S. Marshals.  Moments after the Oregon standoff defendants' acquittals were announced in court Thursday [10/27/2016], Ammon Bundy's lawyer Marcus Mumford stood before the judge, and argued that his client should be released from custody immediately and allowed to walk out of the courtroom a free man.  Ammon Bundy, who chose to wear blue jails scrubs throughout the trial, was dressed in a gray suit Thursday.  U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown told him that there was a U.S. Marshal's hold on him from a pending federal indictment in Nevada.

Refuge occupier Bundy urges jurors to 'stand for freedom'.  National wildlife refuge occupier Ryan Bundy twice referenced the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during his closing argument Wednesday [10/19/2016], and he told jurors to "stand for freedom" and find him not guilty.

Ammon Bundy takes the stand in Oregon wildlife refuge standoff trial.  The leader of an armed takeover of a national wildlife refuge took the witness stand in his own defense, tearfully telling jurors he was initially reluctant to get involved in the plight of two Oregon ranchers ordered to return to prison.

Grinding Westerners Under the Federal Boot.  The federal government owns an estimated one-third of all the land in the United States.  But this is only a rough estimate, because even the federal government does not actually know how much land it controls.  For those living on the East Coast who rarely encounter federal land, this may not seem like an important issue, but in western states, the vast amounts of land owned or controlled by the federal government are among the most important issues that states must face.  And the Obama administration is using the power of that land ownership to grind westerners under the federal boot, a kind of neo-feudalism where an absentee landlord federal government keeps western states and the citizens who live there as vassals and serfs.

The Judge Wants Total Secrecy In Bundy Trial!  No one is going to believe this, but then, given today's authoritarianism which is choking this nation to death, perhaps to the awake and alert this comes as no surprise.  The tyranny has taken off its mask and removed its velvet glove.  I am astounded.

Burns Oregon.  We have moved past the point where we can vote our way out of our situation.  We don't have very many options left.  Ammon Bundy tried one way that many of us felt was ill-advised and so we stayed out of it.  We offered our support, but not our participation.  Sadly, that effort turned deadly, but not because of Ammon Bundy.  Bundy had talked to the FBI and had been lulled into thinking that he could share his grievances with rational people without a confrontation.  LaVoy Finicum died as a result, but that was not the cause of Finicum's death, no one is responsible for that death other than the OSP and the FBI who orchestrated it.

Cliven Bundy suing Obama, Nevada officials.  Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who led an armed standoff over grazing fees on federal lands, is suing President Obama and Nevada officials in hopes of getting charges against him dismissed.  Bundy's lawyer will file the complaint Tuesday against Obama; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.); his son, former Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid and U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro.  It alleges that they violated several of his constitutional rights and also asks the court to dismiss his indictment and release him from solitary confinement.  His legal team will discuss the action Tuesday [5/10/2016], following a detention hearing in Las Vegas.

Ammon Bundy questions authority of feds to prosecute him.  Lawyers for Ammon Bundy revealed plans to contest the authority of the federal government to prosecute their client for the takeover of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon.

The FBI Should Be Renamed The FBAM.  Waco, Texas was an assault on and murder of people who had done no harm nor posed any threat to anything but government tyranny.  Clinton sent in heavily armed SS troops to Waco, Texas to murder nearly 100 people, mostly women and children, even using an armored vehicle, more precisely, an Abrams tank, to attack a shanty occupied by a Christian cult that posed no threat to anyone.  Then he sicced his attack dogs on the Weaver family at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, murdering a child and a woman armed only with an infant, all to prove that the federal government answers not to God, the Constitution, or We the People, but only to a lust for absolute power and murder of citizens.  Now we have seen the murder of Robert Lavoy Finicum in Burns, Oregon, likely on orders from fuhrer obama, because he helped organize a protest against the unlawful seizure of private property by the tyrannical bureaucrats of the Bureau of Land Management, a gang of thugs who also answer only to a lust for power.

FBI agents under investigation for possible misconduct in LaVoy Finicum shooting.  An FBI agent is suspected of lying about firing twice at Robert "LaVoy" Finicum and may have gotten help from four other FBI agents in covering up afterward, authorities revealed Tuesday [3/8/2016].  The bullets didn't hit Finicum and didn't contribute to his death, but now all five unnamed agents, part of an elite national unit, are under criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.  Inspector General Michael Horowitz is leading the independent inquiry.  The remarkable disclosure came as a team of local investigators released findings that two state troopers shot Finicum three times in the back during the chaotic scene at a police roadblock Jan. 26.  One bullet pierced his heart, an autopsy showed.

'The Ballad of LaVoy Finicum'.  LaVoy Finicum was only one rancher, a citizen trying to eke out a living in a livelihood the government is making all but impossible with the smothering red tape of bureaucracy.  And that's why his death that came as he was standing knee-high in the Oregon snow is all the more unforgettably tragic.  After being shot down in cold blood — as he was clearly signaling to armed federal agents and Oregon state police that he posed no threat — his body was left to lay in the snow.  The passengers traveling with him on the way to a meeting with Sheriff Palmer, left traumatized in shock in a vehicle authorities shot up like a scene out of a B-grade Hollywood movie, the authorities initially never even bothered to cover his body with a blanket.  In life LaVoy Finicum — like many ranchers — was plagued by the ongoing harassment of the agents of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  LaVoy Finicum got about as much respect in death as one of his own cattle.

FBI agents investigated in showdown with Oregon occupier.  An elite FBI hostage-rescue team is under investigation after officials said they have been unable to determine exactly who shot at Oregon occupier Robert "LaVoy" Finicum during a fatal showdown in January.  Officials said Tuesday [3/8/2016] that Oregon State Police troopers were justified when they fatally shot Finicum on Jan. 26 as state and federal law enforcement sprang a trap on the leaders of a lengthy armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore.  But investigators also revealed Tuesday that they have not been able to account for all the shots fired during the incident, which has led the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General to open an investigation into the FBI agents at the scene.

Investigation into LaVoy Finicum death concludes, result to be released Tuesday.  Officials will announce Tuesday [3/8/2016] whether state troopers were justified in fatally shooting Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, a leader of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation.  Finicum, 54, was killed as police tried to arrest key figures in the refuge takeover.  His death on Jan. 26 spurred claims that police acted without provocation, with some labeling his death a murder.  The FBI has said Finicum was shot after he tried to elude police and reached for a gun.

Bundy's million-dollar herd of ornery cattle giving feds a meaty problem.  The feds have rogue rancher Cliven Bundy behind bars, but corralling his million-dollar herd of ornery cattle is proving to be a much more daunting task.  The 69-year-old landowner, whose ranch 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas was the scene of a 2014 standoff with the Bureau of Land Management, was arrested last month on charges related to the Nevada incident when he left his ranch to travel to Oregon, where his sons were involved in another standoff with federal officials.  Meanwhile, his 1,000 head of cattle are still roaming federal lands due, in part, to his absence and also to what officials call his "unconventional, if not bizarre" ranching methods.

Feds Arrest More Bundy Ranch Patriots - Including Trump Campaign Official.  Well, it appears that there is a list of Americans that are being arrested on trumped up charges related to the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff.  We told you about the suspicions of this list back in February.  In addition to the arrests of those who stood with the Bundy's at Bundy Ranch, including Cliven Bundy himself, it's being reported that there are at least two other men have been arrested and charged in relation to the Bundy Ranch siege in 2014, including a campaign official for Donald Trump.

An Open Letter To The Three FBI Agents That Killed LaVoy Finicum In Oregon.  I would have been the first one to give you the benefit of the doubt.  I was raised around law enforcement.  I know good men in law enforcement.  But that changed for me, as it did thousands of Americans, with the events that unfurled in Oregon as I felt utterly stunned at what I viewed in that video.  I watched the grainy version of the video that the FBI administration released of LaVoy Finicums death, even though I knew that with our technology today, they have better, more clear footage and footage with audio from this event.  But you will not release that, it is too incriminating for the FBI.  They did this with purpose to deceive the public and that video would have revealed to the world your actions that day.  This footage you did release, left people arguing about what they were seeing in the blurry video rather than to bring their attention to the way that three FBI agents ambushed and murdered an innocent, non-violent rancher with no criminal history.  A man with a large family.  A good man.  A man who never threatened you.

Nevada rancher denied bail in 2014 standoff case.  Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, accused of leading an armed standoff of 400 supporters against the federal government in 2014, was denied bail Tuesday [2/16/2016], according to authorities.  The judge in an Oregon federal court determined that Bundy was a flight risk, said Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada.  He is scheduled to be back in court Friday [2/19/2016].

As FBI goes through evidence at refuge, town awaits normalcy.  As the FBI focuses on its criminal investigation at the national wildlife refuge taken over by an armed group, land managers must get ready to reopen the 300 square-mile area, which draws birdwatchers, anglers and hunters and is a key economic engine of the surrounding area.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy arrested.  Four holdouts at a federal wildlife refuge surrendered peacefully Thursday [2/11/2016] to end a 41-day takeover, but not before one protester balked at the last moment and threatened to shoot himself in a rambling, hour-long discussion livestreamed online.  David Fry, 27, speaking by cellphone on an open line broadcast on YouTube, said he was "feeling suicidal" only moments after his three companions peacefully surrendered to the FBI and a group of negotiators led by evangelist Franklin Graham.

FBI moves in to end Oregon stand-off — Agents and armored cars surround militia men holed up in wildlife refuge.  The four final occupiers walked out of the compound on Thursday morning [2/11/2016] at 11am and handed themselves in to the FBI at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.

What your government is up to while you're watching football.  While 111.9 million viewers, making it the third most-watched television event in U.S. history, were watching the Super Bowl — a perfect captive audience for Beyonce's halftime political tribute to Black Lives Matter and the New Black Panthers, this is what the strong arm of the government was doing.  In the U.S. government agencies were getting ready to impose solitary confinement on all 16 participants in the Oregon standoff, held in custody.  Even most terrorists are spared solitary confinement.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy charged with assault, conspiracy.  Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, the father of the jailed leader of the protest at an Oregon wildlife refuge, was charged with conspiracy, assault on a federal officer, obstruction and other crimes one day after FBI agents arrested him in Portland, Ore.  A criminal complaint filed Thursday [2/11/2016] stems from Bundy's role at the center of a tense April 2014 armed standoff with federal officials near his ranch in Nevada.

Final Oregon refuge occupier turns himself in.  The four remaining holdouts of the armed protest group that has occupied a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon for the past 41 days reportedly turned themselves in peacefully Thursday [2/11/2016].

Cliven Bundy charges stem from April 2014 standoff in Nevada.  The father of the jailed leader of a group that occupied an Oregon federal wildlife refuge was charged Thursday [2/11/2016] by federal authorities with leading a tense April 2014 armed standoff with Bureau of Land Management agents near his ranch in Nevada.

Carol Bundy Sends [a Message from Ammon Bundy].  Hundreds of people were freely coming into the refuge to get education on their rights.  Many group presentations were given each day.  On Saturday, the 24th, ten ranchers from Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona nullified their grazing contracts with the BLM and U.S. Forest Service.  On Saturday, the 24th, grand jury administrators from Nebraska and Florida were forming a grand jury to review the abuses in the Hammond case.  Tuesday, the 27th, the day LaVoy was killed, we began releasing documents exposing criminal acts by the government.  The evening of the 27th, a meeting was scheduled with Grant County residents to give a presentation with those at the refuge.  To give their presentation to hundreds of people in the county, including the county Sheriff.  The FBI attacked those who were to give the presentation on the way to this peaceful meeting, leaving hundreds at the meeting with no speakers.

Ammon Bundy, other armed protesters at Oregon wildlife refuge, indicted.  The four remaining occupiers at an Oregon wildlife refuge all face charges, according to court documents unsealed Thursday [2/4/2016].  The indictment names a total of 16 defendants, including standoff leader Ammon Bundy and other occupiers who were arrested last week.  A federal grand jury charged all with felony conspiracy, accused of using intimidation to prevent federal officers from doing their work at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

LaVoy Finicum's last ride.  [Scroll down]  Second person information from one of the witnesses, indicates that LaVoy was shot in the back, three times; one shot hit his kidneys, one pierced his heart, and the third--- [sic]  There is no reason to believe that he was shot in the face, only in the body-mass.  Those inside are terrified; they see that LaVoy is shot, while unarmed.  In reflection, if soldiers (or Marines) in Afghanistan, had acted as the agents and shot an unarmed man, without provocation, would have violated the Rules of Engagement (ROE) of war, and would have stood Court Martial, then probably imprisoned or discharged from service.  Unfortunately, the ROE do not apply here, in our own "free" country.

'Leave us alone' - people in Oregon town tired of standoff.  People who live in Burns, the small high desert town near a wildlife refuge that has been occupied by an armed group for a month, say they are sick of the disruption to their lives.

The Connection Between Malheur, Putin, The Clinton Foundation, And Big Money.  [Scroll down]  The video the FBI released was purported to show, in the words of FBI special agent Greg Bretzing, "On at least two occasions, Finicum reaches his right hand toward a pocket on the left inside portion of his jacket.  He did have a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic handgun in that pocket."  First of all, without the wife or daughters producing a proof of sales for a 9 mm pocket pistol, I don't believe them.  Furthermore, it looks to me like he stumbled.  Additionally, even if he had a pocket pistol, no one with two brain cells would present or produce a 9mm pocket pistol to engage in combat with multiple operators equipped with rifles, optics and body armor.  I don't believe it.  If this video is the best they can do, they failed.  It proves nothing.  Whoever decided to release this video as evidence of Mr. Finicum's decision to engage in combat is a moron.  It's a video of a mad, but pitiful old man stumbling in the snow.  And you can't prove that it's anything but that.

Prosecutors use refuge occupiers' own words against them.  Four people occupying an Oregon wildlife refuge held their position Saturday and posted live videos that reveal their hyper-vigilance against federal officials who they fear may try to move them out to end the month-long standoff.

An Open Letter to Special Agent Greg Bretzing, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Governor Kate Brown.  Last night I didn't sleep — at all.  After the knowledge that the leadership of the government I delegate decision making to chose coercion over compromise, culminating in the needless and senseless death of an American citizen became known to me, let me advise you:  I am not impressed, and I am not amused.  And I want answers — as does most of America — no matter what political cheer squad you claim allegiance to.  I read your Press Release, Special Agent Bretzing.  I didn't have the stomach to watch your press conference.  After 8 full years of the Obama Regime, I've had my fill of watching official lies and dissembling in real time.  The transcript sufficed.

The Death Of Robert 'LaVoy' Finicum.  By now most readers know that Robert 'LaVoy' Finicum was killed by federal agents.  Whatever misgivings I might have had about this particular hill to take (I would have greatly preferred that they protected the Hammonds from ever going to prison to begin with by surrounding their home), Mr. Finicum is now dead, and the ones who have been taken to prison face a world of trouble.  The *.gov types planned this as an ambush all along.  The entire operation was based on deception.  And now, courtesy of the speed of independent media, we have this eyewitness account of Mr. Finicum's death.

FBI releases unedited video of the moment Oregon militiaman 'reaches for his weapon' before he is shot dead.  This is the moment Oregon militiaman LaVoy Finicum was shot dead on Tuesday [1/26/2016] — and the FBI claims he can be seen reaching for his weapon.  Finicum was killed after he and eight other members of the three-week stand-off in Burns, Oregon, were stopped by traffic cops as they headed to a meeting in a neighboring town.  The unedited video, released by the government agency on Thursday [1/28/2016], shows a white car speeding down a highway then veering into the snow to avoid three cars engaged in a traffic stop.

Oregon occupiers: What officials say happened at traffic stop.  [Scroll down]  The FBI and state police teams knew the route they were going to take.  They picked a spot away from populated areas to attempt a traffic stop.  One vehicle stopped on command from authorities.  The second, allegedly driven by LaVoy Finicum, took off at high speed, attempting to get away.  About a mile away, out of sight, the FBI and state police had set up a roadblock.  But Finicum, with police in hot pursuit, attempted to leave the main road and drove into a snow bank.  When he emerged from the vehicle, FBI and state police ordered him to surrender.  That's when, authorities say, Finicum reached down toward his waistband where he had a gun.  The SWAT team opened fire.  Finicum was killed.

Feds signal time may be running out after Oregon standoff arrests.  A day after the spokesperson for an armed militia occupying an Oregon wildlife refuge was shot and killed during a traffic stop, the county's sheriff lamented "there doesn't have to be bloodshed in our community" and said he was "disappointed" that the incident "ended badly."  "We all make choices in life," an emotional Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said during a Wednesday [1/27/2016] news conference.  "Sometimes our choices go bad."

Three more members of militia occupying Oregon wildlife refuge arrested.  Three more members of the milita group occupying a federal wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon were arrested Wednesday [1/27/2016] at one of the checkpoints the FBI had established around the area.  One of those arrested was 43-year-old Jason Patrick, who had taken over leadership of the group from Ammon Bundy.  Bundy was arrested Tuesday after a confrontation on a remote highway that resulted in the death of militant Robert Finicum.

Mel Bundy to Newsmax: Cops Killed Rancher 'In Cold Blood'.  Mel Bundy, brother of Oregon protest leader Ammon Bundy, claimed Wednesday that cops "murdered" their group's spokesman "in cold blood" during a shootout late Tuesday [1/26/2016] that led to the arrest of eight people near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.  "LaVoy (Finicum) got out with his hands up in the air, up in the air, saying, 'I don't have a gun," Bundy said on Newsmax TV's prime-time show "Dennis Michael Lynch: Unfiltered" in an exclusive interview.  "He had his hands on his head — and then they shot him.

1 killed as Ammon Bundy, 4 others arrested in Oregon amid shots fired — FBI.  Ammon Bundy, the leader of the armed group occupying a federal wildlife refuge near Burns, Oregon, and seven others have been arrested by law enforcement amid gunfire, according to the FBI.  At 4:25 pm local time on Tuesday afternoon [1/26/2016], the FBI and Oregon State Police "began an enforcement action to bring into custody a number of individuals associated with the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.  During that arrest, there were shots fired," the Bureau said in a statement.

Oregon leader seized in deadly clash.  US police say they have arrested the leader of an armed militia which has occupied a wildlife refuge in Oregon, with one person killed in a shootout.  Ammon Bundy and four others were arrested during a traffic stop.  One person was injured.  Three others were held in separate incidents.  The militia occupied the refuge on 2 January to support two ranchers jailed for setting fire to federal land.  It says the government has taken land illegally from ranchers for decades.

One dead, Bundys arrested after confrontation with FBI on highway.  One person is dead and eight others, including Oregon occupation leader Ammon Bundy, were detained following a violent confrontation with the FBI and state police Tuesday night [1/26/2016].  It all began with a traffic stop while Bundy and some of his followers were en route to a community meeting at a John Day senior center, about 70 miles north of Burns.

Oregon militia member is shot dead as routine traffic stop escalates into shoot-out with the FBI.  Oregon militia spokesman LaVoy Finicum has been shot dead after a traffic stop escalated into a shoot-out that saw Ryan Bundy wounded and eight leaders of the occupation movement arrested.  The group's leader Ammon Bundy was among the militiamen arrested during the encounter on Tuesday afternoon [1/26/2016] as they drove to attend a community meeting in the neighboring town.  It was the culmination of a tense stand-off between federal agents and the activists more than three weeks after they took over a government building in Burns, Oregon, to protest two ranchers being jailed.

Oregon militia leader Ammon Bundy, 7 others arrested after gunfight kills 1.  The leader of a group of armed protesters who had occupied a federal wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon for 24 days was arrested along with four others Tuesday [1/26/2016] after a traffic stop prompted gunfire that reportedly left the group's spokesperson dead and another person injured.  The FBI and Oregon State Police arrested Ammon Bundy, 40, his brother Ryan, 43, Brian Cavalier, 44, Shawna Cox, 59, and Ryan Payne, 32, at around 4:25 p.m. local time on U.S. Highway 395.  Three other people were arrested separately.

Ammon Bundy and Seven Others Are Arrested, and One Dies, in Oregon.  Ammon Bundy, the leader of an armed seizing of a federal wildlife refuge in rural eastern Oregon, was arrested and one person was killed Tuesday afternoon [1/26/2016] in a traffic stop in rural Oregon, the F.B.I. and the Oregon State Police said.  Seven other people, including Mr. Bundy's brother Ryan Bundy, were arrested, the authorities said.  Another person was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening.

New Mexico rancher renounces federal grazing contract at Bundy event.  A rancher from New Mexico renounced his U.S. Forest Service grazing contract at an event held by an armed group occupying a national wildlife refuge in Oregon to protest federal land use policies.

Standoff in Oregon Centers on Land Ownership and Control.  Understanding the resistance to federal agencies currently shown in headlines and newscasts nationwide should begin with a reading of the U.S. Constitution.  A good look at the venerable document will lead to the conclusion that the federal government's numerous bureaus and agencies are illicitly controlling vast parcels of land, mostly in the 12 western states.  They are doing so without constitutional authority.  The amount of federal land holdings in 12 western states adds up to 47 percent of their total area.  Federal control over parcels of land in the eastern states exists as well, although ownership in the east is not nearly as widespread.  In states east of the Mississippi River, the federal government possesses only four percent of the land.

I'm an Oregon rancher. Here's what you don't understand about the Bundy standoff.  [Scroll down]  Raising cattle requires a lot of land, much more than most ranchers can afford to own outright.  I lease about a third of the space I use from private owners.  But most ranchers aren't so lucky.  The federal government controls a huge amount of land in the west (more than 50 percent in some states, like Oregon), and many ranchers must lease that space to create a sustainable operation.  Utilizing federal land requires ranchers to follow an unfair, complicated and constantly evolving set of rules.  For example, a federal government agency might decide that it wants to limit the number of days a rancher can graze their cattle to protect a certain endangered plant or animal species, or they might unilaterally decide that ranchers can't use as much water as they need because of a fight over water rights.  Or they might take over land that once belonged to the state or private individuals, imposing an entirely new set of restrictions.  I saw this play out firsthand when the federal government considered listing the sage grouse, a chicken-like bird, as endangered.

What Is Really Behind The Hammond Situation?  The Hammonds have been harassed for many years.  They have fought many legal battles; winning two, losing others.  They are not alone in their battle to preserve their ranch and way of life.  Hundreds, or thousands, of ranchers throughout the West, in particular, have fought similar battles, with most coming out on the losing end, as the forces of government agencies and departments have been brought to bear on them.  Miners and those in the lumber industry have been harassed, and had their mines and lumber businesses either legislated out of existence, or, through the BLM and US Forest Service, taken by harassment.

Warning to U.S. Military and Federal LEOs: Do Not Follow Orders to "Waco" Ammon Bundy Occupation, or Risk Civil War.  This is addressed first and foremost to the entire U.S. military, but especially to the military Special Operations Command and community.  Secondly, it is addressed to federal LEOs, and especially to their SRTs, such as the FBI HRT (many of whom are former military special operations).  This comes from combat arms and special operations veterans, along with veteran Sheriffs and police officers, within the Oath Keepers organization: [...]

The Editor says...
That's the first time I've seen Waco used as a verb.

The Federal Government Should Follow the Constitution and Sell Its Western Lands.  "Time and again [the president] preached cooperation and partnership. ... And time and again he was the first to ignore his own call," says the governor of Colorado.  Wyoming's governor complains:  "The federal system is badly out of kilter.  Federal encroachments on state and local governments are at an all-time high."  The governor of Arizona fumes:  "What galls westerners is ... the federal insistence that it is entitled to act not only as landowners, but also as sovereign."  Adds Colorado's governor:  "[Government bureaucrats] can't figure out whether they're landlord or king," as they "steamroll state agencies, ride roughshod over regional water rights, and destroy environmental laws [in an] arrogant nullification of 200 years of constitutional history."  These are the impassioned words, not of today's western governors, but instead of governors from nearly four decades ago, Democrats all, objecting to the policies of President Jimmy Carter.

The Case for Civil Disobedience in Oregon.  Read the court documents in the case that triggered the protest, and the accounts of sympathetic ranchers.  What emerges is a picture of a federal agency that will use any means necessary, including abusing federal anti-terrorism statutes, to increase government landholdings.

The Absurdly Harsh Penalties that Sparked the Oregon Rancher Protest.  In addition to the long-running conflict between ranchers and the federal government over control of land in the West, the case illustrates the practical impossibility of challenging harsh mandatory minimum sentences as violations of the Eighth Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual punishments."  The first fire set by the Hammonds, which Steven Hammond said was intended to eliminate invasive species on their property, ended up consuming 139 acres of federal land.  The second fire, which was aimed at protecting the Hammonds' winter feed from a wildfire sparked by lightning, burned about an acre of public land.  Although the Hammonds did not seek the required government permission for either burn, the damage to federal land seems to have been unintentional.  In 2012 they were nevertheless convicted under 18 USC 844(f)(1), which prescribes a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for anyone who "maliciously damages or destroys, or attempts to damage or destroy, by means of fire or an explosive," any federal property.

The toxic roots of Oregon building takeover.  The re-imprisonment scheduled for Monday [1/4/2016] of two rural Oregon ranchers on arson charges was the catalyst, but not the cause of the armed takeover of federal property by anti-government protestors that began on Saturday.  The incident is the latest symbol of distrust for what some perceive as an overarching and predatory government.  It's a perception that resurfaced with the ascendancy of Barack Obama, but it actually dates back to the Whiskey Rebellion just after the Revolutionary War.

Some Oregon Protestors Occupy Federal Land, But Are They Justified?  Yesterday [1/2/2016] I posted about the Hammonds, father and son ranchers in Oregon, who were convicted of arson by the U.S. government.  They served the sentences of 3 months, and 1 year respectively, completing those sentences in early 2014.  After they completed their sentences and were released, the U.S. government appealed the sentences to the Ninth Circuit and won the reversal of the trial judge's order.  The Hammonds were resentenced, amounting to an additional 4 or so years for each of them (to reach the 5 year minimum mandatory sentence under federal law) and they will report to serve their sentences tomorrow, January 4, 2016. [...] I think this is a case where a 5 year minimum sentence is unwarranted and unjust.

Here Are Five Reasons You Should Side With The Hammond Family.  You should have sympathy for the Hammond family.  You should have sympathy for Steven and Dwight Hammond because they are, by all accounts, decent and generous community members attempting to survive as ranchers in the face of a massive federal bureaucracy violating their rights.  Here's everything you need to know about the Hammond family and why they're now at the center of a national firestorm.

Militia in Oregon Will Come Face-to-Face With Obama's Propaganda Machine.  The Feds have arrived in the area to "take control of the situation".  How reassuring.  The Sheriff said that there are 20 men in the building and they are trying to resolve the situation peacefully.  They say the men have come to spark a movement across the country.  We don't need a revolution now.  We are defeating the left and we can win the next election.  I hope these men stand down after they get a lawyer to intervene.

No Good Guys in the West.  The arson fires lit by the Hammonds in 2001 and 2006 may have actually represented sensible land management, but the Hammonds lost the high ground by their failure to coordinate with the government agency managing the land they burned.  Prescribed fire is a tool used to improve wildlife habitat, increase land productivity, and control wildfire.  The 2001 fire aimed at improving productivity, but the government says the ranchers didn't bother informing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) they planned to burn until two hours after they lit the fire.  While they lit the fire on their own land, it escaped and burned 139 acres of federal land, but that burning probably did not do serious damage to the grassland and they put the fire out themselves. [...] Due to severe fire hazards, the county had a no-burn rule which the Hammonds apparently violated, but this was hardly a terrorist act.

We Need a Conservative Alinsky.  This week has seen a headache-inducing debacle unfurling in the tiny town of Burns, Oregon, in which a few members of the Bundy family have traveled there from their usual haunts in Nevada, accompanied by a few other colorful characters of Western flavor, and have successfully staged the conquest of a deserted headquarters of a federal bird refuge.  The occupiers of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge Headquarters branched off from a sizable protest of the "re-sentencing" of Dwight and Steven Hammond, a father and son in a ranching family located south of Burns convicted by a federal court under an anti-terrorism statute.

The mysterious fires that led to the Bundy clan's Oregon standoff.  It was a stark reversal of a scenario that Billy Joel outlined years ago:  They did start the fire.  But, beyond that fact, consensus on why the Hammond family of Harney County, Ore., set ranch land ablaze twice in the past 15 years remained elusive.  This, as armed anti-government activists stormed and seized a federal wildlife refuge in the name of the Hammonds.  Never, it seemed, have two groups of people looked at the same conflagration and come to such different conclusions.

Armed protesters hunker down in federal building over ranching dispute.  Armed protesters, including three sons of a Nevada rancher who battled with the government in 2014, vowed to occupy a federal building in Oregon for "as long as it takes," as state and federal officials on Sunday [1/3/2016] sought to defuse the situation.  The protesters took over a federal wildlife refuge in a remote area near Burns, some 280 miles east of Portland, to protest the prosecution of a father and son facing jail time on an arson charge for burning 130 acres of land.  Prosecutors said the fire was set to hide poaching, but the ranchers, who face five years in prison, and the protesters supporting them say it was set to stop invasive plants.  "We will be here as long as it takes," said Ammon Bundy, a spokesman for the group and the son of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who clashed with the feds two years ago.

What to make of the showdown at the wildlife refuge in Oregon.  A group of men armed with pistols and long rifles are occupying the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.  The group is led by Ammon Bundy.  He's the son of rancher Cliven Bundy, a key player in a months-long 2014 standoff with the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada.  Ammon reportedly was tasered by the feds during that confrontation.  Predictably, some on the left are insisting that the occupiers be deemed terrorists.  The problem is, they have not engaged in terrorism as that term has always been understood.

Both the Bundy Occupation and 'Black Lives Matter' Are Revolts, Not Protests.  When Ammon Bundy led a group of armed protesters to take over a federal building in Oregon, he unwittingly presented an analog of "Black Lives Matter."  Human nature affords the benefit of doubt to those with shared values.  Therefore, many of the same people who decried the actions of Black Lives Matter now cheer in support of Bundy.  Conversely, many who supported the disruption of Black Lives Matter now rush to label the Bundy group "terrorists."  In truth, the Black Lives Matter movement and the Bundy group have far more in common than they do in contrast.  Both groups have grievances with government which they claim have gone unaddressed.  Both groups point to ongoing examples of perceived government persecution.  Both groups have chosen civil disobedience to draw attention to their cause.  Both groups portray themselves as "peaceful" and claim to be engaged in "non-violent" protest.

Who Wants A Burns Standoff? Not The Sheriff, The Ranchers, Or Even Cliven Bundy.  In this quiet, high desert town, frost covers the sagebrush and most people are staying indoors because of the below freezing temperatures.  Yet, tensions in this Eastern Oregon community are running high as two local ranchers prepare to go to prison.  Dwight Hammond, and his son Steve were convicted of arson related to fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006.  Dwight Hammond and Steve Hammond were sentenced in accordance with federal anti-terrorism laws and are scheduled to report to prison on Monday [1/4/2015].  Their lawyer said both men will do so voluntarily.

Armed protesters hunker down in federal building over ranching dispute.  Armed protesters, including three sons of a Nevada rancher who battled with the government in 2014, vowed to occupy a federal building in Oregon for "as long as it takes," as state and federal officials on Sunday [1/3/2016] sought to defuse the situation.  The protesters took over a federal wildlife refuge in a remote area near Burns, some 280 miles east of Portland, to protest the prosecution of a father and son facing jail time on an arson charge for burning 130 acres of land.  Prosecutors said the fire was set to hide poaching, but the ranchers, who face five years in prison, and the protesters supporting them say it was set to stop invasive plants.  "We will be here as long as it takes," said Ammon Bundy, a spokesman for the group and the son of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who clashed with the feds two years ago.

Militia Take Over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge In Protest to Hammond Family Persecution.  Many people will awaken today to the news of approximately 100 to 150 armed militia taking control of a closed Wildlife Park Headquarters, and not know the full back-story — so here it is: [...]

Militia members occupy US building in Oregon after protest.  The remote high desert of eastern Oregon became the latest flashpoint for anti-government sentiment as armed protesters occupied a national wildlife refuge to object to a prison sentence for local ranchers for burning federal land.

Three of Cliven Bundy's sons, militia seize federal building in Oregon.  Three of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's sons and what they claim are 150 militia members have occupied a federal building in eastern Oregon in order to keep two local ranchers out of prison, according to local reports.  The group is believed to be heavily-armed.  According to The Oregonian, the group seized the headquarters building at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge about 50 miles outside Burns, Ore.  The remote facility was closed and unoccupied at the time.

Red River Landowners Take Battle with Feds to Court.  Seven families are suing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in federal district court, accusing the agency of perpetrating an "arbitrary seizure" of land along a 116-mile strip of the river, whose meandering has spurred a century's worth of property disputes along the Texas-Oklahoma border.  Wichita, Clay and Wilbarger counties — and the Clay County sheriff — have also signed onto the suit, filed late Monday [11/16/2015] in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.  The group is bringing firepower from Austin.  Lawyers from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the state's pre-eminent conservative think tank, are representing the North Texans on the foundation's dime.

Is The Bureau Of Land Management Attempting A Land Grab On The Red River?  Land disputes between private citizens and the federal government — represented by the Bureau of Land Management — have been a hot topic since the standoff at Cliven Bundy's ranch in Nevada last year.  With the Bundy Ranch incident still fresh in the minds of conservatives who considered the dispute a land grab on the part of the Bureau of Land Management, reports out of Texas — along the Oklahoma border at the Red River — have been circulating for the past year and change.

Bundy son pulls children from Nevada schools after daughter barred from carrying pocket knife.  Ryan Bundy says that's a violation of his children's rights, and evidence of county school administrators' "communistic mentality."

Bundy camp sends 'warning' to local law enforcement.  A Nevada rancher warned local law enforcement officials on Wednesday [8/6/2014] to uphold their oaths of office or face the consequences of a people forced to "defend [their] God-given rights," an ominous message that comes just months after the same rancher led an armed protest against federal agents.  "While the [Bureau of Land Management] was willing to shoot my family over land and power, we were willing to die for our families, our livelihoods and our constitutional rights.  You should have been defending these rights for us," rancher Cliven Bundy's son, Ammon, said in a statement addressed to Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie.

Bundy: God Told Me Federal Government Needs To Be Disarmed.  During a radio interview Wednesday [8/6/2014] Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy shared that God has told him that the federal government needs to be disarmed.  Bundy made his comments during a recent meeting at the Independent American Party in St. George, Utah, and elaborated on them while appearing on KUER, a Salt Lake City radio station.  "I have no idea what God wants done, but he did inspire me to have the sheriffs across the United States take away these weapons, disarm these bureaucracies, and he also gave me a little inspiration on what would happen if they didn't do that," Bundy said Wednesday on KUER.  "It was indicated that 'this is our chance, America, to straighten this problem up.  If we don't solve this problem this way, we will face these same guns in a civil war.'"

USA Today is not on Bundy's side.
Rancher Cliven Bundy can't win.  Government authorities were wise to back off in April when scofflaw Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy surrounded himself with armed supporters to avoid paying more than $1 million in grazing fees and penalties he had accumulated over two decades.  As infuriating as it was that Bundy had repeatedly defied court orders and insisted he could graze his cattle wherever he pleased, he wasn't worth a bloody confrontation.  Three months later, though, Americans who obey the law and pay their bills might wonder how long Bundy and his gun-toting pals are going to get away with rejecting the rule of law.

Nevada sheriff says Cliven Bundy must be held accountable for standoff.  A Nevada sheriff has said that rancher Cliven Bundy must bear responsibility for actions that led to a standoff between federal agents and militia members earlier this year, but added that the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must reconsider some of its methods used prior to the confrontation.

BLM's Nevada Cattle Stance Linked to Solar Plans.  Environmental mitigation necessary for a planned solar power project may have motivated the federal Bureau of Land Management's decision to launch a military-style armed enforcement action against a Nevada cattle rancher, government documents reveal.  According to the documents, BLM determined continued cattle grazing would interfere with the bureau's plans to use the land as an environmental mitigation area for desert tortoise disruption caused by the solar facility.

Let Western states manage public lands, not bureaucrats in Washington.  A Western rancher who has his federal grazing rights restricted or removed doesn't just lose a few cows.  He loses a multi-generational investment, a profession, and a legacy to pass on to his children.  An elderly hunter or trail rider who sees motorized access eliminated from national forest land doesn't just lose an elk or a nice camping trip.  She loses family bonding and recreational opportunities that have been passed down from generation to generation.  And a state that becomes more and more dependent on federal aid — aid that's being increasingly squeezed between national entitlement and debt obligations — isn't just losing tax dollars on land owned and operated by bureaucrats in Washington.  It's losing the right to decide how to best educate its children, how to provide for public safety, and how to meet its citizens' needs.

Bundy's Son: Las Vegas Shooters Kicked off Ranch.  The married couple who police say killed three people in Las Vegas, including two officers, had been kicked off a ranch where anti-government protesters faced down federal agents earlier this year, rancher Cliven Bundy's son said Monday [6/9/2014].

Grazing Limits Feed Tension in Nevada.  Rancher Pete Tomera slowed his pickup truck on a dusty mountain road one day last week and swept an arm toward tall green grass blowing in the wind:  "Man, look at all the feed a cow could eat," he said.  Since last summer, Mr. Tomera's 1,800 cows have been banished from these mountains in northern Nevada, part of a clampdown by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management against grazing on federal lands during an extended drought.  An additional 500 head of cattle owned by two other ranching families have been ordered off a roughly 350,000-acre grazing allotment managed by the BLM in the Shoshone Range about 10 miles to the south of this town.  The animals have been put out to private pastures or fed hay at far greater cost than on the public land.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy leaves GOP.  Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who gained notoriety in April for his standoff with the Bureau of Land Management, has announced he is leaving the Republican Party.  The 68-year-old rancher, who owes the BLM nearly $1 million in grazing fees, won early praise from GOP lawmakers for his standoff with armed Interior Department officers.  Republicans later distanced themselves from Bundy after he suggested "the negro" was better off a slave.  Bundy and his wife Carol signed new registration forms at an event held by the Independent American Party.  The event was billed by organizers as a celebration of Bundy's "courage for standing up for state sovereignty."

Land grab? Local officials blast move by Obama to set aside 500,000 acres in NM.  Local officials in New Mexico warn a move by the Obama administration to designate nearly a half-million acres as a national monument could open up a crime corridor making it easier for illegal immigrants to cross the border and for drug cartels to operate undetected.  President Obama made the announcement Wednesday afternoon [5/21/2014], setting aside 498,815 acres of land as the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.  Unlike national parks which must be approved by Congress, the president has the power to designate national monuments.

California's wealthy elite have a similar situation:
National Park Service seeks to ease tensions with Point Reyes farmers.  Point Reyes National Seashore is unusual among U.S. parks.  Its shimmering coastline and velvety hillsides make for a majestic Marin County landscape — and its two dozen commercial dairy farms and ranches make for one of the nastiest disagreements in the national park system.  Farmers and ranchers here have a list of grievances against a federal government they say burdens their operations with needless red tape.  Worse, they believe park officials secretly want to force them to shut down, and they complain that little has been done to rein in tule elk that graze on land meant for livestock.

New Mexico fence impasse deepens as county weighs sanctions against feds.  New Mexico ranchers are plenty mad over the U.S. Forest Service's refusal to open a gate blocking their cattle from reaching water, but all sides say they are working hard to avoid an armed showdown reminiscent of Nevada's Bundy ranch skirmish any time soon.  But that doesn't mean a resolution will be easy or that the pressure on the local officials at the center of the clash is any less.  And still standing are the metal fences and locked gates along the banks of the Agua Chiquita, put up by the Forest Service to keep local cattle out.

Raiding and Trading in the American West.  Mr. Bundy's case represents just about everything that's wrong with federal land management today.  Environmental groups file endless legal challenges over land management, forcing agencies to declare more and more areas off limits to grazing, timber harvesting, or energy development.  Armed with the Endangered Species Act and other regulatory weapons, environmental groups raid the rights of existing federal land users to protect habitats they like and to stop activities they don't like.  The result is a federal land system strangled by what former U.S. Forest Service chief Jack Ward Thomas describes as a "Gordian knot" of litigation and regulation.

Monument preserve in New Mexico may set up next land rights battleground.  President Obama on Wednesday will declare a national monument in southern New Mexico, delivering a win for environmentalists but angering ranchers and local law enforcement, who say the land restrictions will end up creating a safe haven for drug cartels to operate within the U.S.  Mr. Obama will declare about 500,000 acres as the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.  About half of that land is expected to be set aside as wilderness, meaning it will be closed to vehicles and construction.

Rural New Mexico county fights feds over water rights.  The latest dispute over federal control of land and water in the West has erupted along the banks of the Agua Chiquita, a small spring-fed stream in the mountains of southern New Mexico where the federal government has installed metal fences and locked gates to keep cattle out.

Government Agents Attempt to Seize Western Ranches — in 1771.  The West in this case, of course, was not Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico, but the rural counties of the Carolina backcountry.  Historian James Whittenburg described the events as "the last and greatest of the social upheavals" that led to the War for Independence.  As economic depression and extreme drought threatened to destroy the livelihood of the small farmers and ranchers that called western Carolina home, colonial bureaucrats appointed by the royal governor were financing the plans of wealthy merchants and lawyers to buy out the land owned by impoverished Scots-Irish settlers who were on the brink of bankruptcy.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy is assembling 'team of legal advisers' to take on feds.  Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy said in a lengthy written statement that he's not going to sue the federal government after all, despite the number of lawyers he says have lined up to state his case against the Bureau of Land Management for free.  At the same time, he wrapped his statement by saying that he's "assembling a team of legal advisers" to help decide his family's best course of action. The Bundy family has been at the center of a nationally watched armed standoff with the BLM over grazing fees.

State officials slap feds: New Mexico board orders Forest Service fence opened.  A New Mexico county board on Monday [5/12/2014] instructed the local sheriff to open the Forest Service gates blocking thirsty cattle from reaching water, setting up a clash with federal agents over state water rights and endangered species.  The Otero County Commission voted 2-0, with one commissioner absent, to "immediately take steps to remove or open gates that are unlawfully denying citizens access to their private property rights."

Feds' next land fight: New Mexico ranchers angered over water fenced off to cattle.  The Obama administration's crackdown on Western land use has sparked a furor over the Forest Service's decision to fence off a creek used by thirsty cattle in drought-stricken Otero County, New Mexico.  The Otero County Commission is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss whether to order the sheriff to open the gates against the wishes of Forest Service officials, who have argued that the fence is needed to protect the Agua Chiquita riparian area and habitat for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse.

Dozens ride ATVs, motorcyles in off-limits canyon to protest federal land control.  Dozens of people rode their ATVs and motorcycles on an off-limits trail in southern Utah on Saturday [5/10/2014] in a protest against what the group calls the federal government's overreaching control of public lands.  San Juan County Sheriff Rick Eldredge said from 40 to 50 people, many of them waving American flags and some carrying weapons, drove about a mile down Recapture Canyon near Blanding and then turned around.  Hundreds attended a rally at a nearby park before the protest.

Federal probe could leave Utah ATV protest riders facing charges.  Federal agents have launched a damage inspection of protected archeological sites in southern Utah where public-lands activists on all-terrain vehicles staged a weekend protest ride challenging the prolonged government closure of a canyon trail.

FBI investigating Bundy supporters in BLM dispute.  The 8 News NOW I-Team has learned that FBI agents have started an investigation into the events surrounding a potentially deadly showdown one month ago surrounding rancher Cliven Bundy.  It is one thing for Cliven Bundy and his supporters to square off against an assortment of Bureau of Land Management employees.  It is quite another when the FBI enters the picture, and that is exactly what has happened.

FBI investigating Bundy Ranch showdown, Clark County sheriff's officials say.  Clark County sheriff's officials say they've been interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into armed supporters of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.  Assistant Sheriff Joe Lombardo told KLAS-TV that federal agents have opened an investigation into the conduct of supporters of Bundy who reportedly pointed guns at officers during a standoff at his ranch April 12.

Cliven Bundy II? Utah protesters prepare for new face-off with feds.  This eye-blink of a town in the state's scenic southeastern corner bills itself as the "Gateway to Adventure."  But this weekend it promises to be more like a launchpad for civil unrest.  A band of angry citizens plans to ride all-terrain vehicles onto closed-off, federally managed public land Saturday in protest against the federal Bureau of Land Management, which many say has unfairly closed off a prized area, cheating residents of outdoor recreation.

Utah Grabbing Land from BLM While Texas Plays Defense.  Texas Governor Rick Perry weighed in on the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) handling of the land issue along the Red River border between Texas and Oklahoma saying, "The federal government already owns too much land."  Some in the state of Utah seem to be ready to agree with him as they are torn between expanding the federal control over public land in the Beehive State as opposed to those who seek to use the land for private economic development.

Who Owns One-Third of American Land — And How It's Holding Us Back.  Did you know that the federal government owns nearly one-third of U.S. land?  What are they doing with it, you might ask.  And the answer is certainly not making the most of it.  In fact, true to form, the federal government is getting in the way of domestic energy and American jobs.  "Inaccessibility and unnecessary regulations inhibit economic growth in various parts of the country," says Heritage expert Nicolas Loris, the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow.  He points to a recent study showing that "opening up offshore areas for drilling in the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf — just one region where offshore drilling is possible but not permitted — would create 280,000 jobs in that region alone."  While U.S. oil production has gone gangbusters in recent years, most of that production has been on privately owned land.

Bunkerville residents sound off about BLM, police, media.  An emotional crowd gathered for a town hall meeting on Thursday evening [5/1/2014] in Bunkerville.  Residents and council members praised militia members gathered there in support of embattled rancher Cliven Bundy, but had nothing but vitriol for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie and the local and national media.  "The day the militia [came] was the day I felt safe again in Nevada," one meeting attendee said.

Does Harry Reid Own 93 Acres Near Bundy Grazing Land?  It seems another piece of the puzzle has been found to explain why the BLM wanted that grazing land so badly.  A corporation, named the Reid Bunkerville L.L.C., owns 93.3 acres right next to the government parcel where Bundy grazes his cattle.

Federal Lands Debate Didn't Start, Won't End At Bunkerville.  Federal ownership of 600 million acres — nearly 50% of all land in the West — has been debated and contested for 150 years.  It was contentious before Bundy's case, and it'll be contentious long after.  Western states have pushed back every time Beltway landlords have imposed significant management or policy changes.  We're in the midst of another one of those pushback periods, but it's different this time.

Police say Bundy ranch protesters not off the hook.  Metro Police officers who were on the front lines of a recent showdown near the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville say they feared for their lives.  At least some of the militia members who pointed weapons at police officers during the confrontation may have wanted a violent outcome and tried to incite one.  In exclusive interviews with the 8 News NOW I-Team, officers who were on the scene shared their thoughts and fears, and they say it is not over.

'Bigger than Bundy': Land agency's battles go beyond rancher dispute.  It's the most powerful agency you've never heard of — at least, until recently.  The Bureau of Land Management, the nation's biggest landlord, found itself in the spotlight after a high-profile brawl with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and another dispute with state officials over the Texas-Oklahoma borderlands. [...] In the nearly seven decades of its existence, the BLM has struggled to find its footing and exert its power, pitted against a vocal states' rights movement.

Context Matters: the Cliven Bundy Standoff — Part 1.  While most observers and commentators have focused on Bundy's recent statements on race, something far more problematic drives the standoff.  Bundy, his family, and many of his supporters are part of the modern day Sovereign Movement, a loosely-knit group that subscribes to a complex system of bizarre legal theories.  They believe that the current U.S. Government is an illegitimate sham, and, in the most extreme situations, they are willing to resort to violence when the courts and government agents don't agree with their schemes.  While many pundits have assumed that greed drives Bundy's stand, he has spent decades absorbing "patriot" legal theories, piecing together quotes, codes, and court case citations that appear to lead him to the conclusion he desires, while carefully ignoring those that don't.

The Long History Of BLM's Aggressive Cattle Seizures.  Beginning in the late 1980s, BLM adopted aggressive tactics in the West, leading to large-scale cattle seizures and a disruption of life for ranchers that had utilized public lands for decades prior.  While the press has showered attention on Cliven Bundy, a polarizing man who prompted a tense standoff between Bundy's well-armed militia supporters and federal police, the struggle between ranchers and the BLM is much broader.

It Isn't Just the Bundy Ranch.  The Bundy Ranch incident, which threatened to escalate into a shooting war, collapsed when reports surfaced that the ulterior motive behind the attempted BLM takeover was an deal set up by Harry Reid to place solar panels on the land; something from which we can expect he stood to profit handsomely, and very likely under the table.  It appears likely that the reports were correct, or else the standoff would have escalated.  Confronted with the truth, the BLM backed down, but promised that this wasn't the end.  It appears that this may be correct because various western state governments are now convening to take control of the "federal" lands.

GOP rep wants to cut funds for armed federal agencies.  A Republican congressman wants to crack down on the proliferation of armed law enforcement units within the federal government, on the heels of the standoff last month between supporters of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and a federal land agency.  Both sides of that standoff — agents with the Bureau of Land Management, and states' rights protesters who streamed into Nevada — were armed, leading the BLM to back down for fear of violence.

Bunkerville, the New Bunker Hill: The Back Story.  Prior to development on private or other non-federal property in Clark County, Nevada, the developer must obtain a grading or building permit from the appropriate City or County agency.  The permitting office for the City or the County will collect a mitigation fee of $550 per acre, if one has not previously been paid.  This is a one-time fee that funds the Desert Conservation Program.  This program provides endangered species act compliance through mitigation and conservation for 78 plant and animal species, including the desert tortoise.  If a builder wanted to develop a 200 acre tract of land, Yep, $110,000 in turtle fees alone.

Bungling Bundy.  Through the past week we have witnessed events that should be viewed as our dead canary in the mine shaft.  The bird who bit the dust was that not-quite-defensible old rancher out in Nevada, Cliven Bundy, who got chewed into a mess, not just by a demonstrably dishonest New York Times, but by a pack of media minds eagerly seeking to prove to the reigning media elites their politically correct bonafides.

One of the Biggest Fat Cats in America is the BLM.  Amid the circus that is the Bundy Ranch standoff is the much more important and revealing story surrounding a previously little-noticed agency called the Bureau of Land Management.  Even observers who believed that Cliven Bundy did not have a legal leg to stand on regarding his claims that he did not owe grazing fees for his cattle to the BLM were curious as to the reason behind the heavy-handed response to Bundy's recalcitrance.  The move ostensibly was to remove Bundy's cattle from public lands, where they were illegally grazing.  Even though every federal agency these days, from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Education, feels the need to have its own SWAT team, 200 federal agents with assault rifles and dogs seems an inappropriate way to conduct a roundup.  Upon closer examination, the reason for the importance to the BLM of establishing its authority may entail much more than the revenue from grazing fees.

Is Cliven Bundy a "Racist"?  Where's the PROOF?  When the Left wants to distract America from the central point of a burning issue, they find (or manufacture) a "gotcha" moment and yell "RACISM!"  So it is no surprise that embattled Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose struggle against the federal government's overreach has won widespread sympathy, has ended up as the latest victim of "race card" politics. [...] Many of these erstwhile supporters have been caught off-guard and frightened into denouncing Bundy as a "racist" and his remarks as "vicious" and "reprehensible."  But it might be helpful to take a calm look at what he actually said and see if it really should be engendering so much angst and furor amongst the political and chattering classes.  In the video [in this article], from which the New York Times selected its excerpts to stir up the racism charge, Cliven Bundy makes some statements that are sympathetic to Blacks and Mexicans.

Why It's Okay to Hate Cliven Bundy.  It has become clear that Cliven Bundy was transgressed by the New York Times, his words taken out of context and retailed in such a way as to mean something they were not.  Bundy is no racist, and the attempt to make him look like one is another step downward in the collapse of American national media. [...] Bundy sat across from a reporter for the NYT, the most vicious, calculating, untrustworthy, and dishonest nest of vipers in the entire U.S. media network, and talked straight to him about matters of import and controversy, under the impression that he would understand and transmit his thoughts the way that he actually expressed them. [...] Nobody has a right to be that stupid, to be that ill-informed, or to be that self-centered.

Bundy's 'ancestral rights come under scrutiny.  Federal authorities remain silent about their next plans to confront Cliven Bundy at his Bunkerville ranch.  Both sides are fighting over history, with federal courts denying Bundys claims of "ancestral rights" on the Virgin River valley.

When government looks more like foe than friend.  [The Bundys'] violations could certainly have been handled through a multitude of less brutal means than those employed by our federal government, which through the mouthpiece of Sen. Harry Reid emphasizes how important it is for the government to enforce its laws.  It is quite interesting to see, though, that the same bureaucrats refuse to enforce some of our federal border-protection laws and other domestic policies with which they disagree.  Perhaps Mr. Reid's time could be better spent explaining why it is acceptable for the federal government to pick and choose which laws it wishes to enforce.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy hailed as patriot, ripped as lawless deadbeat.  Rancher Cliven Bundy's standoff with the Bureau of Land Management has prompted a national debate over whether the elderly Nevada cattleman is a patriotic freedom fighter or a lawless renegade.  Mr. Bundy owes more than $1 million in back grazing fees, but he contends that the federal government's rules are increasingly rigged against Westerners who have long made their living off the public lands.

Saul Alinsky Tactics and the BLM War.  The internet has been buzzing for the last few days with hysterical hypocrisy from the Left over some remarks made by Clive Bundy, the Nevada Rancher who recently staved off a paramilitary assault by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  Bundy made a comment that perhaps black people were better off slaves (as opposed to the neo-slavery of benevolent government.)  He was roundly thrashed for his remarks.  First, this is textbook; Saul Alinsky Rules for Radicals rule #12 — "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."

The Land Grabbing Feds.  In October 1980, Gerald Chaffin threw gasoline on his wood-frame home and burned it to the ground.  He did it at the behest of the federal government.  His crime?  The BLM controlled the land on which his home had been located.  He was the third owner of the home, which had stood for 37 years to house oil workers.  His house, the BLM said, was trespassing.  It would have to go.  Three decades later, Americans are still fighting the same battle.

Some Lessons from Cliven Bundy.  I am not a lawyer, and am not going to pretend to be one.  Neither do I give any credence to the claims about Bundy's "racist" comments that were engineered by the New York Times' Adam Nagourney, a left-wing gay man following the "progressive" playbook of demonizing those against whom you can't argue.  I would only note that Bundy didn't actually make any "racist" comments.  Instead, what he DID do was point out how terribly, terribly destructive that Democrats and the rest of the "progressive" movement have been for black Americans over the past few decades.  If there's anything racist going on, it involves trapping African-Americans in a grinding cycle of poverty and despair, while psychologically bullying them into continuing to support the very people — the Democrats — who trapped them in the first place.

This Black Does Not Think Bundy is Racist.  Pick a card, any card.  Racist.  Sexist.  Homophobic.  We all knew it was only a matter of time before Democrats/liberals played one or more of their Big Three Cards to silence, intimidate, and crush opposition to their latest power-grab/tyrannical attack on our freedom.  With a majority of Americans taking rancher Cliven Bundy's side against Obama's BLM thugs, Democrat Harry Reid concluded that it was time to play the old tried-and-true race card.

Cliven Bundy's black bodyguard claims rancher is not racist.  Despite a collection of seemingly racist rants about 'negros,' slavery and 'picking cotton,' not everyone thinks Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy is a racist, and one of the people defending the one-time far-right-wing folk hero is one of his bodyguards — who happens to be black.  Jason Bullock has been at Bundy's side since his battle with the federal government began heating up in late March.  According to Bullock, the man he's come to know over the last month is not a racist.  In fact, Bullock says he would take a bullet for Bundy.

Cliven Bundy Delenda Est.  During the Punic Wars Cato and other notable Romans argued that Carthago Delenda Est, that is, Carthage must be destroyed.  Substitute sympathetic ordinary Americans, like Cliven Bundy, Joe the Plumber, and the superbly talented Sarah Palin for Carthage, and you have the rallying cry of the Democrats and their media enablers who will use any pretext to demonize those who dare to challenge their power.  Devoid of positions that can survive reasoned debate, the Democrats and the media who sustain them have determined that balkanizing the country along lines of race, ethnicity, and sexual preferences may yet provide enough votes to keep the party in power.  This week the domestic focus was on race.

NY Times Reported Bundy's Offensive Remarks 4 Days Later.  Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy made his offensive remarks about blacks and slavery on Saturday [4/19/2014], but it took four days for his remarks to finally appear in the New York Times.  According to the April 24 New York Times article, Bundy promised to continue holding a daily news conference, even after his standoff with federal agents ended.

Bundy: If People Were Offended by 'Negro,' Then MLK 'Hasn't Got His Job Done Yet'.  Amid the controversy over his comments about black Americans, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy appeared on CNN's New Day and suggested that if people are offended by his use of the word "Negro" then perhaps Martin Luther King, Jr., did not fully execute his mission.  CNN host Chris Cuomo challenged Bundy to concede that even if he is truly concerned about the well-being of blacks, his musing about whether "the Negro" was "better off as slaves, picking cotton" was offensive on a racial level.

Rand Paul and other Republican leaders back away from Bundy.  Republican politicians who saw the Bundy stand-off as an opportunity to connect with the far right are now trying to figure out which adverb will put the most distance between themselves and the rancher.

Nevada rancher and former Shoshone chief's range war with BLM predates Bundy standoff.  Long before Cliven Bundy faced down federal agents in his dispute with the Bureau of Land Management over grazing rights, fellow Nevada rancher Raymond Yowell, an 84-year-old former Shoshone chief, watched as the BLM seized his herd.  Adding to that, since 2008 they've taken his money as well — in the form of a piece of his Social Security checks.  Yowell's 132 head of cattle had grazed for decades on the South Fork Western Shoshone Indian Reservation in northeastern Nevada until 2002, when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — the same agency at odds with Bundy — seized them.

Lawmakers Unveil Plan to Liberate Western Lands and Evict Feds.  With the now-infamous federal abuses against the Bundy ranching family and its supporters in Nevada helping to awaken a sleeping giant, liberty-minded elected officials from Western states are coming together with citizens to take action in defense of the Constitution and the West.  Their mission:  to wrest control over the vast expanses of land and wealth in the region that are unconstitutionally claimed by the Washington, D.C.-based political and bureaucratic classes.  Now, a new alliance of lawmakers and citizens has a concrete plan to make those goals a reality.  As The New American reported this week, more than 50 elected officials from nine Western states met on April 18 at the Utah Capitol for the Legislative Summit on the Transfer for Public Lands.  Among them were state House speakers, state senators, a U.S. senator, county commissioners, and more.  The goal, multiple organizers and attendees explained, is to strip the federal government of the almost 50 percent of land in Western states that it claims to "own" in defiance of the U.S. Constitution and various agreements.

Cruz: Bundy Standoff Culmination of Obama's 'Jackboot of Authoritarianism'.  Ted Cruz weighed in on the Cliven Bundy situation with Texas radio host Chad Hasty Tuesday, and he called the standoff between Bundy supporters (some armed) and federal agents a tragic situation, but one that was the "culmination" of how President Obama has been pushing for a bigger and more intrusive federal government.  Cruz said that since Obama took over, "we have seen our liberty under assault" from a government "hell-bent on expanding its authority over every aspect of our lives."

Bundy Family Says 'Euthanized' Cattle [were] Shot Multiple Times.  Ammon Bundy, son of embattled Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, said some of the dead cattle the family found after the federal government backed down from a tense standoff over a week ago had been shot as many as five times — seemingly more than necessary to kill the animals.

Western States Want Feds to Surrender "Federal" Land.  Elected officials from across the American West, from top lawmakers to county commissioners, held a historic gathering in Utah in recent days to discuss how Western states could wrest control of the almost 50 percent of land in the region currently claimed by the federal government.  Aside from constitutional concerns — with a few exceptions, the U.S. Constitution does not authorize ownership or control over land by the political class in Washington, D.C. — the Western leaders and legislators cited economic harm, environmental degradation, loss of tax revenue, and numerous other reasons for the effort.

Some Lessons from Cliven Bundy.  Removing Cliven Bundy's cattle and killing them was not about "the public good."  It wasn't even really about "protecting the turtles."  Instead, it was about clearing off land so that Chinese land developers in league with Harry Reid's son Rory could use the land as a remediation site connected with a solar power panel farm they wanted to build further north as part of a $5 billion development deal.  In other words, it was about using public land so that the Reid family and foreign developers could make a pile of money -- which makes the Senator's complaints about Bundy "profiting off of public lands" just a bit hypocritical.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy hailed as patriot, renegade.  Rancher Cliven Bundy's standoff with the Bureau of Land Management has prompted a national debate over whether the elderly Nevada cattleman is a patriotic freedom fighter or a lawless renegade.  Mr. Bundy owes more than $1 million in back grazing fees, but he contends that the federal government's rules are increasingly rigged against Westerners who have long made their living off the public lands.

Reid: 'Something Will Happen To Stop Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy.  "It's obvious that you can't just walk away from this.  And we can speculate all we want to speculate to what's going to happen next," Reid told KSNV-TV. "

Open Letter from Bundy's Neighbor: "You Are a Hero".  There has been much discussion over the past couple of weeks about the heavy-handed, and possibly illegal, tactics employed by the Bureau of Land Management against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, purportedly over "grazing fees", cattle and tortoises.  The BLM decided to crack down on Bundy, surrounding his ranch with armed federal agents while government-paid cattle rustlers attempted to round up and steal Bundy's cattle.  The BLM's overreaching and militarized actions resulted in protestors and militias rallying to Bundy's defense, causing a tense standoff that ended when the feds backed down and returned some of the cattle they had seized.  Even other ranchers and farmers have rallied to Bundy's defense, in spite of or maybe because of, his refusal to pay the BLM's fees that everyone else has paid.

The Bundy Paradigm.  Those tempted to write off the standoff at the Bundy Ranch as little more than a show of force by militia-minded citizens would do well to reconsider their easy dismissal of this brewing rebellion.  This goes far beyond concerns about grazing rights or the tension between the state and the federal government.  Few conflicts are ever black and white, and the Bundy situation, with its abundance of gray areas, is no exception.  Yet the question is not whether Cliven Bundy and his supporters are domestic terrorists, as Harry Reid claims, or patriots, or something in between.

BLM Eyes 90,000 Acres of Texas Land.  After the recent Bundy Ranch episode by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Texans are becoming more concerned about the BLM's focus on 90,000 acres along a 116 mile stretch of the Texas/Oklahoma boundary.  The BLM is reviewing the possible federal takeover and ownership of privately-held lands which have been deeded property for generations of Texas landowners.

Cliven Bundy and The Rural Way.  Mr. Bundy knows that the bullies of the BLM would much rather send a SWAT team after him than after 50 illegal aliens being smuggled by a gun-toting cartel across the southwestern desert.

Uncivil Disobedience.  For the sake of argument, [The Weekly Standard] is willing to concede that it is possible that Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher, ought to be allowed to graze his cattle on federal land in Nye County.  And that protecting the desert tortoise as an endangered species on that same federal land is no good reason to impose a fee for grazing livestock.  Reasonable people can disagree about these issues, and will do so.  But in the United States of America, since 1789, we have had ways of settling these disputes.

Why is US Senator Harry Reid so concerned with a local Nevada rancher?  This was a dispute between a Nevada ranching family with rights to the land in question for 140 years and the BLM (Bureayu [sic] of Land Management).  The government claims they haven't paid grazing fees for 20 years.  The result was a government assault on the ranch — including snipers with assault rifles, SUV's, helicopters, airplanes and over 200 heavily armed troops.  No matter whether you come down on the side of the government or the ranch family, I think all of us can agree this was excessive force.

PETA Hits BLM Over Mass Cattle Grave.  The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is criticizing the Bureau of Land Management for apparently euthanizing an unknown number of cattle at the Bundy Ranch. [...] The Bundy Ranch Facebook Page, run by Cliven Bundy's daughter Bailey Bundy Logue, posted photos on Saturday night of a mass grave of their livestock found in a large hole in the ground on the land where the BLM was impounding Bundy's cattle.

BLM Confirms It Killed Six Of Bundy's Cattle.  The Bureau of Land Management is confirming it killed six cattle as part of its standoff against the Bundy Ranch in Bunkersville, NV.  "A total of six cattle died or were euthanized," a BLM official told Breitbart News.  The official listed the dead livestock cataloged by the BLM explaining, "The Bundy branded bull that was euthanized posed a significant threat to employees during the gather.  The Bundy branded cow ran into a fence panel injuring its spine and was euthanized.

The Increasing Desperation of Democrats.  Harry Reid isn't backing down from his claim that rancher Cliven Bundy's supporters are "domestic terrorists."  It's astonishing rhetoric given the White House's characterization of the mass shooting by a genuine terrorist, Major Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 Americans at the Fort Hood Army base after yelling "Allahu Akbar!" (God is great.)  Rather than labeling Hasan's actions "domestic terrorism," the Obama administration is prosecuting him for having committed "workplace violence."

Did someone mention Fort Hood?

Western lawmakers strategize on taking control of federal lands.  Officials from nine Western states met in Salt Lake City on Friday [4/18/2014] to discuss taking control of federal lands within their borders on the heels of a standoff between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management.  The lawmakers and county commissioners discussed ways to wresting oil-, timber- and mineral-rich lands away from the feds.  Utah House Speaker Becky Lockhart said it was in the works before this month's standoff.

Western lawmakers gather in Utah to talk federal land takeover.  It's time for Western states to take control of federal lands within their borders, lawmakers and county commissioners from Western states said at Utah's Capitol on Friday.  More than 50 political leaders from nine states convened for the first time to talk about their joint goal:  wresting control of oil-, timber- and mineral-rich lands away from the feds.

Lessons Learned and Lessons Missed from the Attempted Land Grab.  The recent standoff at the Bundy ranch in Nevada has taught us many lessons, but the most important one was missed.  We learned that the government will do anything to private citizens in order to grab land and private property either under the guise of protecting an "endangered" desert tortoise that is actually overpopulated, or getting rid of "feral" and destructive "trespassing cattle" grazing the land for generations, cattle that are in the way of developing a $5 billion Chinese solar panel plant (ENN), and the exploitation of rare earth elements in the larger adjacent area.

What made Nevada rancher fight the feds?  When the Bureau of Land Management retreated from a standoff with Cliven Bundy, a few hundred people traveled to his Nevada ranch to protest what they see as an overreach of the federal government.  One protester from neighboring Utah, Stephen L. Dean, 45, called the Bureau of Land Management's actions "tyranny in government."  And a banner at the protest site blared:  "Has the West been won?  Or has the fight just begun!"

Harry Reid Doubles Down on Bundy Ranch: 'If They're Patriots, We're in Big Trouble'.  Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) objected to Reid's description of the events in Bunkersville, Nevada, last week at Bundy's ranch.  Heller told What's Your Point? Hosts Jeff Gillan and Amy Tarkanian, "What Senator Reid may call domestic terrorists, I call patriots.  We have a very different view on this."  Reid responded, "These people think they're patriots, and they're not.  If they're patriots, we're in big trouble."

Reid Stands by Bundy Remarks: They're 'Domestic Violent Terrorist Wannabes'.  Senator Harry Reid came under fire for saying Thursday that supporters of Cliven Bundy are "domestic terrorists," and in a TV appearance today he doubled down.  He appeared on local Nevada program What's Your Point? with Dean Heller, Nevada's other senator, and stood by his remarks, calling Bundy's supporters "domestic violent terrorist wannabes."  Reid said that Bundy "doesn't believe that the American government is valid" and doesn't follow the law, bringing up how hundreds of people showed up armed to defend Bundy to argue that they're basically engaging in an act of domestic terrorism.

Senator urges hearing on Bundy ranch dispute.  Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) on Friday called for a Senate hearing into the dispute between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over cattle grazing.  Heller described as "patriots" the people who came armed to Bundy's ranch after the BLM began to seize his cattle for refusing to pay grazing fees and fines that now total more than $1 million.  Heller debated the ranch standoff on a Nevada television station with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has called the armed Bundy supporters "domestic terrorists."

The Bundy Ranch Standoff and Attitudes Toward the State.  This story really caught fire with lots of deeply emotional people on both sides of a rough "state vs. citizens" rift in American consciousness. This is even though the specifics of the story don't resonate with that many people's lives — few of us are ranchers or have armed government agencies literally stealing the instruments of our livelihood. [...] The specifics of the case also create many annoying ambiguities for libertarians, especially those who pay fealty to the "rule of law" over a kind of screw-you anarchism. A huge show of force against citizens attempting to peacefully protest seems like it could be overkill even if you think in general, the law has gotta be enforced.

The United States of SWAT?  Regardless of how people feel about Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's standoff with the federal Bureau of Land Management over his cattle's grazing rights, a lot of Americans were surprised to see TV images of an armed-to-the-teeth paramilitary wing of the BLM deployed around Bundy's ranch.  They shouldn't have been.  Dozens of federal agencies now have Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to further an expanding definition of their missions.  It's not controversial that the Secret Service and the Bureau of Prisons have them.  But what about the Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service?  All of these have their own SWAT units and are part of a worrying trend towards the militarization of federal agencies — not to mention local police forces.

The Cancer, The Militia, And Cliven Bundy.  It has become painfully obvious that the most apt metaphor describing our bloated and out-of-control government is that of an aggressive cancer.  It started out small, but it inevitably, irresistibly began corrupting the body that created and sustains it.  It is arguably in an end phase, a final burst of destructive energy, where it threatens to destroy the host entirely and itself in the process.

Obama's Goals Become Clear with his Militarized Government.  Instead of putting a lien on the property of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, the Bureau of Land Management surrounded his ranch with 200 armed agents.  It's not the only agency with a private army.  Back in 2008, candidate Barack Obama slipped a little-noticed line in a speech, proposing a national police force reporting straight to him.  "We cannot continue to rely only on our military," he said.  "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

The Real Reason for the Bundy Ranch Takeover Attempt: Solyndra on a Massive Scale.  Supposedly at issue was the desert tortoise, a reptile on the endangered species list that purportedly could not coexist on the land with Bundy's cattle.  But why, many asked, would the turtle suddenly be threatened by animals it had cohabited with for the 100-plus years the Bundy ranch has been in operation?  A BLM document unearthed last week discusses mitigation strategies for the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone, just southwest of the Bundy ranch.

Inside the Bundy Ranch and the Fight Against Government Overreach.  Cliven Bundy's ranch, recently the site of a tense stand-off that started over two weeks ago between the federal government and the Bundy family, had morphed into a good old-fashioned family picnic complete with live country music, hamburgers, and hotdogs Friday [4/18/2014].  A week after the Bureau of Land Management's armed force left Bunkerville, Bundy and his supporters continue to make the family's case relating to Bundy's right to graze his cattle on public land his family has been on for many years.

Federal Land as a Percentage of Total State Land Area.  People should own this land.

Harry Reid calls dissident Nevada ranchers 'domestic terrorists'.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that a family of dissident ranchers and their supporters in his home state of Nevada are 'domestic terrorists,' citing this week's standoff with the federal government's Bureau of Land Management.  Cliven Bundy has refused to pay grazing fees for land where his hundreds of cattle roam every day.  The land is owned by the federal government, which says he owes more than $1 million.  Bundy, however, insists that since his family has been using the land since the 1870s, Uncle Sam can't collect the grazing fees.

Reid: Bundy Supporters Are "Domestic Terrorists".  The government says Bundy owes more than a million dollars in grazing fees and fines stemming from a 20-year dispute over trespass cattle.  After obtaining court orders and beginning a roundup of cattle more than a week ago, BLM backed down, called off the roundup, and returned the cattle, after armed supporters of Bundy converged on the area.

Keep it up, Senator.  You're energizing the right wing voters.
'Patriot Party' gathers at Bundy's Nevada ranch, Reid deems them 'domestic terrorists'.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called supporters of rancher Cliven Bundy "domestic terrorists" Thursday, turning up the rhetorical heat on the already tense situation at the Nevada cattle operation.  "Those people who hold themselves out to be patriots are not.  They're nothing more than domestic terrorists," Mr. Reid in remarks at a luncheon, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which sponsored the event.  "... I repeat:  What went on up there was domestic terrorism."

The Folly Of The Bundy Ranch Rebellion.  It's the stuff of Westerns: a showdown on the desert plains, the big bad government against an underdog farmer.  Though the story has only grabbed national headlines in the past several days, rancher Cliven Bundy has illegally grazed cattle on the Nevada land surrounding his farm for over 20 years.  He hasn't paid grazing fees since 1993, and refuses to renew the necessary grazing permit.  Things came to a head this past week, when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) seized almost 400 cattle belonging to Bundy.  In response, angry protesters formed an armed rebellion, opposing BLM federal workers.

Bundy and 'Civil Disobedience'.  It had been years since I read Civil Disobedience and I was surpised by how Cliven Bundy's words echoed many of the theses in the essay.  Legal experts overwhelmingly agree that Bundy has no case — that his pronouncements about the land not belonging to the federal government and him not having to pay grazing fees have no basis in the law.  But how about a moral basis for Bundy's stand?

Soros and the Bundy Ranch.  A Soros-funded nonprofit New Yorker magazine called "one of the most important radical environmental groups in the country" has issued a statement denouncing the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) decision to back away from a showdown with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and hundreds of supporters.  A scientist for The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) blasted BLM saying the federal agency "has a sacred duty to manage our public lands in the public interest... instead it is allowing a freeloading rancher and armed thugs to seize hundreds of thousands of acres of the people's land as their own fiefdom."

Bundy Supporter Compares Rancher to Rosa Parks, Likens Feds to Nazi Soldiers.  An ex-Arizona sheriff and supporter of Cliven Bundy spoke out to defend the Nevada rancher in a radio interview this week, flagged by Right Wing Watch, and he compared Bundy to Rosa Parks while decrying federal authorities for exhibiting Nazi-like tactics by saying they're just following orders.  Richard Mack told radio host Steve Deace that Bundy took a stand against the government "trying to make sure other peasants don't rise up with their pitchforks" and said this moment is exactly like "Rosa Parks refusing to get to the back of the bus."

Opposing viewpoint from the New York Times:
Deadbeat on the Range.  Imagine a vendor on the National Mall, selling burgers and dogs, who hasn't paid his rent in 20 years.  He refuses to recognize his landlord, the National Park Service, as a legitimate authority.  Every court has ruled against him, and fines have piled up.  What's more, the effluents from his food cart are having a detrimental effect on the spring grass in the capital.  Would an armed posse come to his defense, aiming their guns at the park police?  Would the lawbreaker get prime airtime on Fox News, breathless updates in the Drudge Report, a sympathetic ear from Tea Party Republicans?  No, of course not.

Obama administration's 'Culture of intimidation' seen in Nevada ranch standoff.  Sending scores of armed agents along with helicopters and dogs to confront an elderly Nevada rancher over grazing fees may seem like overkill, but critics say it's not inconsistent with the federal government's recent approach to environmental enforcement.  The simmering truce between the Bundys and the Bureau of Land Management comes after high-profile raids last year by armed federal agents on small-time gold miners in tiny Chicken, Alaska, and guitar makers at the Gibson Guitar facilities in Tennessee.

Did someone mention Gibson Guitar?

Facebook removes my post about Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.  I realized I had landed in the Facebook gulag when I tried to post our daily Bible verse.  However, I was unable to post anything because Facebook had taken great offense to something I had written.  "We removed something your page posted," Facebook told me in a rather unpleasant message.  "We removed the post below because it doesn't follow the Facebook Community Standards."  Now before you call up the preacher and put me on the church prayer list — let me assure the posting was neither unseemly nor ungentlemanly.  Nevertheless, it caused great consternation and angst among Facebook's left-wing censors.

Feds accused of leaving trail of wreckage after Nevada ranch standoff.  The federal agency that backed down over the weekend in a tense standoff with a Nevada rancher is being accused of leaving a trail of wreckage behind.  Fox News toured the damage — allegedly caused by the Bureau of Land Management — which included holes in water tanks and destroyed water lines and fences.  According to family friends, the bureau's hired "cowboys" also killed two prize bulls.  "They had total control of this land for one week, and look at the destruction they did in one week," said Corey Houston, friend of rancher Cliven Bundy and his family.  "So why would you trust somebody like that?  And how does that show that they're a better steward?"

Fight federal abuse of property rights by making the government obey its own rules.  Cliven Bundy marched into my life one Friday morning in January 1992 in a protest bound for a federal courthouse in Las Vegas.  He held up one side of a street-width banner that asked, "Has the West been won or has the fight just begun?"  To my great relief, just as Bundy promised, nearly 200 ranchers from all over the state marched behind him, yelling "Property rights!"  Nearly a mile later, the marchers fell silent and filed into the courtroom where Wayne Hage of Pine Creek Ranch faced arraignment for the felony of cleaning brush out of his ditches without a U.S. Forest Service permit.  The Forest Service had already confiscated Hage's cattle and left him bankrupt, just as the Bureau of Land Management would try with Bundy 22 years later.

The War on Federal Bureaucrats Opens at Bundy Ranch.  Rebellion typically starts after a period of lassitude and hopelessness in the face of overwhelming power.  Populations spend years, even decades muttering under their breath about abuses of power, but feel ineffectual to enact real reform.  Then one bright day, a fruit stand merchant, or a cattle rancher — to name two recent examples — makes a stand.  And the reaction is immediate and powerful, with outraged citizen rallying around the cause.  The central power then either lacks sufficient will or sufficient strength to accomplish their goal.  Usually, the idea of resistance is so foreign to their conception of reality that it's difficult for them to even contemplate the grievances on the other side.

After Nevada ranch stand-off, emboldened militias ask: where next?  Flat on his belly in a sniper position, wearing a baseball cap and a flak jacket, a protester aimed his semi-automatic rifle from the edge of an overpass and waited as a crowd below stood its ground against U.S. federal agents in the Nevada desert.  He was part of a 1,000-strong coalition of armed militia-men, cowboys on horseback, gun rights activists and others who rallied to Cliven Bundy's Bunkerville ranch, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, in a stand-off with about a dozen agents from the federal Bureau of Land Management.

Republican presidential hopefuls steer clear of Nevada ranch fight.  GOP presidential hopefuls are largely steering clear of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's fight with the federal government.  The showdown, which left armed militia members and feds staring each other down last week, has captivated talk radio and cable news shows, turning Bundy into a conservative cause célèbre.  Yet Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential candidate, are the only big-name Republicans to have spoken out on the dispute so far.

Inside the Bundy Ranch standoff: The stakes go far beyond cattle.  It was a tense standoff in rural Nevada with armed protesters closing I-15 for a while and facing off against even more heavily-armed federal agents.  For now, that volatile Bundy Ranch confrontation has been defused. But it's not over by any means.  And we may well experience others that do not pause in non-violence.

Sen. Reid on Cattle Battle: "It's not over".  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hasn't been very vocal about the cattle battle showdown in recent days, but says "it's not over."

Answers to Seven Questions About the Nevada Rancher Situation.  Government officials retreated Saturday from federal property in Gold Butte, Nev., leaving behind some 389 "trespass cattle" that had been impounded as the result of a decades-long dispute between a local rancher and the U.S. government.  But while the story has managed to capture the attention of thousands of Americans, it has also managed to confuse thousands more. Indeed, from questions regarding property rights to whether a Democratic senator was involved in the cattle roundup, many have been left wondering what it's all about and searching for the facts.

Nevada rancher: "I did not graze my cattle on United States property".  [Scroll down]  What Bundy's saying, I think, is that he simply doesn't recognize the concept of "federal land," at least in Nevada.  It was the people of the territory of Nevada, he says, who passed the enabling act that made public land there the property of the United States.  But that was just a formality to make sure that the land was organized under a single government before statehood.  Once Congress formally approved Nevada as a state, the property implicitly reverted to the new state of Nevada, and unless/until the state declares that public land there belongs to the U.S., it's Nevada property as far as Bundy's concerned.

I Went To The Bundy Ranch Protest This Week-end and Liked What I Saw.  First off, is Cliven Bundy a deadbeat crank?  No.  Is he a hero?  No.  He's just a man who decided that he didn't want to lose his ranch when the government arbitrarily changed the rules in order to deliberately destroy his business.

Harry Reid: The Desert Fox Of Corruption.  The standoff in the Nevada desert wasn't about a desert tortoise or a rancher's failure to pay grazing fees.  It was about the state's senior senator again enriching himself and his family at public expense.

Exclusive: Sources Inside BLM and Police Say Feds Planning A Raid On Bundy Home.  As reported yesterday, hundreds of federal agents are still at the Bundy Ranch and the area continues its status as a no-fly zone.  Despite major media reports that the Nevada Bureau of Land Management is retreating, the remaining activity that still surrounds the ranch illustrates a different scenario.

Beyond Clive Bundy: The Real Range War and Why We're Losing.  You've undoubtedly heard the story by now of how the Bureau of Land Management attempted to evict Clive Bundy and his cows from the family's centennial ranch (two second argument:  tortoise trumps cows; because we said so).  And now they've backed down, with an agreement that results in the slaughter of Bundy's cows, for which he will receive half the proceeds.  That's, at least theoretically, a win for the good guys.  Now, here's the rest of the story: [...]

The Problem with Cliven Bundy.  Sympathetic as I am to his plight — and quietly thrilled, too, by anyone standing up to the state's endless overreach — I fear that Bundy's champions are rather mixing up their issues.  There is a veritable mountain of ugly, dangerous, and indulgent law in this country — so much, indeed, that anyone seeking seriously to diminish it will need a lawnmower rather than a paring knife.  And, as we learned at Waco, where Leviathan goes, trouble will inexorably follow.

Safety concerns led to Nevada cow release, federal land managers say.  Federal land managers say "escalating tensions" led them to release all 400 or so head of cattle rounded up on public land in southern Nevada from a rancher who has refused to recognize their authority.

The Editor says...
In other words, the feds showed up and found themselves outnumbered; and with TV cameras all around, realized the optics weren't suitable for an election year in which the heavy-handed (IRS, NSA, Obamacare) big-government liberals are already in trouble.

Now Harry Reid's son says Cliven Bundy 'should be prosecuted'.  Rory Reid, the son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, echoed his father's comments on the battle between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, saying the latter "should be prosecuted."  The younger Reid, a lawyer and Democratic politician who failed to win the Nevada governorship in 2010, made the remarks during a Monday interview on an NBC political talk show aired in Las Vegas.

The Rule of the Lawless.  Millions upon millions upon millions of people have crossed our borders illegally and continue to reside within them.  Cliven Bundy's cattle are treated as trespassers, and federal agents have been dispatched to rectify that trespass; at the same time, millions of illegal aliens present within our borders are treated as an inevitability that must be accommodated.  In practice, our national borders are a joke, but the borders of that arid haven upon which ambles the merry Mojave desert tortoise are sacrosanct.

Feds play waiting game at Nevada ranch.  Federal officials appear to be waiting out Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his supporters.  Two days after a dispute over grazing rights, cattle and $1 million in fees and fines threatened to spin into a Wild West shootout, officials with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) promised they weren't finished with Bundy.  "The BLM will continue to work to resolve the matter administratively and judicially," BLM Director Neil Kornze said in a statement that followed the bureau's decision to release nearly 400 head of Bundy's cattle that had been seized as part of a fight over grazing fees.  Spokesman Craig Leff declined to be more specific.

Why You Should Be Sympathetic Toward Cliven Bundy.  First, it must be admitted that legally, Bundy doesn't have a leg to stand on.  The Bureau of Land Management has been charging him grazing fees since the early 1990s, which he has refused to pay.  Further, BLM has issued orders limiting the area on which Bundy's cows can graze and the number that can graze, and Bundy has ignored those directives.  As a result, BLM has sued Bundy twice in federal court, and won both cases.  In the second, more recent action, Bundy's defense is that the federal government doesn't own the land in question and therefore has no authority to regulate grazing.  That simply isn't right; the land, like most of Nevada, is federally owned.  Bundy is representing himself, of necessity: no lawyer could make that argument.  That being the case, why does Bundy deserve our sympathy?

Frame' BLM's Neil Kornze in a poster before BLM returns to Bundy Ranch.  The high-handed, armed sniper-backed Bureau of Land Management, which retreated from Cliven Bundy's Nevada ranch on Saturday, will be back.  BLM will be back because they never go away.  Their harassment campaigns against hard-working land owners and ranchers goes back more than 20 years.  For 20 long years, BLM members have worked non-stop at what boils down to trying to frame Rancher Cliven Bundy.

Nevada ranch standoff could leave dirt on Harry Reid's reputation.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said little as federal agents seized and then released cattle last week from the Bundy ranch, but there is little doubt that the highly charged episode was threatening to become a political headache for the Nevada Democrat.  The Bureau of Land Management is headed by former longtime Reid aide Neil Kornze, who was confirmed by the Senate as BLM director on Tuesday, just as federal authorities descended on the cattle ranch outside Mesquite, Nev.

Nevada rancher standoff turns on a states' rights debate.  Bureau of Land Management spokesman Craig Leff said the agency would continue to try to resolve the matter involving rancher Cliven Bundy "administratively and judicially."  Bundy owes more than $1 million in grazing fees, according to the bureau.  "The door isn't closed.  We'll figure out how to move forward with this," he said Sunday [4/13/2014].  He declined to comment on possible options.

The Bundy Ranch Saga Proved the American People are Fed Up.  The Bundy Ranch Saga has crystallized the mood of the American people.  Cliven Bundy, in a dispute with the Federal government, managed to call enough attention to his plight to mobilize hundreds of Americans to stand with him as he nullified federal law.  Through organized networks of regular Americans and largely through social media, and without traditional news media calling attention to Bundy's side of the complaint, the Federal government found out in a hurry that heavy-handed tactics against the American people will not work.

Cliven Bundy to sheriffs: 'Disarm' the Bureau of Land Management.  Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy said Monday that his standoff with the feds isn't just about cattle: It's about an "overpowering" bureaucracy in the U.S. that needs to be disarmed.  "I only want to talk to one person in each county across the United States, and here's what I want to say:  County sheriffs, disarm U.S. bureaucracy. County sheriffs, disarm U.S. bureaucrats," Bundy said on Glenn Beck's radio show on TheBlaze on Monday.

Reviving The Constitution Part 3: Federal "Property".  Rancher Cliven Bundy's cattle made use of open land claimed by the federal government.  Neither of those things is much out of the ordinary.  Western ranchers have long pastured their animals on "open range."  More, as the feds claim 84% of the land in the state of Nevada, there aren't many options for such a rancher.  But in this case, there were covetous eyes on that pasturage:  a group of Chinese investors who sought to turn it into a solar energy farm.  For them to get their way, Bundy and his cattle had to go.

What's really behind the federal government's militaristic takeover of private land?  A Chinese solar farm that fries birds is OK, as is redrawing tortoise habitat boundaries to benefit political donors.  But an American rancher grazing his cattle brings feds with sniper rifles.  It appears Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy has, at least temporarily, wonhis "range war" with the paramilitary wing of the Bureau of Land Management.  Fearing another Waco, BLM has announced it will no longer enforce a court order and stop stealing Bundy's cows, called "trespass cattle" by the feds, accused of grazing free on part of the 84% of Nevada that is federal property.

The Siege of the Bundy Ranch Reaches into the White House.  In the end, there is only one reason why the Bundy ranch was besieged.

Governor Sandoval: Send in the Guard.  The fact that this situation could have been pulled from the script of the 1974 movie Chinatown or any of the Godfather movies is well known and must be exposed, but not before immediate action is taken to assure the preservation of life and liberty.  The current critical nature of the crisis cannot be understated.  In alleged response to a 20-year-old battle over "illegal cattle grazing," along with a more recent claim related to ostensibly protecting the allegedly endangered desert tortoise, the federal Bureau of Land Management has been dispatched to the Bundy ranch.  Do not be fooled by the innocuous sounding name of this federal agency, however, as the deployment now consists of some 200 heavily armed federal troops, transported by military troop carriers and equipped with sniper rifles and other military armaments.  It is an army by any other name.

Last Man Standing.  A two-decades-old battle between a Nevada rancher and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has resulted in officials armed with machine guns surrounding the ranch and forcibly removing the owner's cattle, according to the rancher's family.  Cliven Bundy, the last rancher in Clark County, Nev., has been fighting a "one-man range war" since 1993, when he decided to take a stand against the agency, refusing to pay fees for the right to graze on a ranch run by his family for centuries.  After years of court battles, the BLM secured a federal court order to have Bundy's "trespass cattle" forcibly removed with heavy artillery, the family said.

Bundy Ranch, the Federal Government, and the Nevada Water Tipping Point.  Many Americans have been watching with great consternation the ongoing struggle between the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Marshals against Cliven Bundy and his family.  There are no signs of either side relinquishing its position.  Many onlookers have been informed that this dispute is over protecting the desert tortoise.  But it is nothing of the sort.  In fact, the reality of the dispute goes far underneath what is being talked about.  The more appropriate source of the dispute is ground water as well as surface water — this is a war over water.

Keywords: Branch Davidians, Ruby Ridge, Elian Gonzales, Tiananmen Square.
Why The Feds Chickened Out On A Nevada Ranch:  As the nation began to become familiar with the plight of the family of Cliven Bundy, many of us harkened back to another standoff in which the Federal government attempted to bully it's [sic] outcome:  Waco, Texas and the Branch Davidian massacre.  It is telling that in the Nevada case the feds pulled out so quickly, given all they had indicated they were willing to do to resolve the matter to their satisfaction.  They had set up a perimeter around the Bundy's family land, ranch, and home.  They had brought in extra artillery, dogs, and snipers.  They were beginning the process of stealing more than 300 head of cattle that did not belong to them.

Media-Suppressed Nevada Case History Shines Truth on Government Ranch invaders.  There is mainstream media-suppressed case history in Nevada the feds are desperately trying to keep under wraps.  Chief Judge Robert C. Jones of the Federal District Court of Nevada smacked down high-handed, abusive feds, sending the pretend cowboys riding roughshod over Western ranchers and property owners back to their cobweb-laced offices in 2013.  In spite of their 200 armed snipers with boy toys in tow, those Stetson-wearing feds hunkering down on Cliven Bundy's Ranch are nothing more than a bunch of cowardly 'cobweb cowboys' doing duty for radical environmentalists.  In the upheaval of Bureau of Land Management bureaucrats caving in fear to the radical environmentalists of the day, the Rule of Law still works in court, and everyone of those feds brandishing weapons knows it down at heart.

Nevada officials blast feds over treatment of cattle rancher Cliven Bundy.  Two of Nevada's top elected leaders are riding to the rescue of a rancher whose decades-long range war with the federal government has reached a boiling point in recent days.  The federal Bureau of Land Management has surrounded the Clark County ranch of Cliven Bundy with armed officers, helicopters and four-wheel drive vehicles.  Last week, they began seizing cattle found grazing on adjacent federal lands in violation of a law meant to protect an endangered desert tortoise.

The Editor says...
Oh, now I see what this is all about.  The tortoise wasn't mentioned in any of the news coverage I saw, which by the way was all on Fox News Channel.

Bureau of Land Management Hiding Behind Toothless Tortoise.  A June 1990 study, called The Desert Tortoise in Relation to Cattle Grazing by Vernon Bostick formerly posted to the University of Arizona website (and still found through Google) should prove once and for all the incredible stupidity of the bumbling bureaucrats with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  The BLM's self-proclaimed 'Save the Tortoise' balderdash is killing off both the tortoise and cows.

We the People Converging on Nevada force BLM into Retreat.  With their 200 snipers, helicopters, SUVs, snarling dogs and tasers, the fast-talking, high-handed BLM has retreated from the arena.  There are some who would say outright that the BLM cut and run, hightailing it off of Cliven Bundy's ranch, and some would be right.  One thing to set the dogs on protesters and taser one or two when your government bosses are backing you up.  Quite another when hundreds of folk are driving from hours away to be there for a harassed rancher and his family.

Nevada Cattle Rancher Wins 'Range War' With Feds.  Cliven Bundy went head to head with the Bureau of Land Management over the removal of hundreds of his cattle from federal land, where the government said they were grazing illegally. Bundy claims his herd of roughly 900 cattle have grazed on the land along the riverbed near Bunkerville, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, since 1870 and threatened a "range war" against the BLM on the Bundy Ranch website after one of his sons was arrested while protesting the removal of the cattle. "I have no contract with the United States government," Bundy said. "I was paying grazing fees for management and that's what BLM was supposed to be, land managers and they were managing my ranch out of business, so I refused to pay."

Victory for Nevada's last rancher!.  Hundreds of heavily armed militia members celebrated their victory over federal law enforcement officers on Saturday after they secured the release of Cliven Bundy's captured cattle. In an embarrassing climbdown, the Bureau of Land Management retreated from its high profile standoff with Bundy and his rag-tag bunch of anti-federalists after the BLM attempted to forcibly capture nearly 1,000 of his cattle. The militia member showed up at corrals outside Mesquite to demand the animals' return to rancher Cliven Bundy.

BLM ends roundup of Bundy cattle.  A deal has been reached between the Bundy family and the Bureau of Land Management over the cattle that the agency rounded up earlier this week.  After some tense moments Saturday afternoon, the BLM agreed to release the confiscated animals back to the family.  The BLM announced it would stop the roundup of cattle owned by rancher Cliven Bundy Saturday morning.  The BLM says the animals have been illegally grazing on public lands for 20 years and has spent the past week gathering the cattle from land near Gold Butte.

BLM ends Bundy cattle roundup, citing safety issues.  The gathering of rancher Cliven Bundy's cattle in northeast Clark County has been stopped by the director of the Bureau of Land Management.  The BLM announcement came as Bundy was supposed to meet with Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie about the week-long dispute.  There was no confirmation of a deal between Bundy and the BLM that may have also involved the sheriff.

Armed cowboys lay siege to federal agents to get 'stolen' cattle back.  The Bundy family says they've owned the 600,000 acres since 1870 but the Bureau of Land Management says they are illegally grazing.  The dispute began in 1993 when land was reclassified as to federal property to protect a rare desert tortoise, the government claimed.