| Online: | |
| Visits: | |
| Stories: |
400+ Join Live Call To Organize Militia Support, Emphasize Nonviolence at Bundy Ranch in Nevada
| WTF News |
The standoff between federal Bureau of Land Management agents and residents of southeast Nevada over activity related to Cliven Bundy’s ranch has escalated into a situation similar to the Ruby Ridge tragedy. The armed response to protests has created a confrontational scene which eventually led to Bundy’s son being tased. Court rulings related to Bundy’s cattle grazing on federally controlled lands are the source of the tension. The dispute is the latest in a string of high profile events highlighting resistance to US federal bureaucracy.
Militia groups from various states have begun to rally support for the Nevada residents according to numerous sources, however no clear numbers could be verified.
CBS Las Vegas
Payne said that militias from New Hampshire, Texas and Florida are likely to join and stand with Bundy and stay at his ranch.
“They all tell me they are in the process of mobilizing as we speak,” Payne told the Review-Journal, adding that hundreds of militia members are expected.
Friday, a live conference call continued from Thursday ran overnight into Saturday morning which was hosted by a collection of militia groups, many former and current military members, some identified as Oathkeepers. The call was relatively disciplined due to a heavy presence of military backgrounds but it also included people of all types who wanted to help. Verifying good information was a priority for the call and the session remained productive. The open forum was largely moderated by Bryan “FreethePeople” Duszczak, who continuously stressed the need to remain calm and peaceful when arriving to Nevada as well as travelling safely while obeying state firearms laws. By Saturday morning, self described militia from Illinois, Colorado, Missouri, California, Washington and more had been represented. At one point, the owner of a civilian drone company even offered surveillance support to the group.
A nearby Indian nation has offered support to traveling militia and other support for the Bundy Ranch.
Resources to get involved yourself
Utilize the resources below to stay up to date on the Bundy Ranch situation.
559-726-1300
Access code: 276125
Facebook Event: AMERICAN ARMED Posse to SAVE FREEDOM and The Bundy Ranch; MILITIA; OPERATION; “BUNDY FREEDOM”
Bundy Ranch Resistance Transportation Facebook Group
Escalation of conflict
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Serious bloodshed was narrowly avoided earlier in the day, when a BLM ranger shot Ammon Bundy, a son of Cliven Bundy, with a stun gun during a heated confrontation a few miles from the ranch house.A YouTube video shows protesters and law enforcement officers yelling and threatening each other as trucks involved in the roundup attempt to drive through. The officers have stun guns drawn, and one is trying to push the crowd back with a barking dog on a leash.
Cheryl Teerlink, said Ammon Bundy was hit by a stun gun in his arm, chest and neck, but he shook off the first attempt to incapacitate him. “I pulled the tasers out of him,” Teerlink said.
Shortly before that, Cliven Bundy’s sister, Margaret Houston, was thrown to the ground by a BLM officer, Teerlink said.
The incident unfolded near the intersection of Gold Butte Road and state Route 170, where protesters gathered after they saw BLM vehicles coming down from the range.
The Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service released a statement confirming that one protester had been stunned. The agencies said the incident started when “a BLM truck driven by a non-law enforcement civilian employee assisting with gather operations was struck by a protester on an ATV, and the truck’s exit from the area was blocked by a group of individuals who gathered around the vehicle.”
According to the statement, peaceful protests have “crossed into illegal activity” in recent days, with people “blocking vehicles associated with the gather, impeding cattle movement, and making direct and overt threats to government employees.”
“These isolated actions that have jeopardized the safety of individuals have been responded to with appropriate law enforcement actions,” it said.
Federal law enforcement officers, also heavily armed, are providing tight security to contract cowboys from Utah who were hired by the government for almost $1 million to round up as many as 900 cattle that Bundy has left to roam on federal land despite not paying grazing fees for the past 20 years.
Two federal court orders issued within the past year called for the rancher’s livestock to be impounded from a vast swath of mountains and desert. That roundup began Saturday on almost 600,000 acres closed to the public during the operation.
As of Wednesday, 352 animals had been rounded up.
