The Bureau of Land Management is in the process of seizing 1,000 cattle from rancher Cliven Bundy as a 20-year feud between the two parties finally came to a head this year. The seizure has brought in "militiamen" from out of the area who are protesting at what they see as excessive government interference. The government is taking the cattle and selling them at auction in Utah, which prompted the ire of Utah's politicians.
Since the roundups began, protesters have been confined to two areas to publicly declare their grievances, but the peaceful protests in recent days "have crossed into illegal activity, including blocking vehicles associated with the (roundup), impeding cattle movement, and making direct and overt threats to government employees," the two federal agencies said in a statement.
On Wednesday, a bureau truck driven by a civilian employee assisting in the roundup "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," the agencies' statement said.
The dispute came in 1993 when the feds changed the rules about grazing to protect an endangered desert tortoise. Bundy, of course, is up in arms.
"My forefathers have been up and down the Virgin Valley ever since 1877. All these rights I claim have been created through pre-emptive rights and beneficial use of the forage and the water. I have been here longer. My rights are before the BLM even existed," Bundy told the station.
"With all these rangers and all this force that is out here, they are only after one man right now. They are after Cliven Bundy. Whether they want to incarcerate me or whether they want to shoot me in the back, they are after me. But that is not all that is at stake here. Your liberty and freedom is at stake," he continued.
And Bundy sees it as a state issue.
"The federal government has seized Nevada's sovereignty ... they have seized Nevada's laws and our public land. We have no access to our public land and that is only a little bit of it," he said.
Nevada politicians and cattle groups called for restraint.
"No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists," Governor Brian Sandoval said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Nevada Cattlemen's Association also said it was concerned how the Bundy cattle confiscation evolved.
One thing that brought the matter to a head was that environmental groups, including the
Center for Biological Diversity, had threatened to file a lawsuit against the BLM.
"The federal government has been caving in to Cliven Bundy for years at the sacrifice of lands that are not only being destroyed for the tortoise but also for all the people of the United States who own it," said Rob Mrowka, a senior scientist with the center.
Utah politicians say that the way that this is being handled is putting Utah cattle at risk.
In a joint statement, Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee joined Reps. Rob Bishop, Jason Chaffetz and Chris Stewart in urging BLM director Neil Kornze to keep the cattle out of Utah.
“We strongly support Gov. (Gary) Herbert and echo his concerns expressed in his April 2 letter," the statement said. "Going forward with the plan to transport the Nevada cattle to Utah may endanger the health of Utah herds and place Utah state employees and other Utah residents in danger.”
The lawmakers argued that putting Utah's cattle industry at risk, "particularly when there are alternatives available for selling the animals in Nevada, would be imprudent and careless."
Infowars has been aggressive in covering this issue.
One protestor was violently thrown to the ground and arrested; he had injuries to the head and neck.
The BLM claimed Tyler and Spencer Schillig were trespassing as they walked near a federal holding pen where some of the cattle that the federal agency has seized from Bundy were being held.
Spencer Schillig told Infowars reporter David Knight that his intention was not to interfere with but to protest the federal operation. He obeyed orders to stop but was quickly thrown to the ground and handcuffed, sustaining injuries to his head and neck.
“No warning at all, and I was not being aggressive physically in any way,” said Schillig, adding that he was detained for 2 hours before being charged with interfering with an agency function and disorderly conduct and violent behavio
The Oath Keepers are involved in this; legislators from all over the western US came to show support as well. This precipitated some arguments between the Oath Keepers and the legislators over tactics; the legislators appealed for calm, which didn't sit well as evidenced by this exchange.
But not everyone is welcoming the militia movement members with open arms. One local commissioner is quoted by Infowars as having some choice words for them.
Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins has caused outrage by remarking that Utahns planning to travel to Nevada to support Cliven Bundy in his standoff against the feds “better have funeral plans”.
The comments were revealed by Darin Bushman, a Piute County, Utah, commissioner after he spoke with Collins about Utah ranchers and his colleagues on the County Commission complaining about tactics used by Bureau of Land Management agents during their seizure of Bundy’s cattle in southern Nevada.
“I was just told by commissioner Collins of Clark County NV that all of us folks from Utah are a bunch of “inbred bastards” and if we are coming to Clark County NV to support Cliven Bundy we all “better have funeral plans”. We should “turn our asses around on mind our own f-ing business”. Now there’s some classy leadership for you,” wrote Bushman on his official Facebook page.
“I’m trying to do everything I can to discourage anybody who tells me they’re coming here with loaded guns,” Collins said. “I’m going to tell them not to come,” adding, “The Bundys want peace, they don’t want any violence going on so all these gun-packing folks just need to go home.”
In another posting,
Kurt Nimmo says that the Enclave Clause forbids the government from doing what they are doing.
It is the BLM, not Cliven Bundy, who is in violation of the law and the Constitution, specifically Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution.
The clause, known as the Enclave Clause, authorizes Congress to purchase, own and control land in a state under specific and limited conditions, namely “for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings,” and not, as the feds now insist, to protect an endangered tortoise.
During the federal convention debates in September, 1787, Elbridge Gerry, who later went on to serve as vice president under James Madison, contended federal purchase of land “might be made use of to enslave any particular State by buying up its territory, and that the strongholds proposed would be a means of awing the State into an undue obedience.”
This is the oldest debate in the book, between the narrow interpretation favored by Nimmo and the broad, expansive interpretation favored by many others. Ever since the turn of the 20th century, Congress and the President have construed the "needful buildings" phrase to allow for the purchase of lands for the purpose of nature conservation, given that there is a compelling public interest for that.