Nevada Rancher Prepares for Showdown with FEDS

[Silent_Bob]

http://therundownlive.com/nevada-rancher-prepares-for-showdown-with-feds/

Armed Rangers and several federal agencies have surrounded a 600,000-acre section of public land and are preparing to move against rancher Cliven Bundy whose cattle have been grazing illegally for the past 20 years.

Armed agents are forming a a military-like staging area to prevent anyone from approaching the area.

"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," Bundy said.

The Bureau of Land Management changed grazing rules for Gold Butte in 1993 to protect the endangered desert tortoise.

Bundy refused paying his fees and to comply with federal regulation.

Federal courts ordered him to stop letting his cattle roam throughout Gold Butte, and he has ignored the orders because he does not recognize federal authority over the land.

"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 water. I have been here longer. My rights are before the BLM even existed," Bundy said.

"The federal government has seized Nevada's sovereignty, Nevada's statehood. 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."

"I've fought this thing legally. I've fought it politically. I've fought it through the media. and I will fight it on the ground if I have to," Bundy said.

There are two fenced off areas where the public will be allowed to protest the roundup.

"This has become a police state, and this is an example of it right here," Bundy said.

"This is the freedom we have in America right now. You got to have your freedom inside that fence there," Bundy said.

[Jim Johnson]

Sorry pal, call back in fifty years when people are ready to help.

[KBCraig]

What's the likelihood of a tortoise getting stepped on by a cow?

[Silent_Bob]

Federal Snipers Train Guns on Family For Filming Cattle

http://www.prisonplanet.com/federal-snipers-train-guns-on-family-for-filming-cattle.html

Federal snipers with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) trained guns on members of a family yesterday after they dared to stop and take video footage of cattle outside the bounds of a designated "First Amendment Area," before arresting one of the men for non-compliance.

The cattle were being rounded up by BLM officers as part of a crackdown on Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who has refused to pay "grazing fees" demanded by the feds as a result of a re-classification of 600,000 acres of federal land in northeastern Clark County which Bundy claims has been in his family for generations.

Some fear the dispute could turn into a Ruby Ridge-style violent standoff because Bundy has said he is prepared to become a martyr for what he perceives as a constitutional stance against tyranny.

As we reported earlier, the feds have now started rounding up Bundy's cattle in the name of protecting a supposedly endangered species, the desert tortoise, forbidding Bundy from interfering or even entering the vast area. The case is quickly turning into another iconic battle between big government and a besieged family.

Fears that the confrontation may turn violent and concerns that Bundy is drawing increased support from liberty activists and the local community prompted the feds to tape off two ridiculous "First Amendment Areas," outside of which free speech in support of Bundy is banned. A sign placed inside the area reads "Welcome to Amerika – Wake Up" alongside a hammer and sickle logo.

When Bundy's family members violated that rule yesterday in an attempt to peacefully document the cattle roundup, they were met with a barrage of loudspeaker warnings and four BLM snipers with their guns trained on the dissenters.

"Several members of the family had gone out for a drive in several vehicles to try to monitor the ongoing federal action to remove their father's cattle from the range," reports the Moapa Valley Progress. "They were not travelling on recently restricted federal land, but were travelling along the state highway looking north across the valley for signs of cattle, Ryan Bundy said."

"He was doing nothing but standing there and filming the landscape," Bundy said of his brother Dave. "We were on the state highway, not even off of the right-of-way. Even if they want to call [the area that we were filming] federal land; which it's not; we weren't even on it. We were on the road."

None of the family members were armed, but as soon as Dave Bundy began filming the cattle in the distance, 11 BLM vehicles each with two agents arrived and surrounded him.

"They also had four snipers on the hill above us all trained on us. We were doing nothing besides filming the area," said Ryan Bundy.

The family were told to leave the area via loudspeaker because they had violated the crudely established "First Amendment Area".

"They said that we had no first amendment rights except for up by the bridge where they had established an area for that," Bundy said.

When Dave Bundy didn't immediately heed the warning and return to his vehicle, a dog was set on him and he was subsequently arrested.

"He was filming and talking on the phone, I don't know to whom," Ryan Bundy said. "It happened pretty fast. They came down on him hard and had a German Shepherd on him. And then they took him."

When Dave Bundy's father Cliven attempted to contact emergency response in both Mesquite and for Metro in an attempt to discover the whereabouts of his son, he was told to, "get off the phone or he would be arrested," according to Ryan Bundy.

Should the Bundy case escalate any further, what has up to this point remained a largely local news story threatens to explode into a national controversy – re-igniting resentment over big government and a federal bureaucracy increasingly trampling on the rights of the American people to be left alone.

[Tom Sawyer]

Just a minute... while I look through my constitution...

Yeah, can't find any mention of "First Amendment Area". Reminds me of the "Free Speech Zone" that Kat and Russell somehow missed.

[Free libertarian]

The State of NH Liquor commission tried to create a free speech zone in 2010 at one of its liquor stores when an unruly bunch of people showed up there for a protest.  We did the right thing and ignored it, while of course being courteous to the patrons who strongly supported our pot outreach.  Ahh...the good old days.   

[Silent_Bob]

"Red Dawn": Supporters Rally to Defend Family Facing Showdown With Feds

http://www.prisonplanet.com/red-dawn-supporters-rally-to-defend-family-facing-showdown-with-feds.html

Supporters of Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy violated a "First Amendment Area" by staging a rally in support of Bundy, who earlier declared a "range war" against federal authorities in response to a land dispute that threatens to escalate into a Waco-style standoff.

Bundy is currently embroiled in a spat with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over his long standing refusal to acknowledge a 1993 modification to grazing rights on land that Bundy asserts has been in his family since 1870. On Saturday, hundreds of federal officials, aided by helicopters, low flying aircraft and hired cowboys, began rounding up Bundy's cattle in northeastern Clark County.

The feds say the move is about enforcing the law and protecting the endangered desert tortoise, but the Bundy family says the spat represents a showdown between big government and American farmers.

"We've had enough, we're going to take our land back, we're done," said Bundy's wife, Carol Bundy, adding that the rally was held "to show that we are not standing alone. People are getting tired of the federal government having unlimited power."

More than 100 supporters violated a crudely taped off "First Amendment Area" to rally in support of the Bundy family, erecting two flagpoles with the words "We the People" attached, above a flag which read, "Liberty Freedom For God We Stand". The first amendment area stood empty, with one sign nearby declaring, "1st Amendment is not an area."

"I grew up on this ranch. This is what we knew," said Margaret Houston, Cliven Bundy's younger sister. "It's got nothing to do with the cattle and the tortoises. It's about taking our rights — power — and it's wrong."

"Right now it looks like the movie Red Dawn, said, Ryan Bundy. "Right now we've got 200 plus federal agents up there in a military compound that they have put together and they've got snipers....everybody's armed, and they've been monitoring our ranch with high-tech surveillance equipment....it was never about the grazing fees, it's about control."

Ranch manager Derrel Spencer warned that a "revolution" was brewing unless a solution could be found to settle the dispute.

As we reported yesterday in an article that has already garnered over 4300 comments, Bundy's son Dave Bundy was arrested on Sunday by BLM officials after refusing to follow a dispersal order as he filmed cattle from a state highway. According to Dave's brother Ryan Bundy, snipers had guns trained on them throughout the incident. Feds claimed Dave Bundy had violated the ludicrous "First Amendment Area," outside of which free speech is banned.

The Bundy family posted still images of snipers who trained guns on them in the video below.

After his son's arrest, Cliven Bundy posted a statement on his website which read, "They have my cattle and now they have one of my boys. Range War begins tomorrow."

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department asserts that the actions against Bundy are a "federal operation," while the Nevada Cattlemen's Association told ABC News, "This has gotten way out of hand," while refusing to become involved.

[Jim Johnson]

It's going to take far more than a hundred.

[Silent_Bob]

VIDEO - Nevada Citizens Intimidate Rangers Enough Forcing Them To Leave the Area!

http://youtu.be/jnpY-QaU5tY

The citizens come in large numbers to support Cliven Bundy and force the "authorities" to leave. What will happen next?

And I just realized something... Pay attention to what is happening. This is all to save the desert tortoise. All these armed men trampling the desert habitat with their boots, ATV's, 4WD's and helicopters. Where do these men relieve themselves? When did a reptiles life become more valuable than a mammals?

EPA - Egotistical Police Actions!

[Jim Johnson]

They'll be back.

It is standard procedure to fall back, regroup, formulate and respond.

[Russell Kanning]

I also think it is funny that these scientists think the desert tortoise has been surviving in the desert millions of years but can't survive a few people and cows.

[Free libertarian]

Isn't Nevada the site of many nuclear "tests" ?   Cows more dangerous than nukes?  It must be their horns.

[Tom Sawyer]

Becky was saying it is another Donald Scott situation... the feds want that land. It's between Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon.

[Russell Kanning]

Actually this is the river that starts in Zion and goes through that gorge after st George. But it is desirable for having some water.
The EPA used to hassle the military in the desert too over the tortoise.

[Silent_Bob]

Actually this is the river that starts in Zion and goes through that gorge after st George. But it is desirable for having some water.
The EPA used to hassle the military in the desert too over the tortoise.

Please to explain how the EPA can hassle the military?

The military(government) has some of the most polluted sites on the planet.