Feds On Rampage Against Rancher In Nevada. Is It More About Other Things Than A Tortoise?

It Was Bound to Happen… Violence Erupts in Bundy Ranch Standoff

For a week now, there has been a standoff between the Feds and Cliven Bundy, his family, and protestors in Nevada.

The dispute between Bundy and the federal government goes back to the early 1990s. The Feds claim Bundy has been illegally grazing his cattle on federal lands. The land became a designated protected area for the desert tortoise in 1998.

Bundy claims the federal government has no standing because this is a state issue. He also claims preemptive rights because his family has been ranching on the same land since the early 1800s, more than 100 years before the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was created.

“I have raised cattle on that land, which is public land for the people of Clark County, all my life. Why I raise cattle there and why I can raise cattle there is because I have preemptive rights,” he said, explaining that among them is the right to forage.

“Who is the trespasser here? Who is the trespasser on this land? Is the United States trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Or is it Cliven Bundy who is trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Who’s the trespasser?”

Last week the dispute finally reached a boiling point and the government sent armed federal agents to round up Bundy’s cattle, then auction them off. Realizing there could be protesters, the government set up designated “First Amendment areas” in which they could protest.

Of course, the idea that the First Amendment is limited to designated areas is ridiculous. Peaceful protesters have a right to protest anywhere they want.

The tension was high all week as reports came in that snipers had guns trained on unarmed members of the Bundy family.

And finally, it seems the conflict has reached a breaking point…

Reporting for BenSwann.com, Jay Syrmopoulos provides this update:

The standoff between a Nevada family and federal agents intensified Wednesday when a violent altercation occurred. As we have reported, hundreds of federal agents are rounding up cattle that have been reportedly “trespass grazing” on BLM land in Nevada. The owner of those cattle, Cliven Bundy says that hundreds of his cattle are being stolen from him. Bundy’s wife says snipers are surrounding the family’s ranch and watching their every move.

Wednesday, things intensified as family members and protesters saw a BLM convoy with dump trucks and backhoes. The family became suspicious that there may be dead cattle in the dump truck or that the feds were burying cattle after killing them during capture, so they stopped the convoy. The feds became combative and began to assault the protestors, throwing a 57-year-old woman who is a Bundy family member that is recovering from cancer to the ground. When another family member came to her aid he was tazed. A pregnant woman was also attacked by a K-9 during the altercation. The protestors stood their ground and refused to be intimidated. Finally, the BLM retreated when it became clear that the protestors were not going to stand down.

Every week it’s becoming more and more apparent that the country we live in now is completely upside down.

America has become a nation where the federal government runs roughshod over states… a nation where public servants act like privileged kings, queens, dukes, and duchesses… a nation where tortoises get better treatment than humans.

UPDATE 4/10/2014: Rusty Hill, a former Nevada land broker, has come forward to reveal what he believes is the true motive for confiscating Bundy’s cattle…

It is not about turtles, it is about water. There are developers working for military contractors that want that land and water for mining weapons grade minerals for industry… They want to sell the land by the highway for real estate development because it’s close to I-15 and the Bundy’s have been refusing to sell what they actually own directly for over 20 years. Many buyers sent me out there with crazy offers for that land for many years. It is prime real estate, not worthless desert. There is a natural gas pipeline going through there and lots of water underground too. Somebody connected to a military corporation is using political power and the BLM to muscle those people out.

Watch the video for more details…