Right-Wing
Militia Members Are Rallying Behind A Cattle Rancher In Nevada
11
April 2014
Self-styled
militia members and ultra-conservatives rallied on Friday to the
cause of a defiant rancher accused by the U.S. government of
illegally grazing his cattle for decades on public lands in the
southern Nevada desert.
The
showdown between rancher Cliven Bundy and U.S. land managers has
brought a team of armed federal rangers to Nevada to seize his 1,000
head of cattle in an unusual roundup that has become a flashpoint for
anti-government groups, right-wing politicians and gun-rights
activists.
Bob
Diehl, head of a group calling itself the Southern Nevada Militia,
based in Mesquite, Nevada, estimated that as many as 1,500 supporters
turned out Friday to protest the government seizure of Bundy's
livestock from 600,000 acres of federal range and park lands that he
has claimed as his own property.
The
dispute has tapped into long-simmering anger in Nevada and other big
Western states rooted in the fact that vast tracts of their land are
owned and governed by federal agencies, much of it by the Interior
Department's Bureau of Land Management, or BLM.
"Many
of us are here for the same reason. It's not about cattle, it's not
about land, it's about bringing the constitution back to the people,"
Diehl said.
Diehl
said many who believe the federal government has overreached its
authority by intervening in states' rights in such areas as guns,
land use and marriage laws have come to see the Bundy Ranch and the
forced roundup as "the last stand for American independence."
The
dispute between Bundy and federal land managers began in 1993 when he
stopped paying fees of about $1.35 per cow-calf pair to graze public
lands that are also home to imperiled animals such as the Mojave
Desert tortoise. The BLM also claims Bundy has ignored cancellation
of his grazing leases and defied federal court orders to remove his
cattle.
Bundy
has said in legal documents that his right to graze the land predates
the government's management of it, that he was "a citizen of
Nevada and not a citizen of the territory of the United States,"
and that the BLM failed to produce proof it had jurisdiction over the
lands.
His
wife, Carol Bundy, said in an interview with Reuters on Monday that
it was "a freedom issue that we're really fighting here."
Amy
Lueders, head of the Nevada BLM office, said the cattle seizure was a
last resort to address a rancher who "owes the American people
in excess of $1 million" in back fees, penalties and other
costs.
"Mr.
Bundy is breaking the law and he has been breaking the law for the
last 20 years," she told reporters during a telephone news
conference on Friday.
In
legal documents seeking court approval for the seizure, U.S.
attorneys said Bundy described the grazing allotment as "his
property," referred to his disagreement with the BLM as a "range
war" and testified during a legal deposition that he would "do
whatever it takes," including physically resisting, to prevent
seizure of his cattle.
While
Bundy's plight has stirred support among conservative lawmakers in
Nevada and neighboring states such as Arizona, an organization that
monitors extremist groups said the issue is about theft, not
ideology.
"He
owes the American people $1 million, and he's telling us he's
defending the Constitution? He's not defending anything for us,"
said Mark Potok, senior fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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