It’s a place with problems that normally would not raise an eyebrow, but it is a story with national consequences. Rancher Cliven Bundy has been grazing his cattle on property his family has had since the 1870s. But in 1993 the Bureau of Land Management put in place new rules to protect the endangered Desert tortoise. Now Bundy has to pay grazing rights on land formally used for free. His refusal has led to an armed government showdown complete with snipers. The BLM has seized his livestock, harassed family members and suspended the First Amendment right of Free Speech on an area of his property.
Dozens of supporters have arrived at his ranch in open defiance of the federal government’s actions and in support of Bundy’s rights as a property owner. Bundy has said, “My forefathers have been up and down the Virgin Valley ever since 1877. All these rights I claim have been created through preemptive rights and beneficial use of the forage and water. I have been here longer. My rights are before the BLM even existed,”
When pro-Bundy supporters have approached the armed encampment of BLM agents, snipers have targeted the individuals and they have been arrested. Many people feel that the BLM is acting in a very heavy handed manner and the crowd has been vocal. One supporter recited a poem in which he stated that, “Our guns are cocked and our ropes have 12 coil knots.” The 12 coil knot is also known as the hangman’s noose. The fear amongst law enforcement is that this situation could develop into an armed standoff similar to the Ruby Ridge incident of 1993. At Ruby Ridge, government agents shot and killed the wife and son of Randy Weaver, causing a national firestorm that resulted in an increase of militia groups and anti-government sentiment. Most recently, BLM agents assaulted a cancer victim, set a dog on a pregnant woman and tasered a relative of Bundy.
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