WND EXCLUSIVE
SHERIFF: FEDS STRATEGIZE FOR 'RAID' ON RANCH
Warning follows threat from Harry Reid that grazing dispute 'not over'
The
executive director of the Constitutional
Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association says
his sources inside the federal government warn that Washington’s
weekend retreat in a dispute over grazing land in Nevada was only a
move to distract attention and diffuse tensions, because a raid on
the family’s ranch still is planned.
And
there probably would be violence involved, said Richard Mack, the
former sheriff of Graham County, Ariz.
“I
don’t think it would be possible” to launch a raid without
violence, he told WND Monday. “I don’t think the Bundys would lie
down and be taken.”
He
cited the vow by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., that the confrontation was
far from over, despite the weekend’s retreat by armed gunmen
working for federal agencies.
Reid
on Monday told KRNV-TV in Reno: “It’s not over. We can’t have
an American people that violate the law and then just walk away from
it. So it’s not over.”
Cliven
Bundy, who ranches in Clark County, and members of his extended
family have grazed cattle on land there for more than a century. He
stopped paying federal grazing fees years ago, contending his
operation existed before the federal government was there.
But
the standoff reached a boiling point one week ago as hundreds of
federal agents and allies surrounded Bundy’s ranch and were faced
with citizen resistance, both armed and unarmed.
The
Associated Press said the U.S. Bureau of Land Management decided over
the weekend to stop rounding up Bundy’s cattle and release animals
agents already had seized.
BLM
chief Neil Kornze said in a statement: “Based on information about
conditions on the ground and in consultation with law enforcement, we
have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather because of our
serious concerns about the safety of employees and members of the
public.”
Mack,
a longtime sheriff, told WND that Reid’s statements are beyond the
pale.
“That
kind of stupidity, where he puts federal regulations and policies of
bureaucrats ahead of a family in his state that has done no wrong or
committed a crime,” Mack said.
He
charged that it is Reid who is destroying his own state’s ranching
industry as well as the U.S. Constitution. The sheriff chided the
senator for making statements about abiding by laws.
“Isn’t
that amazing? The biggest crook in Washington,” Mack said.
On
the issue of a raid, he said: “That’s what we have heard. It’s
not confirmed. People we had on the inside told us the BLM still is
considering raiding the Bundy ranch. We’re going to keep in touch
with them, protect them, pray for them.”
Mack
said his organization is part of an effort to save America.
“Yes,
America is in deep, deep trouble. The good news is that there is
hope,” Mack said. “We do not have to stand by and watch while
America is destroyed from within. If our counties, cities, and states
and all local officers keep their oaths to protect us from tyranny,
we can win this battle to take our country back.”
As
WND reported,
an estimated 200 armed officers of the BLM had been deployed to
Bundy’s property in Bunkerville, Nev., 80 miles northeast of Las
Vegas, charging the rancher has been in violation of a law that aims
to protect an endangered desert tortoise. The BLM also said Bundy
owes more than $1 million in grazing fees to the federal government.
But
Bundy found support from the governor and other prominent political
leaders along with a host of protesters from other states, including
fellow cattle ranchers and private armed militias.
A
Montana militia member, Jim Lardy, told KLAS-TV in Las Vegas his
group, Operation Mutual Aid, was prepared to “provide armed
response.”
He
said he was not afraid to shoot, if necessary.
“They
have guns. We need guns to protect ourselves from the tyrannical
government,” Lardy said.
Other
militia members were joining him, he said: “There is many more
coming.”
Nevada’s
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval said the federal government’s
tactics allowed the tensions to nearly erupt in armed violence.
“No
cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists
nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all
Nevadans,” Sandoval said. “The BLM needs to reconsider its
approach to this matter and act accordingly.”
Cliven
Bundy’s son, Ammon Bundy, told
WND earlier that
federal authorities had not been merely relocating the cattle but
were engaged in actions that killed some animals.
“They
are flying helicopters over the herd to chase them,” Ammon Bundy
said. “It was over 90 degrees here today, and the cattle can’t
run very far in this heat before collapsing. This is especially true
for the young calves. We have a lot of them being born because it is
springtime, and they don’t have the strength to keep up with their
mothers when they are running. The cattle then becomeoverheated
and die.”
Cliven
Bundy is the last rancher operating in Clark County, where he’s
been grazing his cattle on a 600,000-acre portion of land managed by
the BLM called Gold Butte. His family, whose ties to the land go back
to the 1880s, has been engaged in a dispute since 1993 with the
Bureau of Land Management over long-established cattle-grazing
rights.
After
years of wrangling in the courts, BLM last week secured a federal
court order declaring Bundy’s herd to be “trespass cattle” and
began removing the animals.
Ammon
Bundy said he was with a group of about 50 people “peacefully
protesting the removal of the cattle” when “suddenly, 14 units
with Rangers came off the mountain – 13 of them were armed ranger
vehicles with two rangers per unit.”
He
said the protesters went over to see what was in a dump truck,
“because we were afraid this might have been a rendering vehicle,
and we wanted to know what was in the back of the truck.”
See
video of the confrontation with Ammon Bundy and protesters:
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