Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Weekend Contributor
It appears that the militia groups who arrived in Nevada to support Cliven Bundy with his standoff against the Bureau of Land Management have become a cause of concern for some residents, workers, and businesses in the area surrounding Bunkerville.
Horsford talks Bunkerville militia presence with Rachel Maddow
KLAS-TV/News NOW (Las Vegas) reported on April 29th that hotels in Mesquite had suffered financial losses of more than $100,000 due to concerns about armed militia groups patrolling in the area. News NOW learned that Mesquite police were investigating death threats made to hotel workers following a bomb threat earlier in April.
Evidently, the threats multiplied as armed militia groups continued to pour into the area surrounding Cliven Bundy’s ranch. One city leader in Mesquite said that “the entire Holiday Inn Express was evacuated for hours following a bomb threat related to the Bundy saga…” News NOW obtained a police report which showed that the Holiday Inn Express had received at least nine threatening telephone calls after the hotel allowed BLM rangers to stay there. Hotel workers were told to kick out the BLM or they “would not be standing in the morning.” One hotel worker, who refused to go on camera, claimed that he was told by an anonymous militia member that he would be “dragged out in the parking lot and shot”.
“We are not a playground for armed militias,” Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., said during a meeting with area leaders about the militia. Horsford said that he had been contacted by residents of his district who were concerned about the armed militia groups from out of state who were still present in their area. Horsford was told by residents that militia groups had set up checkpoints where residents must prove they live in the area before they are allowed to pass…” He was also told that they had set up a “persistent presence” along federal highways, and state and county roads.
Rep. Horsford wrote a letter to the Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie asking him “to look into complaints that militiamen had been present in Bunkerville-area schools and churches and had set up armed checkpoints on state, federal and county roads, seeking proof of residency from motorists.” Horsford said in his letter, “We must respect individual constitutional liberties, but residents of and visitors to Clark County should not be expected to live under the persistent watch of an armed militia. Residents have expressed their desire to see these groups leave their community.” Horsford added that his constituents were being forced to “‘live under the persistent watch of an armed militia,’ that answers to no particular authority other than its own, and is accountable to no one.” He urged the sheriff “to work with local leaders to ensure that their concerns are addressed in a manner that allows the community to move forward without incident.”
Note: A News NOW crew that was in Bunkerville last Tuesday said it did not find any roadblocks in the area “with militia members checking on people trying to pass.”
The StarTribune reported that Bundy’s neighbors and local authorities have grown weary of the Nevada rancher’s unresolved dispute with the BLM. Bundy has denied that any militia members had set up checkpoints on public property. A group of militia members, however, was reported to have stopped a neighboring rancher who was trucking cattle to Arizona. Bundy said the milita members were just helping his son. “They wanted to ensure that Bundy cattle weren’t being rustled.”
Militias’ Ongoing Presence in Nevada Creates Fear and Friction
Cliven Bundy’s Home on the Range (A Mark Fiore Video)
SOURCES
Concerns growing about militia members at Bundy ranch (KLAS-TV)
Businesses lose thousands in Bundy ordeal (KLAS-TV)
Congressman: Bundy Militia Has Set Up Road ‘Checkpoints’ In Nevada (Talking Points Memo)
Bundy Ranch ‘Militia’ Considered Using Women As Human Shield (Talking Points Memo)
Businesses lose thousands in Bundy ordeal (KLAS-TV/News NOW)
Neighbors grow weary of ‘militia’ remaining with Nevada cattle rancher in federal land dispute (StarTribune)
Nevada Congressman Seeks Probe Of Armed Militia Operations At Cliven Bundy Ranch (Reuters/Huffington Post)
Sheriff urged to clamp down on armed militiamen around Bundy ranch (Las Vegas Sun)
Bundy’s ”Militia” Is Lawlessness of a Different Color (Truth-Out)
Ongoing Militia Presence Raises Fears Among Locals Near Bundy Ranch (Southern Poverty Law Center)
NV lawmaker presses sheriff to probe Bundy militiamen (FOX 5/KVVU-TV)
Nevada lawmaker: Cliven Bundy supporters are setting up ‘checkpoints’ against residents (Raw Story)
The Dark Side Of Cliven Bundy’s Conservative Media-Approved Militia (Media Matters)
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The google 505 error tech guys.
Annie: in the phrase “trained monkeys were indeed dispatched”, who is the trainer”? Share please
Ah, yes. I see the team of trained monkeys were indeed dispatched, see my 12:13 AM comment.
Stanley: Why is it that one man needs all that fire power behind him and he wants to confiscate ours. Better still, he is well protected but his men in Benghazi couldn’t get protection when requested and was under fire. He needs his protection and we don’t?. Just think of all the millions he wastes on his many trips and vacations. He could be a little more conservative (oops did I say a bad word) about his spending habits and partying. How many vacations do you take a year or send your family on. This country would not be so upset if the arrogant faux Pres practiced what he preaches.. Gotta hand it to him, now he can get his weed legally.
Got you Schulte, I have noticed that I agree with you more than all the rest, and Darren Smith comes up with a balanced approach to things sometimes. He seems a bit level headed too, Thank God this country needs some who can see both sides. Hang in there, this is about as liberal as you can get and trying to make these educated idiots see more than their liberal side is darn near impossible. No wonder Washington is as polarized as it is now and this is why this country is in the mess it is in. It is a shame they seem so concerned without first taking a good look at things from more than one perspective. We are all human but the west is a hell of a lot different than that crowd on the east coast, so is the South and until you have been there witnessed it and lived it, you cannot be one’s judge. A good critic places himself in the same situation before he makes his judgement, Stay with it, America needs a few more like you who at least give these tunnel visioned, self righteous judges of human nature a different point of view. Enjoyed the feedback.
Now have four comments eaten by the spam monster.
Darren – my response to my response to you about being eaten by the spam monster was eaten by the spam monster.
Darren – my response to you was eaten by the spam monster.
Oh yes, I was in Ohio when Kent State happened, those killings did not need to happen, The trouble began when people who were not students started
the ruckus. Sad times. Over zealous young National Guardsmen fired upon students. Yes, I would not have liked having bricks and sacks of shi_ slung at me but they should have been better trained.
Re: the Black Panthers, once again, the racist was those with the black bands on their arms, No one was safe driving in the city in certain areas, especially if one was of a diff. color. Ever had a brick thrown at your car, or people trying to break into your car when you were stopped at a light. Until you have been there it is best to keep mum about what you don’t really know about. What you read already has a slant on it.
Banning guns has had no real effect in Chicago and there are more people killed there than in any other city. When Chicago can show me that banning guns works, then I may believe it, in the meantime, not living in a city and being faced in my own yard by coyotes, poisonous snakes, cute little honey bears and other wild animals, I would prefer to be armed. I really feel safer here than in any city I have ever lived in.
Believe me, I do not fear my neighbors whom you so educated people think are ignorant or retards. REALLY? You would be surprised how many of us are college educated, not so ignorant as your would believe. For those who think we are such, why don’t you return to your country of origin and come back with a diff attitude. Not many countries offers you what this country does. Ranchers tend to their own business and protect that which is theirs as the law is not just around the corner and a person’s safety is 9 out of 10 dependent on themselves. For years they have protected that which is theirs. When as now, the Govt. does not respect the laws and tries to swindle or land grab or lie about how the state of the union is, the people then fear their own Govt which is out of touch with the common man. I am happy having neighbors all around me who own guns, We have far less percentage of killings out here where everyone owns at least one gun than in the city with all the gangs, thugs, people who come here from other lands who have no regard for our laws and continue living as if they still live in a lawless country. THE CITIES ARE GUN FREE ZONES ONLY FOR THOSE WHO ARE DUMB ENOUGH TO GIVE THEM UP. THUGS AND CRIMINALS DON’T REGISTER THEIR GUNS, THEY STEAL THEM OR BUY THEM ILLEGALLY AND ONLY GIVE THEM UP WHEN THEY ARE SHOT OR CAUGHT BY THE LAW.
We keep ourselves safe and for those of us who need help it is the neighbors that help, not the govt. You take our guns, you take our protection and few are as militant as the arrogant, blatant loudmouthed, militant paid protesters of this government. However, when someone is being taken advantage of, those of the same feather, ranchers, farmers, truckers, and others who necessarily have to work to live help each other. It is sad when a person keeps educating himself on the written word just to have the extra letters behind their name, but fails to use his head to think for himself or look to his heart to balance it with. For God’s sake try to understand your fellow man and not be his judge just because he is different from you and does not have a silver tongue.
For educated people I have heard more BS from this uninformed opinionated group than in all of my lifetime. Half of you have no clue what WWII was like and unless you were there should reserve your remarks until you have ferreted out the true happenings of that horrible war. The loss of life was horrendous and the torture our boys suffered was excruciating as well as the massive gassing and destruction of the Jewish by the Nazis. As I said, he who thinks he is wise is the foolish one. If we didn’t learn anything from that war, it is that you can never be sure that the ruler of the other country means what he says and that like Russia, will not attempt a land grab on his neighbor.
Also, This country should be able to defend itself against a government that is so full of people from other lands that our system means nothing to them and the Govt is run at present by a liberal muslim who has no respect for this country. Proof is in his trying to destroy our constitution, take our guns from us, spend millions while telling us to give him more to spend, destroyed our health system, managed a complete coverup by lying about Benghazi, succeeded in splitting this country with his racist innuendos, refuses to create a budget and stay within it: He has driven our debt up from 5.6 trillion in 2000 to 17+ trillion in 2013, refuses to enforce the laws, writes his own laws, enforces (as if he has line item veto to laws already on the books) and has refused to control the borders: He prints money as if it is his printing press to use at will and has used his Pen and Paper in times when he legally had no right to do so. Our arrogant narcissistic imitation of a human leader who conned himself into the highest position in the land, has done one thing well, Lie, Lie, Lie!!!! Hired leftist activist and to sum it up, has done everything possible to destroy a wonderful country. Every facet of this government is all about lying to the people and it is time the Congress got to the bottom of all the misdeeds of this straw boss and his drones and their misdeeds.
You put down a simple rancher ( a buffoon you call him) who probably is naive about the laws but has cared for and lived on the same ranch for decades. His neighbors had to sell out as the they were forced out by the BLM. Now he is faced down by a militia. This is the US not Russia or any country that has no rights. (Although the Straw Pres. is trying to take away our freedom at every turn. Better still, go out to Colorado and Utah and check out all the land grabs that is happening there. I could go on and on but you are all liberals or educated wannabees that would rather hide behind the written word than stand for the little man and what is morally right A man who has worked by the sweat of his brow, something few of your would ever know what that meant. A man who worked and I mean WORKED all his life to make a living and take care of what he owned. Now the Govt and Harry Reid are trying to strip that from him. I would be pissed too. Yes, he is of the old school and in a feeble attempt to make people understand the difference in when he was young and today and he made the fatal mistake of referring to slaves. Well, in effect they are not slaves to land owners today but to the government who keeps them. In fact, we are all dependents of this government that has been pushing to have more sign up for welfare, also by this Pres to get everyone on the govt. payroll, either by healthcare, or joining the unions who control the people and contribute more monies to his cause.
He is destroying our freedoms and the liberals and minorities (immigrants, poor people from various cultures) are buying into all his BS. As one lady said when asked where she got the stimulus money, “It is Obama money” she replied. His highly educated followers who along with the do goobers who wanted to show they were trying to help put the first Black Pres in office. You call Bundy ignorant, Open your eyes as to the mentality of the people who like drones hang on to every lie he feeds them. See who really is racist and and see the real man and his vision for this country. One world order which is coming about as he was placed there to bring it about. In July HB2847 will drastically change the monetary system in this country and following that numerous land grabs are to take place as he is going to give this country several national parks which will require more land grabs. WHAT A WONDERFUL SYSTEM YOU ARE BACKING.
been there – there is an elitist crowd on here that champions the little guy in the abstract, but rarely as individuals. Their solution for almost all problems is more government. That is why liberals (as a group) give less money to charity than conservatives (as a group). They talk the talk, but they do not walk the walk.
Elaine,
I thought they did!! 🙂
Not to worry, the team of trained monkeys have been dispatched.
Chuck,
Howja do that?
I never saw a 500 Server Error with a scroll bar within a comment. Wow!
Rafflaw,
You mean facts matter?
😉
Golden,
Better check your facts. It was Cliven Bundy who was using land owned by the government without paying for it.
Darren,
In case anyone is wondering what you were referring to, they can take a look at what those SUVs with blacked out windows in the Presidential motorcade are carrying.
Executions are NOT listed as murder. They are officially noted on the death certificate as “homicide.” Not the same thing as murder. Homicide is death by human hand, and is far more encompassing than murder, which is homicide with criminal intent. Killing in self-defense is also logged as homicide, but not murder or manslaughter.
From two Latin root words. Homi (combining form of homō, i.e, man) and cīdium (to cause death).
Love the way the media is calling these american citizens militia and domestic terrorists and avoidng the real issue of the BLM seizing private property.
Golden Country – the BLM v state land has been an issue since I moved to the Southwest. But if you live in the East, you don’t understand where Bundy is coming from. I am not sure if he will win in the courts, I would say odds are against him, but I don’t think it has gotten to the Supreme Ct level yet.
Paul.
When someone attempts to kill another person, or commits an assault against the person likely to result in death to that person or another, deadly force is permitted. Deadly force, per law, is not measured as a person generally can use any means available to them to protect themselves from death. There is a factor in that the force used might have been hazardous to others, such as backdrops in shootings.
I believe the helicopter pilot used the means available to him which was the chain gun as Chuck describes.
Plus, one has to look at the shooter taking on a military helicopter. It’s a bit hard to argue he couldn’t have known what whas coming in shooting at it. 🙂
Another example, pulling a heavy weapon on the presidential motorcade, one cannot expect a secret service agent to pop out of the roof of a large SUV with a minigun rolling.
Darren – I am not sure if the armed helicopter vs. man is an urban legend. However, lets say that it isn’t for the sake of this discussion. There is something about not using the military against civilians, except in clearly defined circumstances. I think this became an issue at Waco, when they were trying to figure out where the tanks came from.
Now, I realize that we have police thinking that they can kill civilians with impunity, we see an article a week on that lately. But we have serial killing on Army bases because the soldiers are required to lock up their weapons. No one, except the shooter was armed. So how does a military helicopter, armed, get into a civilian area where it can be shot and then fire back? What is it doing in harm’s way, so to speak.
We do not arm our police with Gatling guns, yet. I know our sheriff likes buying surplus military equipment, like the tents for Tent City, and he now has a surplus tank that is used as a battering ram. However, the cannon is disabled as a weapon.
Darren – I am not so sure that the helicopter thing is not an urban legend. However, Chuck could be right and it is fact. We do know that cops like to take the overkill approach to handling suspects, as seen by the many threads we have had on the subject.
I don’t remember what year the Blackhawk incident happened, or which southwestern state. I had not had my internet very long at that time, so must have been very early on in internet time. I think it was a news item from an area newspaper. I would hardly call it murder. If anyone opens fire at me at close range with a long gun, they are dead and just don’t know it yet.
Chuck – we learned this week that state executions in several states are listed on the death certificate as murder.
I think you are allowed to use reasonable force, not a Gatling Gun against a rifle. It seems like overkill.