Bundy Family Statement on Neglect Charges against Cliven Bundy

Bundy Family Statement on Neglect Charges against Cliven Bundy

 Last week, in the Clark County District Court, Danielle Beck filed a lawsuit against Cliven Bundy for “recklessly, carelessly and negligently allowing his cows to enter onto Interstate 15. Danielle reportedly ran into a distressed cow on I-15 the night of April 13th.

 As we learn more details of Danielle Beck and her accident we are grateful that she was not injured further. We are also thankful that she has returned to work and hope her life is back to normal. As for the charges against Cliven, they are ironic, humorous and come with questionable motives.

 On March 25th, The Bureau of Land Management along with at least 4 other federal agencies came onto the Bundy Range and set up a military like compound. On April 5th they locked down the range surrounded the ranch with sniper and heavily armed federally hired mercenaries. Placing armed militants and advanced surveillance equipment on ever entry point of the range. They verbally and physically threatened the community (especially the Bundy's) with their lives if they left the paved roads.

 The Bundy family and community members were gang beaten, captured and tortured, thrown to the pavement, tasered multiple times with dogs siced on them, all simply for expressing their first amendment rights in distaste for the excessive display of force by our federal government.

Margaret Houston body slammed by federal agent  

During this historical week we were unable to freely go on the range to check the cattle's whereabouts or their condition. The federal agencies were gathering the cattle by helicopter, shooting them by air, scattering them and separating the mother's from their calves (many calves and cattle were killed).

Our federal government mounting against the American people

Many cattle were killed and either left on the range or dropped in this mass grave

The Bundy cattle that lived were put in extreme distress and disorientation. It was not until April 12 (Saturday) after over a thousand protesters went up to the compound and forced the flight of the federal agencies and returned the captured cattle, that we could freely get on the range to check the damages and the remaining herd.

 It was the very next night that Danielle Beck hit one of the distressed cattle. By this time the surviving cattle had been scattered by air into areas they normally may not have gone, shot at, sore footed, many captured and held inhumanly. They were looking for their calves and looking for water.
 
So here is the irony, Cliven's life would have been taken by federal agents if he would have checked on the cattle, yet he is charged for neglect, carelessness and recklessness for not doing so. We do not have to point out who was reckless, careless and negligent?

 If Bob Apple, Danielle Beck's lawyer cared for his client more than just getting his name in the paper, he would go after the federal agencies who caused the cattle to be distressed enough to go through a state maintained fence and onto the freeway. Or, he would go after the State of Nevada who bears the responsibility in maintaining the freeway fences and gates.

 The humorous part is that both the State and the feds have more funds to pay out than some poor rancher driving a 13 year old beat up pick up, living in a 1200 square foot home (without air conditioning) a home that he has primarily lived in since he was 4 years old. But the lawyer knows Cliven cannot defend himself as well as the State and feds can, so who does he sue?

 We do not blame attorney Bob Apple for going after the easy prey, it is some lawyer's nature to do so. This whole incident is just another example of what happens when the federal government oversteps it's bounds and tries to meddle in matters that they do not have jurisdiction or authority over.

Sincerely,
The Bundy Family

Dan Love, subject of this article, was the Special Agent in Charge of the BLM in Bunkerville April 12th.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58394443-78/blm-love-utah-law.html.csp

Debate

This debate is a great opportunity to hear about the lands issues we are facing. The State of Utah vs the BLM, live from SUU in Cedar City UT. 6pm tonight, Sept 18th. Just click the link below to watch it live. If you can't make the live broadcast at least register then you will get a notice of where you can watch it later on.

Cliven Bundy Elko 9 11 14

Bundy says land not owned by Feds

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ELKO — Controversial figure Cliven Bundy said Thursday a transfer of public land from federal to state control was unnecessary, on grounds that Nevada already has a right to most of the land. Many local officials advocate for such a transfer, but Bundy said you can’t ask for something you already own.

 The Southern Nevada rancher was met by a welcoming crowd in Elko Thursday evening at a tea party-sponsored gathering. Attendees were told by organizers they would have the opportunity to hear his side of the story. Bundy gained notoriety during a rangeland dispute last spring and made national headlines. But he disputed owing more than $1 million in grazing fees, as reported. “I don’t run my cows on United States government land, I run my cows in the state of Nevada and Clark County,” he said. “And besides, if the federal government says I owe, why don’t they give me a bill? And why don’t they collect that bill?” In Bundy’s eyes, the U.S. Constitution prevents the federal government from having a legal claim to the majority of land in the state.

 More than 84 percent of land in Nevada is managed by the federal government. Bundy told attendees about how 100 federal officers, armed with guns and gear, first arrived to his ranch in April. He said officers abused his family during the first few days of the roundup, including an instance when his son was hit with a Taser gun, then hauled off in handcuffs for trying to take a photograph of captured cattle. Bundy’s talk was infused with religious overtones, such as crediting his “Heavenly Father” for helping him in the struggle.

According to The Associated Press, the government reduced grazing on the Bunkerville allotment to 150 cows due to concern over the welfare of the threatened desert tortoise. Bundy continued to run cattle on the range but stopped paying fees. About a year later, his permit was revoked. Bundy continued to graze, however, without paying grazing fees, and the BLM calculated a $1.1 million debt owned by the rancher.

Two federal judge rulings sided with the BLM, however, and the government organized a cattle gathering that began in early April. In addition to disagreeing with the BLM’s legal arguments and arguing that his family had grazed in the area since the 1870s, the rancher said the government’s decision to send armed agents for the roundup was an overreaction.

 Furthermore, “free speech zones” set up by the BLM incensed supporters, who considered it a form of censorship and a trampling of their First Amendment rights. Within days, people rallied to back the rancher, who had vowed to “do whatever it takes” to keep the BLM from gathering his cows, according to the AP. At Thursday’s event, Bundy disputed claims that militia pointed firearms at federal officers. Politicians began weighing in on the showdown between armed militia members and federal officers.

 Neil Kornze, BLM director and former Elko resident, called off the roundup on April 12, due to growing concerns for the safety of those involved. Impounded cattle were released. According to Bundy, “three old ladies,” not the BLM, unlatched the pen holding his cows. Many people who attended the event sympathized with Bundy’s sentiments. “I don’t support the military coming in,” Steve Dennin said before the event. Mike Katsonis agreed that military force was unnecessary, and said he would like to see a change in how the lands are managed. “We need to have the BLM lands taken out of federal hands and given to the states,” he said. John Viergutz compared the federal overreach to Soviet-era Russia. Janet Beeler said Bundy had been unjustly painted as a criminal.

 At least one attendee disagreed that Bundy was in the right, however. Tonya Garfield attended the event because she is studying agriculture, and said the Bundy dispute has led to lively debates in her classes. The daughter of a rancher, she’s concerned about the impact of Bundy’s actions for the rest of the state’s ranchers. “I think (Bundy) should have paid his grazing fees,” she said. “He’s giving all of us in agriculture and the Nevada cowboys a bad name.

Why are so many people in Utah concerned about the threat of a new national monument in the Greater Canyonlands area? This excellent piece from Fox News explores the controversy. The Public Lands Initiative being sponsored by Rep. Bishop and me allows stakeholders to give input and work together to reach consensus. This approach is much better than having a decision imposed on us by a president who has never been here.

Up Front

Bravado from Bunkerville. By C.J. Hadley Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy is not exactly a poster child for public rela- tions or the politically correct, but he is a man with a large family and his livelihood is under assault. Should he give up more than a century of history and good management and go away, allegedly for a desert tortoise—like 50 other ranchers in Clark County did—or does he fight for his right to stay on land his family has worked since the 1870s? Things were unfolding in Bunkerville, Nev., last April when we were shipping our Summer issue. Swarms of people descended on the Bundy Ranch to support this embattled rancher after heavily armed agents of the feder- al government tased one of his sons. The Bureau of Land Management says that Bundy owes a million dollars and that’s an easy sound bite, but that “debt” depends on the way you look at it. (See page 37.) Thanks to a reporter from the New York Times, Cliven Bundy put his foot in his mouth and lost a lot of support when he made com- ments that were considered by the intelli- gentsia to be racist. He definitely wandered too far off the ranch reservation but was making a point that the way the country works is much like slavery, with huge reliance on the federal government. No self-respect. No indepen- dence. No liberty. Bundy had a point, but stat- ed it badly. Nevada Sen. Harry Reid was so angry when his BLM boys were forced to back down to prevent bloodshed (BLM’s boss used to work for Harry) that he appeared on televi- sion in Las Vegas and put his foot in his mouth and equaled Bundy. Reid called the rancher’s supporters “violent domestic terrorists” and threatened, “It’s not over.” When two rabid white supremacists killed two cops and an innocent bystander in Las Vegas in May, the media instantly claimed they were Bundy supporters and said nothing about the fact that those twisted souls were removed from the Bundy Ranch by members of the militia who were protecting Bundy’s family. A couple of weeks after the BLM backed down, I received an email from Mark Dowie, who teaches at U.C. Berkeley and is a great writer. (See Summer 2006, “Enemies of Con- servation,” at www.rangemagazine.com.) Dowie had read a piece in Esquire, and asked, “You are not going to cover the Bundy story, are you?” Esquire’s writer, Caty Enders, admit- ted in her April 25 story that she was on the scene “for a few hours” and “it was dizzyingly hot.” Her story started: “Live from Bunkerville! Welfare negroes, the United Nations, sexually devious lawyers, Satan, a Chinese solar farm, microchips, secret-agent NPS, and more!” Caty got the Chinese thing right but should have stayed home in New Mexico because she ignored the real story. It isn’t hard to figure that this is a complex tale that’s been unwind- ing for a very long time. Maybe she should have considered that Bundy and his family have been tending this land for generations with very few days that could be called easy. Maybe she should have asked why so much pressure has been put on one old rancher to remove his cattle to save a tortoise that isn’t even endangered. Maybe she should have asked why 51 Clark County ranchers are gone and why Bundy is the last man standing. Award-winning journalist Vin Supryno- wicz, formerly with the Las Vegas Review-Jour- nal, covered the story for RANGE. Vin has known Bundy since the early ’90s, understands the land, customs and culture, and brought back an extraordinary report. He offers a broad view. The history. The facts. The pressures. The regulations put upon western ranchers and, with every new one, a lesser chance of survival in the western deserts. As we go to press, a July 8 Associated Press story claimed Sheriff Gillespie is blaming the BLM “for escalating the conflict and ignoring his advice to delay the roundup.” BLM spokes- woman Celia Boddington said it planned and conducted the roundup in “full coordination” with Gillespie and his office. “It is unfortunate that the sheriff is now attempting to rewrite the details of what occurred, including his claims that the BLM did not share accurate informa- tion,” she said. “The sheriff encouraged the operation and promised to stand shoulder to shoulder with us as we enforced two recent federal court orders. Sadly, he backed out of his commitment shortly before the operation— and after months of joint planning—leaving the BLM and the National Park Service to han- dle the crowd control that the sheriff previous- ly committed to handling.” Maybe it’s better that they are fighting each other rather than Cliven Bundy. But it won’t last because we know when Sen. Reid makes a threat, he doesn’t quit until he’s satisfied. ■ http://www.rangemagazine.com/features/fall-14/range-fa14-up_front.pdf