Cliven Bundy

Cliven "Y'all Qaida" Bundy is a rancher from southeastern Nevada who was involved in a twenty-year-old legal dispute with the United States federal government over unpaid grazing fees of cattle on government-owned land which ultimately culminated in an armed standoff in March 2014. He became a hero to the lunatic fringe virtually overnight. But he subsequently began to mutter about how blacks were better off under slavery,"A Defiant Rancher Savors the Audience That Rallied to His Side""Rebellious Nevada rancher's slavery remarks dim Republican support" but by then he had already been lionized as a kindly old gentleman gallantly fighting back against 'the system', and that image stuck.Horsford, Steven, "Cliven Bundy and the dangers of fueling extremism", WaPo 7.18.14. Horsford: "At this point, Hannity and Co. washed their hands of the story. They had their anti-government victory, and now they needed to distance themselves from Bundy’s racism. Unfortunately, it was too late to truly pull the plug. The fringe had long since taken encouragement from all the supportive coverage."
Bundy believes that the U.S. government does not have a right to control the land on which he grazes his cows, arguing that:
Bundy has further argued that "he is a citizen of Nevada and not a citizen of a territory of the United States."United States of America vs. Cliven Bundy, 1998 The United States, and Nevada, beg to differ, as that's not how US laws work. Not even close.
The U.S. government states that it obtained the land where Bundy illegallyUnited States vs. Cliven Bundy,2012 grazes his cattle in 1848 as part of the "The public lands in Nevada are the property of the United States because the United States has held title to those public lands since 1848, when Mexico ceded the land to the US following the Mexican-American War (United States vs. Gardner, 107 F.3d at 1318, United States vs. Cliven Bundy, 1998).
Now watch the U.S. pussyfoot around these terrorists modern-day Minutemen fighting back against the tide of Obama's cultural Marxism.Williamson, Kevin D., "The Case for a Little Sedition", National Review 4.15.14. Williamson: "The law was against Mohandas Gandhi, too, when he was tried for sedition!" Meanwhile in Reality: if they were black leftists doing the same thing they would likely have been slaughtered by now.Richardson, Valerie, "Cliven Bundy Still Grazing His Cattle on Disputed Land", WaPo 12.29.14.
In February 2016 Bundy was arrested by the FBI, facing numerous felony charges over his past antics. However, these were dismissed on December 20, 2017, and later was upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on August 6th, 2020.https://www.npr.org/2020/08/06/899886777/federal-appeals-court-upholds-dismissal-of-cliven-bundy-case
==Background==
Bundy stopped paying his grazing lease in 1993. Since then, the Bureau of Land Management (BLMNo, not that one) has been trying to have Bundy remove his illegally-pastured cattle from federal land. This happened after the BLM initiated conservation efforts to try to protect the desert tortoise in designated areas, mostly by re-purchasing previous grazing permits. Bundy responded to this by ranging his cattle pretty much wherever he wanted on BLM-held land.
The area where Bundy is located is known for aggression against federal authorities, and the BLM tried to avoid an armed Waco- or Ruby Ridge-style standoff with Bundy.Everything you need to know about the long fight between Cliven Bundy and the federal government
==Militia movement supporters==
Some 1000 members of various right-wing militias from across the country came out in support of Bundy. Some of these were snipers positioned to shoot at federal authorities.SPLC report: Bundy ranch standoff was highly coordinated, reflecting threat of larger far-right militia movementAfter Nevada ranch stand-off, emboldened militias ask: where next? The courageous militiamen concocted a plan to place women in front of the snipers so they would be shot at first, to increase sympathy for their cause.Sheriff on strategy to put women at front lines
Operation Mutual Aid Militia, founded in 2014, provided over 150 armed militiamen for Bundy's defense.Operation Mutual Aid Militia TRAC
After the standoff ended in their favor, the militias declared victory and began using the event to aggressively recruit new members. One group, Arizona State Militia, claims to have received more than 100 new applicants in 72 hours.Meet The Militia Rushing To Cliven Bundy’s Defense
This did not necessarily mean he got away with it. In January 2016, his sons Ammo Ammon and Ryan, as well as some buddies, decided to escalate the wingnuttery by taking over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon (which they had no claim over) in protest of two other ranchers (Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven) getting arrested on charges of arson. They wanted the feds to give back all the land to the "people", never mind that the people already own the land.The Bundy Family’s Odd Mormon Connection, Explained by Jack Jenkins (Jan 4, 2016 3:03 pm) Think Progress. Cliven himself eventually flew up to Oregon to support his kids, but he was rather quickly arrested in a Portland airport by the FBI once they'd caught word.Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy arrested by FBI in Portland At this time of writing, he has been indicted by a federal grand jury on numerous felony charges, and has been denied bail.Cliven Bundy Indicted by Federal Grand Jury The standoff itself mostly ended not in a blaze of patriotic glory, but with an FBI blockade and most of the militia surrendering save Lavoy "Tarpman" Finicum, who waved a pistol at FBI agents and was thus shot to death.Ammon Bundy, other protesters arrested in Oregon; LaVoy Finicum killedReport: LaVoy Finicum, armed with a handgun, reached for his waistband just before he was shot
==Screwed-up politics==
The incident with Bundy has also revealed the utter fucked-upness of American race politics and policing. His supporters advocate for the open carry of firearms both at home and at the ranch that openly threatened federal agents and forced them to back off. After this incident, numerous African-American open-carry advocates began to demonstrate how differently they were treated while openly carrying firearms (even if they weren't threatening anyoneHere's What Happens When a Black Man Open Carries a GunVIDEO: The Difference Between a Black Man and a White Man Open Carrying An AR-15 Legally)—including a few videos showing officers drawing their weapons and ordering the advocates onto the ground while threatening to fire, rather than just having a polite, fucking decent conversation if an advocate who was white did the very same. To make matters worse, during the same news cycle multiple African-Americans (including the 12-year-old Tamir Rice) were shot and killed in public by police while carrying toy guns, all without having the chance to do so much as obey the cops' orders.Man Allegedly Shot Dead By Police In Wal-Mart For Carrying BB Gun He Picked Up In The Toy AisleCops release video of officer fatally shooting 12-year-old
==Stopped clock==
In a few stopped clock moments, however, Ammon Bundy has voiced his support for Black Lives Matter (not to be confused with the Bureau of Land Management, which he has a grudge against). Bundy also (surprisingly) criticized Donald Trump's Great Wall of America, as well as the historically-unpopular president's uncharitable views on immigrants.Cliven Bundy rebukes Trump over attack on migrants: 'We should have a heart' These statements make the Bundys one of the few right-leaning libertarians who despise "Big government" consistently, and with no hypocrisy.
==Ammon vs. St. Luke's==
In March 2022, temporarily removed a baby from his parents (and raised a custody case) after health authorities determined that the baby was severely malnourished, potentially signaling that the child had been mistreated."Far-right activist Ammon Bundy loses Idaho hospital defamation case, must pay millions" by Associated Press and Andrew Selsky, reprinted by News Channel 6, 2023 July 25 Unfortunately for the hospital, the grandfather of this baby was Diego Rodriguez, who was associated with Cliven's son Ammon Bundy. Ammon Bundy was infuriated by the news, and wrote online exaggerated bullshit about the situation, such as stating that the baby was "kidnapped", that the hospital was working with the Idaho government to take children from Christian families to be sexually abused by gay couples, and that the state was engaged in "child trafficking". Ammon Bundy and his followers then used similar scorched-earth tactics that Cliven used with the wildlife refuge in order to challenge the hospital and the child custody case: protests at multiple Boise Idaho locations (including encouraging protesters to swarm and protest in front of the private homes of police officers and judges), harassment, and doxxing of people involved in the custody case."Update: 10-month-old Meridian baby returned to his parents after persistent protests" by Ian Max Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, 2022 March 23"Ammon Bundy sued for defamation by Idaho hospital, which went into lockdown during protest" by The Associated Press, via the Oregonian, 2022 May 11"How far-right figures like Ammon Bundy cause chaos in US politics" by Sergio Olmos, Guardian, 2022 April 5 Due to a security threat from the protesters, St. Luke's went into lockdown for more than an hour on March 15 2022."St. Luke’s hospital system sues Bundy, Rodriguez, People’s Rights and others" by Audrey Dutton, Idaho Capital Sun, 2022 May 11
In response to the bullying, intimidation, and disruption, St. Luke's filed a lawsuit against Bundy, Rodriguez, and their organizations, accusing them of false statements, defamation, and trespassing. Predictably, Bundy and Rodriguez refused to respond to the lawsuit, ignored all court orders, and continued to make defamatory statements online."Ammon Bundy won’t respond to lawsuit, so St. Luke’s takes more legal action" by Audrey Dutton, Idaho Capital Sun, 2022 June 29 In late September 2022, this resulted in a contempt of court ruling."Bundy, Rodriguez fail to show up for court hearing — again — in St. Luke’s lawsuit" by Audrey Dutton, Idaho Capital Sun, 2022 September 6 
In July 2023, the verdict for the defamation trial was announced: a jury agreed with St. Luke's, and awarded the hospital damages exceeding $50 million. Bundy notably did not attend this trial nor hire a lawyer to represent him."Far-right activist Ammon Bundy loses Idaho hospital defamation case, must pay millions" by Andrew selsky, AP News, 2023 July 27
Bundy continue to defy the courts; in fact, after the verdict, he started moving assets around in an attempt to evade paying any fines from the lawsuit (shenanigans that resulted in an injunction from the court)."Ammon Bundy, others blocked from moving assets" by Kyle Pfannenstiel, Idaho Capital Sun, 2023 September 12 In November 2023, the Idaho courts finally had enough of Ammon's bullshit and issued an arrest warrant after he yet again failed to attend a mandatory court appearance."Ammon Bundy Says He Has No Regrets as Judge Issues New Arrest Warrant" by Kelly Weill, Daily Beast, 2023 November 14 By December 2023, St. Luke's was able to get many of the defamatory websites and YouTube videos booted off the Internet and had confiscated Ammon Bundy's house; reports also emerged that Ammon Bundy had fled Idaho."Ammon Bundy ‘in hiding’ after losing Idaho home, websites in legal battle with St. Luke’s" by Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 2023 December 4 In late March 2024, the investigative journalism group determined that Ammon had fled to "Fugitive US Militant Ammon Bundy Geolocated to Utah" by Michael Lee, Bellingcat, 2024 March 27
==See also== 
*Terrorism#Right-wing terrorism
==External links==
*Ammon Bundy's lawyer argues for his client's right to wear cowboy boots at trial
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Criminals
Category:Conspiracy theorists
Category:Living people
Category:Militia movement
Category:Mormons
Category:Pseudolaw
Category:Racists
Category:Right-wing activists
Category:Slavery apologists
Category:Tea Party
Category:United States politicians
Category:Vigilantes