A distinct anti-government sentiment has been recently growing in many parts of the country. There are people who have extreme beliefs about the United States government and are forming groups all the time. Some of those individuals live in a type of fantasy world filled with conspiracies about government mind control, re-education camps and United Nations takeovers of our country. Some have a warped view of the government and the meaning of the documents this country is based on. An example is a group like the Sovereign Citizens who want to radically change the country to fit their own belief system while excluding people who disagree.
Two of the most popular figures for these types of extremist movements are Cliven and Ammon Bundy. Cliven Bundy first rose to prominence back in 2014 in Nevada when he stubbornly occupied federal land armed to the teeth and backed by by a veritable army of crazy conservative extremists. Cliven was grazing his cattle on federal lands and refused to pay federal grazing fees for over 20 years accruing a debt of more than $1 million to the federal government. This spurred his disgruntled occupation of ’14.
The incident on the Bundy ranch made headlines for weeks. Bundy, his family and some friends decided to make an armed stand against the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, in Nevada. Other so-called patriot groups started coming out the ranch as well with guns and ammunition and it wasn’t long before the standoff had become very tense. Interviews with the people at the ranch showed that they were itching for an armed conflict and wanted to kill federal officers. Some of the people there even stated that they were willing to die in order to protect Bundy’s right to evade taxes and use federal lands without paying anything…
Many found it disturbing to see mena nd women armed with rifles in sniper positions pointing guns at BLM agents attempting to peacefully resolve the situation. Bundy started giving increasingly bizarre and disjointed speeches about things that made no sense and eventually ended up taking about how African-Americans were far happier back when they were picking cotton. He said several other racist and insensitive things during that speech.
Cliven Bundy retreated and the militia members went home. He was out of the news for some time. That changed when his son Ammon Bundy decided to go to eastern Oregon with some friends and illegally occupy a federal building on different federal land. The armed standoff was called domestic terrorism by many even though it was a complete mess. Ammon Bundy and most other of the domestic terrorists were arrested after around 40 days in the building. Four people are still in the building holding out hope of a revolution. They did promise to surrender to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, in a day or two.
It appears that Cliven Bundy decided to fly out to Oregon to see his sons Ammon and Ryan in custody. He was not expecting the FBI to be waiting for him there. FBI agents promptly arrested Bundy as he disembarked from the plane. He is facing several charges including conspiracy to interfere with a federal officer, which happens to be one of the charges his son is facing as well. The charge is in relation to the standoff that occurred at his Nevada ranch in 2014 and not the current incident in Oregon. It is not clear what will happen to Bundy. Cliven has earned the nickname “welfare rancher” in many parts of the country due to his actions.