U.S. Congressman Steven Horsford (D-Nevada) sent this letter to the Clark County Sheriff, home of our old buddy Cliven:
April 27, 2014
Sheriff Douglas C. Gillespie
Clark County Sheriff’s Department
400 S. Martin L. BLVD
Las Vegas, NV 89106Dear Sheriff Gillespie,
I am writing to bring your attention to the ongoing situation in northeastern Clark County which has caused many of my constituents to fear for their safety.
Residents of Bunkerville and the surrounding area have expressed concern over the continual presence of multiple out-of-state, armed militia groups that have remained in the community since the BLM halted its actions to impound the cattle of Cliven Bundy earlier this month.
My constituents have expressed concern that members of these armed militia groups:
1. Have set up checkpoints where residents are required to prove they live in the area before being allowed to pass;
2. Have established a persistent presence along federal highways and state and county roads; and
3. Have established an armed presence in or around community areas including local churches, school, and other community locations.We must respect individual constitutional liberties, but the residents of and visitors to Clark County should not be expected to live under the persistent watch of an armed militia. Their continual presence has made residents feel unsafe and maligned a quiet community’s peaceful reputation.
Residents have expressed their desire to see these groups leave their community. I appreciate the responsiveness and accessibility you and your office have provided during this difficult time for those directly impacted by the situation. I urge you to investigate these reports and to work with local leaders to ensure that their concerns are addressed in a manner that allows the community to move forward without incident.
Sincerely,
Steven Horsford
Member of Congress
First: Don’t any of these bozos have jobs?
Second: As John Cole said, patriotism looks a lot like domestic terrorism these days.
Adam Weinstein reports for Gawker:
Even though mainstream America was never with him, and the rightward fringes of mainstream America abandoned him after his 48-hour-virus of racial frankness, Bundy is still attended by untold numbers of camouflaged and heavily armed dudes dedicated to continuing “his fight with the government over his refusal to pay fees for his cattle to graze on federal land,” the Las Vegas Sun reports.
Weirdly, these jack-booted lugs don’t make Bundy’s neighbors grateful for their liberty.
I get the impression that the sheriff is not in a big rush to confront the militia. Has anyone talked to the governor about sending in National Guard? If these thugs were stopping me and asking for ID, I’d call the bleeping Guard myself.
Update: Wonkette is a must read on this.
The Wonkette videos have been removed by YouTube and the account has been terminated by YouTube. Did you see them before their removal, and can you tell us what was on them? YouTube got pretty bent out of shape apparently but it is not clear why.
Needless to say, this shows clearly what will happen if these kinds of conservative come to power; they will govern as tyrants.
“Don’t any of these bozos have jobs?” – Gen.Thomas Gage, Lexington- Concord bridge, 1775
I don’t understand the Oath Keepers. The oath that they are keeping is their former military enlistment oath yet they are no longer under the authority of the military. They pride themselves with honor by claiming that they will never obey an illegal order, but they are not under any authority other than that which occurs within their own desires, so how can an illegal order occur if they are the arbiters of legality? Well, maybe if I put on a some Sousa marches and smoke a bowl the understanding will come to me. But as it stands now.. there is a major disconnect in logic in what the Oath Keepers are all about. I kinda sense that they aren’t to happy about having a Kenyan in the White House. I think that might have something to do with obeying illegal orders.
Oh, they also swear never to leave a fallen comrade on the field of battle.. How noble, how honorable!
I’m just surprised that the locals in rural Montana haven’t shown these bullies the way out of town on their own yet.
I’m not sure anything needs to be done.
From reading Wonkette, it sounds like if we leave them alone they’ll have a ‘Wingnut of the Flies’ situation, and they’ll all kill one another off – hopefully, with no locals as casualties.
On the serious side, yes, the Governor probably should put in a call to the National Guard.
But, then, that’s probably the homoerotic death scene these male militia diva’s are looking forward to – martyrdom.
They’ll be martyrs to other militia diva’s, who like to strut and preen around with their guns, in public.
To the rational world, they’ll be treasonous traitors and morons, who had a death wish.
Under what authority do they proclaim the requirement to stop anyone? Is a sheriff at the scene? If not, what would compel someone to stop their vehicle?
I do not stop, especially out in the “desert”, for anyone unless it is obvious their vehicle is disabled.
I would hazard to guess that it’s the big assault weapons they’re all carrying.
“patriotism looks a lot like domestic terrorism these days”
No shit when I see the video of our “patriots” riding around in the back of pickup trucks brandishing assault weapons the only thing that keeps me from thinking this looks like Somalia or Syria is that our “patriots” are mostly fat slobs and out of shape!
These people want a confrontation, they have been poking at this president ever since he got elected, first with tea-bagger rallies openly carrying assault rifles, then they thought they had what they wanted with the BLM except the feds wisely backed off (though if I were in charge). Now that the fire has gone out with the BLM they have decided to turn Nevada into Gaza, they want a shootout and I for one hope they get one!
I’d stop, Bardi, if I was on the road I saw a roadblock made up of what look like a bunch Duck Dynasty clones, armed to the teeth, and with itchy trigger fingers.
I am not prone to nightmares, but this development seems like it would make a memorable one. To me it seems like one huge hostage crisis, with multiple perpetrators to deal with. I don’t want to see another Waco, but on the other hand, I don’t want this to become a model for future action of the anti-government groups either. My hope is that as the zeal of the militia members peters out, they will be brought to justice. Yeah, I am naive like that.
I am curious as to what the road blockers would do if someone did run the checkpoint. I don’t think it would be pretty or less than a felony.
This is one of those “this can’t be happening” moments. The “Second Amendment” community is putting on a display of what their “brave new polite society” would look like. Likewise, I guess we’ll see if local and state government can handle this situation without federal assistance. I don’t think they are doing themselves any favors.
“I don’t want to see another Waco”
What was wrong with Waco? A child molester and his supporters get burned alive. As far as I’m concerned they got what they had coming, it was too bad that we lost ATF agents but that is unfortunately part of the job. When you fire on the law you need to be dealt with, that is what separates us from the 3rd world!
What was wrong with Waco?
The women and children getting killed was not cool. The biggest part about Waco going wrong was how it was mismanaged. It didn’t have to be… especially considering the “offense” that set it into motion.
“The women and children getting killed was not cool”
Of course, and the ATF did it’s best to get the kids out and succeeded in getting many released, but the ATF did not put those kids in that situation, their “parents” put them in peril. Also I believe the investigation concluded that the Davidians set the fire that killed all the children. The Davidians had 51 days to release the children they choose not to, so I put 100% of the blame on them.
So when a bunch of well-armed wack jobs start firing on Law enforcement officers what are they supposed to do?
Um, Lister – this is Nevada, not Montana. Different in many ways.
“I would hazard to guess that it’s the big assault weapons they’re all carrying.”
Only criminals use fear to stop vehicles with assault rifles.
“Only criminals use fear to stop vehicles with assault rifles.”
Yes, and that’s we’re complaining about it.
I remember reading this article about the Oath Keepers a couple of years ago. So a lot of these guys aren’t even former military, they’re active duty. And of course their intuitive knowledge of what’s constitutional and what isn’t comes from a mystic communion with the true spirit of the American People (Volk in German). (It’s a Real American thing. You wouldn’t understand.)
It doesn’t really matter, though. What’s funny (in a hideous and tragic way) about these guys is how swiftly and utterly they will be crushed if they ever decide to keep their oaths. The Cliven Bundys seem to think the feds backed off because they were intimidated, when of course the only thing they were worried about was killing innocent people.
Lynnd- sorry, mybad. But everyone knows the real cowboys are in Montana anyway.
All the feds need to do is seize the bank accounts of “the patriots” send about six drones to cover the area and launch one hellfire missile striking nearby. Then charge the bozos for the cost of the operation. Either that or fence them in and blast them with rap and hip hop music until they give up.( about 4 hours, I recon.)
It’s true, Lister. My son-in-law’s sis is married to a real cowboy.
Lots of cowboys here in central Florida too.
When you read the propaganda of the groups who have become violent or been on the cusp and arrested prior to violence, (the Hutaree come to mind) there is a common thread, the expectation that their actions will spark a revolution against the federal establishment. The situation in Nevada was too close to providing an excuse for escalating violence, with dead bodies on both sides of the conflict.
The militias may still be trying to provoke the cops, any cops, into a violent confrontation. A conflict which draws federal law enforcement into a shootout must be avoided. The militias want the cops to violate the second amendment and disarm them (or die trying) to validate their victimhood. The cops are waiting for the militias to disperse ( the best case outcome) or clearly violate the law, which undermines the claim of victimhood.
Time is on the side of reason here. As long as law enforcement does not HAVE to act, then waiting drains the resources of the militias and boredom and paranoia wears down the ‘soldiers’. If some militias are packing it in, and the stragglers are bickering, the cops are winning. Other militias are not eager to throw in with a bigot – this potential rallying point is turning into a dead end which fewer and fewer conservatives want to be associated. ‘Time wounds all heels.’ as the saying goes.
The ‘best’ outcome may not provide us with the satisfaction of a decisive win of good over evil. The best outcome delays the prospect of an armed revolution against the government of the US. A civil war in the US without a geographical Mason-Dixon line will degenerate into a guerrilla war, with civilians in the crossfire. There’s a bunch of ways it could play out, none of them pretty.
Stephen Stralka …Good article. It confirmed my suspicions that the Oath Keepers are just a bunch of misfits.
Wow! Obama just signed a polygamy law. I haven’t had a chance to read the article yet, but I thought I’d give you Maha bloggers the breaking news.
http://news.yahoo.com/kenyan-president-signs-polygamy-law-112344717.html
“Time wounds all heels†–I always attributed that to Soups Sales, but maybe he just popularized it.
I think Doug put it right. The last thing they want, or think that they want, is cooler heads prevailing. A hot response might not set off a revolution, but it would almost certainly ignite the minds of several hundred armed wingnuts across the country who are just waiting for the moment and a cause celebre as the excuse to do something horrible. A violent response, or even a lesser confrontation would validate their fantasies. Without a response, it will just be a couple of sweaty, uncomfortable weeks in the bugs and sand.
One of the psychological attributes that a lot of whackos seem to share is a tendency towards magical thinking. Maybe I am wrong, but I have no doubt that a lot of them think that they will spark a glorious revolution and live to bask in the glory. Maybe they feel sure of receiving their reward in heaven as well as in the history books. In their fevered minds, the harsh reality of battle is eclipsed, and they will be magically protected by their guns because they are “good guys.â€
This just up:
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/04/cliven-bundy-ranch-speaker-warns-civil-war
goatherd,
Maybe they’re hoping that if they spark a confrontation, that the National Guard and US Military won’t fire on them, because they’re US citizens – lunatic citizens, but citizens, nonetheless.
Cund, that is why the “police” have to handle this…The “military” needs to be held in reserve…The cops know how to shoot people as much as the military does…Jurisdiction is key…If the “locals” do what is needed than the National implications disappear…the State Police and the Sheriff’s office should be the ones doing the legal stuff…that should defuse that one…on the larger scene, these groups need to be watched and hammered as needed by the Federales…FBI, Homeland, etc..
I don’t know what they’re thinking or hoping, cundgulag, you may well be right. They have grown to despise and vilify the government, but, somewhere in their minds they still retain some of their grammar school social studies lessons. I wholly agree with your last qualifier. They are lunatics. At least, they are not quite in their right minds. I have whacko and semi-whacko acquaintances that I would bet, started out as reasonable, well intentioned people, assuming that is possible for our species. Let’s just say they were in the normal range. But, maybe the problem is that the “new normal” is quite like the old normal. People get pumped up on misinformation and pretty soon they’re letting a bit of elimination rhetoric slip into their vocabularies. You can be the picture of health, but if you eat a little rat poison, suddenly things aren’t quite right.
That should be, “the ‘new norma’ is NOT like the old normal.
I was thinking that Cliven & Co. should be eternally grateful to Mr. Sterling-formerly-of-the-NBA, for distracting the world from their shenanigans rancheros. Thank you, Wonkette and Mahablog, for reminding me precisely why.
“or clearly violate the law, which undermines the claim of victimhood”
Doug,
Isn’t taking up an offensive position and aiming long rifles at and against federal law enforcement officers against the law? I too hope this ends peacefully but a line has to be drawn, to me the line is we cannot allow anyone, right-wing gun nut or drug cartel enforcer to take up arms against law enforcement. I’m not sure why the Democrats in congress are not making more hay about this. I realize they are scared shitless of the NRA but this can be used against them, make the NRA and the tea-bagger congress critters argue that firing on law enforcement is a good thing!