Former inmate shares life behind bars with Cliven Bundy
What began as a legal dispute over grazing fees escalated into an armed confrontation between federal agents from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and hundreds of supporters and militia members who rallied to the Bundy Ranch.
"Look what I started"
This phrase refers to the explosive nature and national attention the 2014 confrontation with an army of federal agents achieved.
What began as a legal dispute over grazing fees escalated into an armed confrontation between federal agents from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and hundreds of supporters and militia members who rallied to the Bundy Ranch.
The standoff became a rallying cry for the "Patriot militia" movement and galvanized public lands disputes across the West.
Bundy's comment, "20 years ago, I decided to stand up to the federal government," references his initial refusal to pay federal grazing fees in 1993, which was based on his belief that the federal government held no constitutional authority to own or manage public lands within the state of Nevada.
The dispute centered on Bundy's cattle grazing on approximately 600,000 acres of federal land. The BLM claimed Bundy owed over $1 million in fees and penalties. Bundy argued that his family’s historical rights superseded the federal government’s jurisdiction.
The quote encapsulates Bundy’s view of the situation: he initiated a decades-long constitutional challenge, and he was genuinely surprised by the level of public support his stand attracted.
Michael Stickler, the former inmate who became Bundy's biographer, described how he was able to document Bundy’s story while they were incarcerated together on charges related to the 2014 fed-led standoff. Stickler spent over 60 days interviewing and recording Bundy's account, resulting in the book: Cliven Bundy American Patriot.
The context of his arrest and subsequent book highlights the high stakes of the 2014 event, which led to the federal prosecution of Cliven Bundy and other patriots, collectively referred to as the "Bundy 19."
His eventual prosecution resulted in a mistrial in December 2017 and finally, the full dismissal of charges on January 8th, 2018 due to the government's wilful withholding of exculpatory evidence and prosecutorial misconduct.
Cliven Bundy Continued To Defend Standoff After Case Dismissal
The video below offers context on Cliven Bundy's position following the dismissal of his legal case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O7OrXo3bxU
Get the Book Now at:
https://leadershipbooks.com/pages/clivenbundy-net
Former inmate shares life behind bars with Cliven Bundy - by Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive Nov. 12, 2017
https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2017/11/former_inmate_shares_live_behi.html