Standing Up
Why I Believe Ammon Bundy Is Consistent
A year and a half ago, I called Ammon from his dad's ranch and told him I wanted to come up and sit down with him and Lisa. He invited me. I spent a couple of days with the family.
At one point, Ammon told me, "We really don't know each other." That struck me. I had followed him closely over the years. I was a witness on the exculpatory list in the 2017–18 Las Vegas trial, tied to our conversation the night before the protest.
But he was right. We had only been together and spoken a few times. He didn't know me.
People have tried to infiltrate and set him and the Bundy family up, but the Bundys have always been open and honest. For my part, I believe Ammon is a good man, and he is consistent.
That is the family I'm talking about. Cliven's sons grew up on that Bunkerville ground, and what they stand for hasn't moved.
A couple of days ago, Ammon was pulled over on southbound I-15 in southern Utah.
The stop was over a pickup registration that had lapsed. The sheriff's office account says he refused to get out of the truck and had to be handcuffed by force.
Ammon says he was merely headed to his parents' ranch in Bunkerville.
After his release, he walked about eight miles along I-15 in cowboy boots and a hat to protest limits on his travel.
"I disagree with having to have permission to travel," he said.
Whether on the open highway or in our own hometowns, the underlying issue is the same:
fundamental human actions are increasingly treated as privileges requiring state approval.
Out in San Jose, California, a pastor has been ordered to stop feeding the hungry.
Feeding a hungry person is about the oldest act of faith there is, and now it takes permission.
Look at the table. In many places, you can't sell your neighbor a gallon of raw milk, even when he knows the farm, knows the cow, and asks for it.
A rancher raises beef on his own grass, and in most cases he can't sell a pound of hamburger to the man down the road unless it goes through an approved plant first.
Two people agree on a fair trade, and the law steps between them.
That's what I see. Eat, drink, travel, trade, and help your neighbor, and each one now has a permission slip attached.
I believe these are the rights of man, free agency given to us by our Creator. We didn't earn them from a government, and a government can't write them off.
People may disagree with how Ammon stands up, but standing up for them is a matter of conscience.
I'd rather stand with a man who is consistent than watch freedom get permitted away a piece at a time.
— Vincent Easley II https://reallibertymedia.com/author/https-reallibertymedia-com-author-vine