John Temple

Ryan Bundy sues feds

Ryan Bundy is pressing his luck.

In January, a federal judge at the Lloyd George US Courthouse in Las Vegas cleared him and his brother, Ammon, and father, Cliven, of felony charges related to the 2014 standoff at Bundy Ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada.

On Wednesday, Ryan Bundy went back to the courthouse to file a federal civil rights lawsuit, “citing prosecutorial misconduct and violation of Bundy’s First and Fourth Amendment rights,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal story. The lawsuit names a host of Obama Administration justice officials, plus current Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Ryan Bundy is less than a week away from the culmination of his Nevada gubernatorial campaign.

The Bundy saga — including the 2014 standoff and the subsequent takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon — is the subject of my forthcoming book, Up in Arms.

Lawmaker wants to create a 51st state for Patriots and libertarians

Leah Sottile, who has contributed more interesting tidbits to the coverage of the Cliven and Ammon Bundy saga that just about any journalist, has another good story out, this one in Rolling Stone.

It’s a profile of Washington state Rep. Matt Shea, whose campaign rallies look like militia meetings and considered the press the enemy of the people long before Donald Trump. Shea wants to lop off the eastern half of his state to create a libertarian utopia, a 51st state called Liberty.

For several years, Shea has proposed the same initiative in the Statehouse: A place named “Liberty” — a 51st state that would sever the rural, arid and deep-red eastern half of Washington from the urban, forested, blue coastal region. A place where God and guns won’t be regulated. A place where Shea says, consequently, there will be more freedom.

The idea of a so-called American Redoubt in the Pacific Northwest is not a new one. Several times while reporting my forthcoming book, Up in Arms, about the Bundy saga (Shea is a major Bundy supporter), I came across people who wanted nothing more than to be cut off from the coast. Two of the book’s main characters moved to the Pacific Northwest as their views swung in an extreme direction, which I don’t think was a coincidence. At a motel in Harney County, Oregon, where Ammon and Ryan Bundy took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, I chatted with another visitor who fervently wished the eastern halves of Oregon and Washington would unite to create their own state.

For more of Sottile’s work, check out her Bundyville podcast.

Will Patriot militias head to border to stop migrant caravan?

Patriot militias say they are heeding President Trump’s pre-election fear-stoking about the migrant caravan in Mexico and are claiming they have thousands ready to protect the border.
Patriot contacts of mine have indicated online that they’d like to turn the nation’s attention away from the Trump-supporting alleged mail bomber arrested last week and get back to discussing the caravan. That was right before 11 synagogue worshipers were murdered in Pittsburgh by a man who was reportedly highly agitated about the caravan.
Will the Patriots actually follow through if the caravan, which is 1,000 miles away and on foot, actually makes it to the U.S. border? Impossible to say for sure, of course. The leaders of the Patriot movement always seem to be “cause shopping” — looking for an event to rally around — but it’s very difficult to predict what cause or mission will capture the imagination of large numbers of followers.
Back in 2014, as I relate in my forthcoming book, Up in Arms, thousands did show up to back up Cliven Bundy in his conflict with the federal government over Bundy’s unpermitted cattle herd. But that was an organic, spontaneous uprising of angry folks with different motivations that seemed to center around a shared loathing of the federal government (which was, of course, then run by a president they despised). Yes, Patriot militias showed up to Bundy Ranch, including some that were focused on civilian border patrol. But so did a lot of run-of-the-mill Tea Party and Libertarian types… and even a few self-proclaimed hippies.
It’s one thing for right-wingers to leave home and travel a long way to defend a family that they believe is being mistreated by a federal government run by Obama. It’s another to go to all that trouble to “defend the border” against penniless migrants in the age of Trump. My guess is that most Patriots are just backing up their guy’s election talking points — and trying to change the conversation.