Boom, it’s a Bundy twofer (threefer?).
The FBI arrested Cliven Bundy last night in Portland on charges related to the 2014 standoff at his ranch in Nevada. Bundy had just arrived in Portland to protest his two sons’ arrests in the ongoing refuge standoff.
As we’ve reported extensively, anti-government extremists had seen the lack of legal repercussions for Bundy’s 2014 defiance of the feds over grazing fees, which BLM confirmed to us last month remained unpaid, as a victory. Emboldened by that perceived success, some of those involved in the ranch incident, including two of Bundy’s sons, had engineered the refuge takeover in Oregon.
So the senior Bundy’s arrest brings the whole saga full circle.
Meanwhile, the remaining occupiers, after FBI moved to end the refuge standoff last night, have agreed to surrender at 8 a.m. Oregon time today, although I think it’s fair to day that agreement is tenuous and was apparently reached before Cliven Bundy’s arrest.
In an intriguing nugget, the FBI had reportedly infiltrated buildings at the refuge undetected two nights ago in advance of the tightening of the cordon last night. The FBI’s advance on the compound and subsequent freakout by the four remaining occupiers was captured in a truly bizarre live audio feed streaming over YouTube for several hours Thursday evening.
We’ll more throughout the day today.
