Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy said during a radio interview on Wednesday that God has told him that the federal government needs to be disarmed.
Bundy appeared on Salt Lake City radio station KUER and elaborated on comments he made recently at a meeting of the Independent American Party in St. George, Utah.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Bundy said he still feels strongly about the need for sheriffs throughout the nation to take away weapons from federal law enforcement, and he said he believes God has told him as much.
“I have no idea what God wants done, but he did inspire me to have the sheriffs across the United States take away these weapons, disarm these bureaucracies, and he also gave me a little inspiration on what would happen if they didn’t do that,” Bundy said, according to the Tribune. “It was indicated that ‘this is our chance, America, to straighten this problem up. If we don’t solve this problem this way, we will face these same guns in a civil war.'”
Bundy’s ongoing land dispute with the Bureau of Land Management escalated to an armed standoff between militia members and federal officials back in April. The BLM eventually backed off and Bundy declared victory.
But since then, Bundy has warned of the dangers of federal authority and encouraged “every county sheriff in the United States” to “disarm the federal bureaucrats.” His recommendation is based on the theory that local sheriffs possess greater authority and power than federal authorities.
While the land dispute remains unresolved, Bundy believes he’s on the right side of the issue.
“If I broke some laws, why don’t they come and arrest me?” Bundy said on KUER, per the Tribune. “If I’m breaking laws, why did several hundred, maybe thousands, of people feel inspiration to stand with me. If I’m breaking laws of the land, then I would think the Lord wouldn’t be with us for one thing.”
