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Originally Posted by seattlelou
Seems a bit over the top to collect on an overdue bill. Has this guy been charged with a crime?
It's never been a criminal case, but the matter was decided in court over 15 years ago and multiple times since then. So in a sense, he was "tried" and "convicted" long ago and has been thumbing his nose at the gov't ever since.
In fact, even in 1998 part of the ruling said "[t]he government has shown commendable restraint in allowing this trespass to continue for so long without impounding Bundy’s livestock".
I think it's important to get the basic timeline of what happened right. The
wikipedia page is a reasonable place to start and also links to a lot of the court rulings. They didn't send in a swat team and snipers to surround Bundy's house. They sent in hired rangers and cowboys to round up a bunch of cattle scattered over 1200 square miles of desert. Meanwhile Bundy is talking his "range war" stuff and inviting patriots and militia from across the west to come on over. Of course the gov't is going to respond to this with paramilitary force.
The rule of law is in a precarious place when Bundy says "We definitely don't recognize [the BLM director's] jurisdiction or authority, his arresting power or policing power in any way," and "We're about ready to take the country over with force!"
Bottom line, he had his day(s) in court, and lost every step of the way.
Quote:
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Bundy shall remove his livestock from the former Bunkerville Allotment within 45 days of the date hereof, and that the United States is entitled to seize and remove to impound any of Bundy’s cattle that remain in trespass after 45 days of the date hereof.