Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Cliven Bundy reaches out to man who pleaded guilty to threatening BLM



Cliven Bundy is worried about one of his supporters.

On Monday, the recalcitrant Nevada rancher, who has waged a running battle of words and lawsuits with the federal government over public lands, made a phone call to an out-of-state supporter facing prison time over comments he made in support of the newly christened tea party folk hero.

Pennsylvania resident Will Michael, 24, pleaded guilty last month in federal court to threatening a Bureau of Land Management official as well as making interstate communication threats during Bundy's 2014 standoff with federal officials over land grazing rights.

Bundy says he feels responsible for the man's predicament and wanted to offer a show of emotional support.

"He's just a youngster -- he seems like a nice young man with good sense for a boy," Bundy told the Los Angeles Times on Monday. "They picked him out of a large group of people and I'm nervous these federal types are going to hang him as an example."

Michael left a profanity-laced phone message for Mike Roop, the chief BLM ranger for Washington and Oregon, that warned, "We're going to kill you," according to federal court documents. Officials say it was one of 500 threatening messages that Roop received.

 Michael told authorities that he saw a video on social media showing Roop shoving aside Bundy's sister, who was blocking BLM vehicles in the cattle raid, officials said. Michael will be sentenced in July.

 ...In a phone interview, Michael told The Times that he was surprised to hear from Bundy. "I never expected the head of the entire cause would reach out to me," he said.

Michael, an assistant manager of a smoke shop in the tiny town of Emmaus, just south of Allentown, Pa., said he worries about his future but appreciates Bundy's gesture. He said he borrowed money from his parents to pay for a lawyer.

...Bundy believes the aggressive federal approach is just the first in a series of legal moves officials might take against his own family after Bundy's so-called citizen militia challenged BLM officials in an armed face-off in April last year.


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