The call occurred roughly a month before the armed standoff in Bunkerville in April 2014. Here are some of the notable quotes from Ryan Bundy during his conversation with BLM Special Agent Michael Johnson:
- On a federal court order that authorized the BLM to seize cattle from a federal grazing allotment: “It should go before a state court.”
- On whether Bundy and his family would recognize the BLM’s authority to impound cattle: “You don’t have authority to recognize.”
- In response to the agent’s question about whether a conflict could be avoided: “There is one way. … You don’t come to gather our cattle.”
- On grazing issues: “We don’t claim ownership to land. We claim ownership to the grazing rights. … Those are our rights, and you are violating them.”
- On the impending impoundment operation: “You will not take one single cow that belongs to us”
- On how the Bundys would respond: “I will do whatever it takes, and I will have several hundred supporters with me to help.”
- On the BLM agent’s career: “You might want to get a new job … working for a foreign service, being out in the hills. I can see that being enjoyable but not honorable.”
- On municipal, state, and federal agencies: “They don’t have power. … They only have power that the people give to them.”
- On the cattle roundup: “You’re trying to harm us by stealing from us. … You’re trying to harm us by damaging our life and our liberty.”
- On public attention to the case: “The people of America, the people of the world are watching. … Why is the world interested in this subject of a couple little cows on the range in the Nevada desert? It’s not an issue between Cliven Bundy and a few cows and the BLM. It’s an issue of how … our rights and freedoms are going to be handled.”...more
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