Cliven Bundy supporter pleads guilty to threatening federal official

An out-of-state supporter of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy has pleaded guilty in a federal court in Pennsylvania to making threats against a Bureau of Land Management enforcement official during Bundy’s 2014 standoff against federal officials over land grazing rights. Some Bundy supporters, as well as Bundy himself, wonder whether this is the first in a series of legal moves the federal government might take against the recalcitrant rancher, whose so-called citizen militia challenged BLM officials in an armed face-off last April. Will Michael, 24, pleaded guilty this week to threatening a federal law enforcement official as well as making interstate communication threats. A profanity-laced phone message left for Mike Roop, the chief BLM ranger for Washington and Oregon, claimed, “We’re going to kill you,” according to federal court documents. Officials say it was one of 500 threatening messages that Roop received. Michael did not travel to southern Nevada to join hundreds of Bundy supporters – many armed with semiautomatic weapons – who converged on federal land after agents swooped in to seize Bundy’s cattle. 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. Michael Green, a University of Nevada Las Vegas historian, says he believes there will be more government moves to come. "I believe the other shoe will drop; the question is when," he said. “There is certainly a political calculation involved.” "It sort of seems like this could be the government’s first move – I hope not," Bundy told The Times. “I feel that they’re picking on this guy to make an example of him, as a way to get to me." Bundy said there was misconduct on the government’s side as well. He said his supporters filed two dozen crime reports with Las Vegas police against federal agents. No arrests have been made in the case, he said...more