Armed Feds Prepare For Showdown With Nevada Cattle Rancher

[palani]

Nevada is screwed up. No doubt about it. Look at their constitution. Their territory STARTS in Washington. Thence 42 degrees west longitude. Things don't stray from their points of beginning.

Best you can do is scrap the entire concept and start from scratch. You have no other choice.

[monty]

Mustangs managed by the Bureau of Land Management near Borba's Fish Creek ranch. I used to see the same thing on the Tonopah Test Range when I was trucking out there. The horses were traveling so far to feed from the water holes they were so sore footed they could hardly walk. Thanks Wild Horse Annie!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...fd7b6271768769

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...d27255a8b55876

[monty]

Cliven Bundy suing Obama, Reid, Reids son Rory, Judge Gloria Navarro, . . . . . . .

Cliven Bundy suing Obama, Nevada officials

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098)]http://thehill.com/sites/default/fil...?itok=V3Nv9wJi
Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who led an armed standoff over grazing fees on federal lands, is suing President Obama and Nevada officials in hopes of getting charges against him dismissed.[/COLOR]
Bundy’s lawyer will file the complaint Tuesday against Obama; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.); his son, former Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid; and U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro.


It alleges that they violated several of his constitutional rights and also asks the court to dismiss his indictment and release him from solitary confinement. His legal team will discuss the action Tuesday, following a detention hearing in Las Vegas.

In February, Bundy was arrested in Portland, Ore., on his way to the wildlife refuge occupation led by his two sons.


His arrest was part of escalated efforts by the FBI to end the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in rural Burns, Ore., about a six-hour drive from Portland in the eastern part of the state.


Bundy came to national attention after drawing scores of armed militiamen to Nevada to ward off federal authorities after a fight over grazing fees.


Bundy has for years grazed cattle on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management, racking up more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees, fines and related costs. He refuses to recognize federal authority over the land.

[monty]

Harry Reid's hand picked judge Gloria Navarro denies Pete Santilli bail.



http://youtu.be/fEl4ZtexXcU

[monty]

Update on Cliven Bundy lawsuit aganst Reid, Navarro . . . .

Cliven Bundy sues Obama, Reid and federal judge over criminal case

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098)]http://www.reviewjournal.com/sites/d...?itok=HJnhI5cn[/COLOR]
Cliven Bundy says he is filing a lawsuit on Tuesday, May 11, 2016, against President Barack Obama, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and the federal judge presiding over his criminal case. (David Becker/Las Vegas Review-Journal)


Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy filed a lawsuit Tuesday against President Barack Obama, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and the federal judge presiding over his criminal case alleging they violated his constitutional rights to a speedy trial and attorney of his choice.


The federal lawsuit seeks to remove Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro from the case, an order allowing Washington, D.C., lawyer Larry Klayman to join Bundy’s defense team and more than $50 million in damages. The suit also seeks Bundy’s release from federal custody.


“In short, defendant Navarro has shown her true intentions and bias and prejudice, rising to the level of denying Sixth Amendment right of counsel and to a speedy trial to plaintiff Bundy, following the ‘marching orders’ of her benefactors, defendants Harry Reid and Obama,” attorney Joel Hansen alleges in the complaint.


Reid’s son, former Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid, also was named as a defendant.
The lawsuit, which has been in the making the past two weeks, was filed as Navarro held a hearing Tuesday on Bundy’s latest bid to win his freedom while facing felony charges in the April 12, 2014, armed standoff with law enforcement near his Bunkerville ranch.


Hansen referred to the suit and its allegations at the hearing and sought Navarro’s disqualification from the case. Navarro gave Hansen time to file a motion asking for her removal and said she would reveal her decision on May 25 after federal prosecutors have a chance to respond.


The judge heard arguments on Bundy’s release but put off a decision until she decides whether to remain on the case.


Hansen told Navarro that Bundy, who doesn’t recognize the BLM’s ownership of Nevada land, was charged in the criminal case because of “misuse of power” by Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and Obama.


“He (Bundy) hasn’t agreed with the politics of the day,” Hansen argued. “He said some things that are politically incorrect.”


Hansen again described Bundy, whom he said is in solitary confinement 23 hours a day, as a political prisoner like the late South African leader and civil rights activist, Nelson Mandela.


Reid could not immediately be reached for comment.


But First Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre, the lead prosecutor in the Bundy case, called Hansen’s political allegations “offensive” and “outrageous.”


Myhre argued that Bundy was charged because of his leading role in the conspiracy to assault BLM officers in April 2014 while they were trying to round up his cattle that were grazing on federal land.
Bundy’s lawsuit attacks Navarro for refusing to allow Klayman into the high-profile case until he can give her proof that “ethical disciplinary proceedings” against him in Washington, D.C., have been resolved in his favor.


Klayman, the founder of the Washington-based public interest groups Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, is known for his tenacious pursuit of litigation, mostly in support of a wide range of conservative and libertarian issues.


His troubles with the Washington bar stemmed from three separate alleged conflicts of interest in litigation involving Judicial Watch after he left the organization as its legal counsel, according to court documents.


Last month, Klayman blasted Navarro’s decision.


“The ruling demonstrates that the judge has an extra-judicial bias and prejudice against Cliven Bundy and his counsel, for which disqualification is required,” Klayman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “

The judge was recommended by Harry Reid and appointed by President Barack Obama, and the order wears her political allegiance on her sleeve.”


On the floor of the Senate last month, Reid called Bundy an “outrageous lawbreaker” who deserves to be in federal custody.


In the lawsuit, Hansen alleges that the Reids and Obama made public disparaging comments about Bundy and his family as part of an “under-the-table negotiated deal” to seize the Bundy ranch and sell its assets.


Obama mocked Bundy at a White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington after the 2014 Bunkerville standoff, the lawsuit alleges.


The complaint refers to numerous anti-Bundy remarks by Harry Reid reported in the Las Vegas Review-Journal during and after the Bunkerville confrontation.


This is a developing story. Check back for updates.


Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find @JGermanRJ on Twitter.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/c...-criminal-case

[monty]

http://www.larryklayman.com/images/inside_header.jpg

Press conference to follow detention hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Las Vegas federal court (held on court house steps)
Cliven Bundy Sues Federal Judge Gloria Navarro, Senator Harry Reid, Rory Reid And President Obama For Violating His Constitutional Rights

http://www.larryklayman.com/images/posts/871.jpg
Asks For Dismissal Of Indictment And Release From Solitary Confinement

(Las Vegas, Nevada, May 10, 2016). Today, Cliven Bundy filed a complaint against U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro, U.S. Senator Harry Reid, the son of Harry Reid, Rory Reid and President Barack Obama for allegedly violating his Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel and For Speedy Trial, Eighth Amendment Right Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment (Mr. Bundy is currently being held in solitary confinement), Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms in Self-Defense, and First Amendment Right to Assemble in Self-Defense. The complaint can be found at www.larryklayman.com.

The complaint asks the Court to dismiss the indictment against Cliven Bundy and release him from prison and solitary confinement.

Cliven Bundy's attorneys will discuss the complaint following the hearing at 10:00 a.m. on the courthouse steps.

For more information, contact daj142182@gmail.com or (424) 274 2579.


View complaint:

http://www.larryklayman.com/pdf/1605...arro%20(1).pdf


http://www.larryklayman.com/article.php?id=7

[monty]

More from Deborah Jordan, Pete Santilli's co-host, on Cliven Bundy's hearing today . . . . . .

The Oath with SSG Moe

1 hr ·

Update from Deb:
TODAY'S BIG NEWS -- CLIVEN BUNDY'S ATTORNEY RESPECTFULLY ASK JUDGE GLORIA NAVARRO TO RECUSE HERSELF FROM CASE-

With confidence, Joel Hansen, Attorney for Cliven Bundy, asked Judge Navarro to recuse herself from the Bundy case on the grounds that because of a lawsuit filed against her, Harry Reid and Barack Obama early this morning, she has now been put in a position of direct conflict of interest. Mr. Hansen also pointed out that he believes the fact that she was directly appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama by the suggestion of Harry Reid also creates a clear conflict of interest.

The federal lawsuit seeks to remove Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro from the case, an order allowing Washington, D.C., lawyer Larry Klayman to join Bundy’s defense team and more than $50 million in damages. The suit also seeks Bundy’s release from federal custody.

Mr. Hansen gave us all a little peek into what the future theme of his case will be -- Accusation by the defense that Harry Reid played a major role in what happened in Bunkerville in 2014 creates an immediate conflict of interest when it comes to Judge Navarro's ability to oversee this case without bias.

Mr. Hansen also eluded to her possibly being assigned to this case directly by Harry Reid himself.
Finally this Judge finds herself having to defend her position as puppet judge for Harry Reid and the United States Government.

“In short, defendant Navarro has shown her true intentions and bias and prejudice, rising to the level of denying Sixth Amendment right of counsel and to a speedy trial to plaintiff Bundy, following the ‘marching orders’ of her benefactors, defendants Harry Reid and Obama,” attorney Joel Hansen alleges in the complaint.

Key points made by the the defense left Prosecutor Steven Myre at a loss for words -- He was pleading with the judge for her ruling today over whether Mr. Bundy should stay in prison until his hearing which is said to be as far away as February or March of 2017 .. she refused his demand and set a May 25th date to give her ruling -- A ruling that may never come if she recuses herself from this case.

When Myre suggested that it was ridiculous to assume she should recuse herself because she was appointed by Harry Reid and that all Judges are suggested by one politician or the other -- Mr. Hansen answered him by suggesting that maybe it would be wise to appoint a Judge from another STATE who was at the very least not appointed by Harry Reid.

The People agree.

http://gold-silver.us/forum/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=76866

[monty]

Page 9 and ten of Cliven Bundy's lawsuit against Obama, Harry Reid, Rory Reid, Gloria Navarro

http://www.clivenbundydefensefund.co...0Complaint.pdf

[COLOR=rgb(0.000000%, 0.000000%, 100.000000%)]Case 2:16-cv-01047 Document 1 Filed 05/10/16 Page 9 of 17

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1. It is widely known that Klayman is Arpaio’s lawyer as this has been widely reported in themedia both domestically and internationally, and he too by virtue of his representation ofArpaio has been falsely accused of being anti-Latino, even though he represented the LatinoRepublicans of Arizona in litigation of SB-1070, which was a state immigration bill thatresulted in litigation all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and was intended to allow lawenforcement to more easily take action against illegal immigrants in Maricopa County andelsewhere in Arizona.
   
   
   
2. Sheriff Arpaio, Klayman’s client, supported SB-1070.
   
   
   
3. Again, in the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Questionnaire for Judicial
   Nominees, Defendant Navarro stated with regard to “Potential Conflicts of Interest” that“My husband is a Chief Deputy District Attorney for Clark County. Although he does notpractice in federal court, individuals who he has prosecuted or may in the future prosecutemay be or become party or petitioner in a federal court case. If I am confirmed as a judge, Iexpect to recuse from any case where my husband has prosecuted a party or petitioner.”Defendant Navarro concluded by stating “If confirmed as a judge, I will handle all mattersinvolving actual or potential conflicts of interest.” As set forth above Defendant HARRYREID, acting in concert with the other Defendants, asked the District Attorney for ClarkCounty to also prosecute Plaintiff BUNDY and his family, and presumably this request isstill pending. Contrary the representations she made to the Senate Judiciary Committeeduring her confirmation process, Defendant NAVARRO has not recused herself.
   
   
   
4. Following the arrest and indictment of Plaintiff BUNDY, in order to telegraph to andinstruct Defendant Navarro his desire not to see Bundy released from solitary confinementin prison, convicted and otherwise bankrupted and otherwise harmed such that DefendantsHARRY and RORY REID could obtain and sell the Bundy’s land for their own profit or
   

[COLOR=rgb(0.000000%, 0.000000%, 100.000000%)]Case 2:16-cv-01047 Document 1 Filed 05/10/16 Page 10 of 17

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kickbacks, as both are highly corrupt, Defendant HARRY REID had publicly published inthe Las Vegas Review Journal and other media as a means to communicate and instructDefendant NAVARRO on how to proceed against Defendant BUNDY and to poison anyjury pool at trial.



By JEFF GERMAN

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL


With the “outrageous lawbreaker” Cliven Bundy and four of his sons in custody, U.S.Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada took to the Senate floor Thursday to renew his push topreserve the scenic Gold Butte area northeast of Las Vegas.
Reid proposed a congressional bill in 2013 to create a national conservation area at GoldButte, a region of rugged mountains, sandstone ridges and Native Americanpetroglyphs.


But the bill has stalled, and the Democratic leader in his Senate speech accused thedefiant Bundy family of blocking daily efforts by federal officers to protect the land.


“Because of trouble caused by the Bundys and their pals, the federal employees taskedwith safely guarding these antiquities, were prevented from doing their jobs,” he said.“These employees have been under constant physical and mental threat for doing whatthe American people have tasked them to do


The senator still has hopes that President Barack Obama will preserve Gold Butte,something he has the power to do under the law. Obama has made such declarations inthe past to protect federal land in Nevada.


Reid also called attention in his speech to the armed takeover of a government wildliferefuge in Oregon earlier this year “by a dangerous group of militants” that includedBundy family members.


“This particular episode of domestic terrorism has roots in Nevada, I’m sorry to say,”Reid told his colleagues. “They were led by the sons of Cliven Bundy. Cliven who, aswe speak, is where he should be — in jail.”


Reid said the Bundy patriarch has been “breaking federal laws for decades,” adding,“I’m disappointed that some of my colleagues supported this outrageous lawbreaker.”


Bundy is in federal custody facing 16 felony charges stemming from the April 12, 2014,armed standoff with law enforcement near his Bunkerville ranch, which is part of theGold Butte area.




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[monty]

Message from Shelly Shelton, State Asemblywoman from Nevada:

What we are seeing today is the fulfillment of predictions made by the founding fathers.

I'd like to discuss a few here. The founding fathers set boundaries for the federal government in the text of the constitution.

They ensured that the right to free speech was memorialized in the first amendment. This cherished right has always been hated and despised by those who wish to keep the people in a state of ignorance and obedience. We clearly saw this in full effect as politicians and law enforcers did everything they could to stop Ammon Bundy from spreading the knowledge of constitutional boundaries to townspeople in and around Burns Oregon. That knowledge was referred to as a "virus". This is exactly what the founding fathers expected would happen.

The founders ensured the right to peaceably assemble.

Throughout history citizens have been armed for their own safety during protests, some openly, some concealed. Americans do not give up the right of self protection when they pick up a protest sign. This was ensured by the second amendment which is equal in importance to the first. The idea that citizens can only protest while unarmed is a modern one that flies in the face of everything the founders stood for.

Peaceably means without conflict or violence. There is nothing violent about holding a sign, nor holding a firearm. Violence occurs then those objects are used to harm others. It is not violent to invite townspeople to stop by and join. It is not violent to meet with and shake hands with Law Enforcement.

The protesters from Oregon to Bunkerville facing charges are illustrations of just how far we have let our country go in the wrong direction.

Their free speech has been changed to "conspiracy" and "assault" on an officer.

Their right to bear arms has been changed to "use of a firearm" when committing a "crime".

Their right to assemble has been changed to some sort of interstate crime just because they took their protest outside the boundaries of their home state.

This is what happens when government does exactly what the founders predicted.

When the boundaries of the constitution are not respected, and those in government who overstep those boundaries are not removed from their position and punished, we end up with exactly the broken government and society they warned us about.

Assemblywoman Shelly Shelton, District 10 Nevada.

http://www.rancherlivesmatter.com

[monty]

BLM Special Agent Dan Love

PUBLIC LANDS:

The Bundy witness BLM won't talk about

Phil Taylor, E&E reporter

Greenwire: Wednesday, May 11, 2016Correction appended.

As federal prosecutors seek to convict Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy for his role in a near-violent standoff two years ago with the Bureau of Land Management, they'll likely turn to a brawny special agent named Dan Love.

With his Oakley shades, armored vest and ball cap turned backward, Love in 2014 stood feet from hundreds of protesters -- many brandishing guns -- who were poised to storm BLM's cattle corrals about 7 miles from Bundy's private ranch northeast of Las Vegas.

Testimony from Love, with his eye-level view of the standoff, could be key to the government's successful prosecution of Bundy; his sons Ammon, Ryan, Mel and Dave; and other alleged standoff leaders including Ryan Payne and Pete Santilli.

http://www.eenews.net/image_assets/2...sset_11500.jpg
Dan Love. Photo by BLM Nevada, courtesy of Flickr.

Cliven Bundy, 70, orchestrated the "massive armed assault" against Love and his fellow officers in 2014, prosecutors said, to threaten them into abandoning the roughly 400 cattle BLM had rounded up from public lands. The men face charges that could put them behind bars for decades.

Love, who has been described as muscular, tall and quick-witted, is both loved and reviled in Nevada and Utah, where he's BLM's top cop. He worked for the Federal Air Marshal Service from 2002 to 2006 and has been with BLM for roughly a decade, based in Salt Lake City.

Critics say Love has a massive ego and lacks the gravitas needed to navigate the red-hot politics of federal land management in those states.

Yet allies praise Love for keeping BLM employees, citizens and priceless natural resources safe. His composure and restraint during the April 12, 2014, standoff near Bunkerville may have saved lives, they said.

"He's one of those people you either work well with or you don't like his style," said Pat Irwin, a two-term commissioner of Pershing County, Nev., who worked with Love on BLM's law enforcement during the annual Burning Man festival.

Love has led some of BLM's most challenging law enforcement operations in states where federal authority is often not welcomed.

Love was the lead agent in BLM's two-year, undercover investigation with the FBI nearly a decade ago into illegal Native American artifact trafficking in the Four Corners region that resulted in the arrest of more than two dozen people and the suicide of a well-respected local doctor. In 2008, Love arrested and helped prosecute environmental activist Tim DeChristopher for disrupting a BLM oil and gas lease sale in Salt Lake City that critics said imperiled Arches National Park and the climate.

Love also prodded Burning Man to provide "VIP" accommodations for agency officials during the weeklong festival on public lands in the Black Rock Desert, a request that drew ridicule from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and national embarrassment for BLM.

Love's credibility and reputation will be key if he's called to the witness stand in the Bundy case. The Justice Department said it plans to call between 30 and 45 witnesses and present more than a terabyte of evidence.

BLM refused to allow Love, his law enforcement superiors or its state directors to comment for this article. Nor would BLM answer basic questions about Love's professional resume -- when he was hired, his age, where he previously worked and his law enforcement qualifications.

Many other former and current officials likewise declined to comment. They include Carlie Christensen and Brett Tolman, former U.S. attorneys for the District of Utah who worked directly with Love during the Blanding artifacts raid; Larry Shackelford, who was special agent in charge before Love and supervised him; former BLM Director Bob Abbey; and former BLM Nevada State Director Amy Lueders, who worked with Love during the Bunkerville incident and is now BLM's New Mexico state director.

BLM's silence in the face of Love's critics is puzzling given the high stakes in the Bundy case and the desire of many BLM employees to see Bundy behind bars.

One former government official familiar with the issue said that Utah's congressional delegation wants Love relocated from his post and that BLM leadership appears amenable to making that happen.

"It's unfortunate that Dan has become something of a political pawn," said the official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. "There are clearly elements in the agency who would prefer he simply fade away, in part to appease Hill critics."

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) in March introduced H.R. 4751, a bill to eliminate BLM and Forest Service law enforcement and transfer policing powers on federal lands to local sheriffs. Chaffetz said his constituents want to see a "little more Andy Griffith and a little less Rambo" from BLM law enforcement officers.

He's not a fan of Love.

"There's one common denominator where things have gone wrong: It's Dan Love," Chaffetz said in an interview. "The Department of Interior knows how to solve this problem; thus far, they've decided not to do that."

A Chaffetz spokeswoman declined to elaborate on what that solution is.
Sheriffs in Utah don't like Love, either. They see him as heavy-handed and dismissive of local authority.

Love oversaw BLM's decision in 2012 to allow several contracts with local sheriffs to expire, according to BLM's former Utah State Director Juan Palma. The contracts, which reimburse sheriffs for providing enhanced law enforcement patrols on federal lands, were a bad deal for taxpayers, BLM has said. Local sheriffs saw BLM's decision as retaliation for the state's bid to take over federal lands.

"Dan's lost a lot of trust with the sheriffs, so he's got some hills to climb," Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins said.

Yet Love has taken steps to mend relations, Perkins said.

"He is making more of an effort -- how genuine it is, I don't know," Perkins said. "I don't hate Dan Love. In fact, he's kind of comical to be around."

'Not real pleased'

BLM's law enforcement division includes about 195 uniformed rangers who patrol federal lands and write citations for things like illegal off-road driving and target shooting. BLM also employs about 70 special agents, plainclothes officers who specialize in long-term investigations of crimes like theft of paleontological and archaeological resources or illegal marijuana grows. Love is among five special agents in charge who lead the special agents.

Love was a special agent when he joined BLM's investigation of illegal artifacts trading in the Four Corners, which was known as Operation Cerberus Action. By June 2009, Love was the lead BLM case agent for the operation.

He enlisted the help of Ted Gardiner, a 50-year-old recovering alcoholic and dealer of Anasazi artifacts, as a confidential informant. Gardner wore a hidden camera to record deals with southeast Utah residents, spending $335,685 in government money to buy 256 artifacts. On the morning of June 10, 2009, the FBI and BLM simultaneously served search and arrest warrants at a dozen homes and more than two dozen people were arrested.

Two of the defendants later committed suicide, including James Redd, 60, a respected doctor from Blanding who connected a hose from his car's exhaust pipe to asphyxiate himself. Redd's family later sued Love in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, alleging he violated Redd's Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force to "make an example" out of him. Judge Richard Shelby last December dismissed the case after finding Love's conduct reasonable.

Love was named BLM's "agent of the year" for the operation, according to the Los Angeles Times, and was promoted to special agent in charge for Utah and Nevada. Prosecutors and American Indians called Cerberus a success, arguing it recovered truckloads of illegally obtained antiquities, raised awareness of the artifacts trade and deterred future trafficking.

But the raid -- in which 150 agents wearing bulletproof vests searched houses and hauled away suspects in handcuffs and shackles, according to the Deseret News -- sowed deep distrust of BLM law enforcement and local resentment of Love.

"A lot of people in Utah are not real pleased with him," said Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). "There are some problems that I think have to be ironed out."

Love defended the operation in 2011, telling the Deseret News that "I would be hard-pressed to find any law enforcement officer across the country that when serving an arrest warrant or a search warrant isn't properly geared." The arrests were carried out in unison, officials said, to prevent defendants from fleeing or destroying evidence.

Pat Shea, who served as BLM director during the Clinton administration and is now a Salt Lake City defense attorney, is also among Love's critics. Shea represented DeChristopher, the fraudulent oil and gas bidder whom Love arrested and helped prosecute.

"To be a federal law enforcement officer in 2016 requires the ultimate form of diplomacy," Shea said. "Your first tool is persuasion. The last tool after careful planning is ordering or force."

Bundy standoff

Critics said Love's go-it-alone mentality failed BLM during the Bunkerville impoundment. They blame Love's sour relationship with former Clark County, Nev., Sheriff Doug Gillespie, whose assistance could have lent the operation more legitimacy in the eyes of conservative protesters, many of whom refused to acknowledge BLM's jurisdiction over the lands.

BLM had tried for months to secure a contract with Gillespie and his Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to assist in crowd control at Gold Butte, but the deal crumbled at the eleventh hour. Gillespie later told the Las Vegas Sun that BLM misled him about the circumstances of the impoundment, an allegation BLM denied.

Love's allies said he was an honest broker with Gillespie but the sheriff betrayed him.
Gillespie declined to comment for this article.

As tensions escalated in Bunkerville -- on April 12, hundreds of Bundy supporters amassed in front of Love and his fellow rangers, with more than 60 brandishing firearms, according to prosecutors -- Love negotiated with Ammon Bundy at the corral gates for a peaceful end to the impoundment.
"In a highly volatile situation with heavily armed antagonists, Love negotiated a peaceful resolution," said Celia Boddington, who was serving as BLM's assistant director for communications at the time and is now retired. "When all is said and done, he was the person most responsible for ensuring that nobody got killed that day. While many are eager to play Monday morning quarterback, history will judge him kindly."

Prosecutors say protesters targeted Love during and after the roundup.
In an indictment, prosecutors said Santilli approached Love on the morning of April 9 and threatened him by asking, "What are you guys going to do if 10,000 people show up? ... Are you prepared for this?"

Santilli that day told Love that BLM law enforcement officers would be arrested and sent to jail, according to a recorded conversation between the two.

"I don't know how you plan on arresting me, but good luck with that," Love said in the recording. "That's not going to end well for you."

Santilli's attorneys last week said that Santilli was acting as a mediator in that conversation and that the tone of the conversation remained "respectful." There were no threats against Love, they said.

In November 2014, Santilli and an unnamed associate left Love a voice message threatening his family, prosecutors wrote in a legal filing last month in the Nevada federal district court.
"You are outnumbered," Santilli said, according to the filing. "My listenership alone, OK, will respond to Bundy Ranch if you go anywhere near it. I need to tell you that ... we don't recognize the BLM. We don't recognize your authority. We will have your guns taken away. We will have you incarcerated."

Santilli was arrested by the FBI on Jan. 26 for his role in the 40-day Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation. He faces separate charges over that incident in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

The leaders of the Bunkerville standoff face felony charges of threatening a federal law officer, conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, assault on a federal officer and other charges that could put them in prison for decades. A trial is set for next February in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.

Love's allies credit him with drawing a line in the sand against anti-federal-lands activists bent on toppling BLM's control. Conservationists have hammered the Obama administration for backing down in the Bundy roundup and for failing to prosecute past incidents on public lands, which critics say enabled the Malheur takeover.

"He's very passionate about what he does, and perhaps that causes ire with others," said one former BLM law enforcement official who asked not to be named. "There's ego. All cops have egos. If you're going to be in this business, you have to have some."

Burning Man

Burning Man officials can attest to Love's bravado.

On Jan. 10, 2014, Love walked into a BLM meeting with top Burning Man officials at the festival's San Francisco headquarters wearing mirrored sunglasses and a Glock pistol on his hip, according to multiple sources.

"Talk about a passive, peace-loving place," said Mike Ford, a former BLM official who was at the meeting and was consulting for Burning Man organizers at the time. "That heavy, macho, armed attitude, that doesn't serve the agency well."

A year later, a Reno Gazette-Journal investigation revealed BLM -- Love in particular -- had demanded the festival provide enhanced accommodations for agency officials, including flush toilets and access to Choco Tacos, M&Ms, licorice and Chobani Greek yogurt, in exchange for receiving a permit to operate.

BLM later backpedaled on the request and has since removed Love from the role of negotiating Burning Man's permit.

"It's no great secret we've been frustrated with BLM law enforcement in the past," said Burning Man spokesman Jim Graham. "BLM brought in a new management team just before the event in 2015, and we've seen a marked improvement in our working relationships."

Irwin, the Pershing County commissioner, defended Love's work at Burning Man. He called Love a "good interface" who has done "a really good job as an advocate of public safety in Pershing County."

Burning Man annually draws upward of 70,000 revelers to a remote desert playa north of Reno for eccentric and fiery art installations. As festival attendance grows, the number of BLM personnel needed to oversee the event has doubled to 160 over the past five years, BLM told the Associated Press last year. The agency said it is running out of places to house them in nearby Gerlach, Nev.
"When I've got a law enforcement guy working out there on a 12- to 14-hour shift, I want him to have a place where he can relax, rest and rejuvenate," Irwin said. "They need to get some good sleep to be sharp and on top of their game."

BLM and county law enforcement don't come to the event for fun but rather to ensure no one gets hurt, he said.

"I could see where he's coming from," Irwin said of Love. "I can see where taking care of my guys is important."

Reporter Kevin Bogardus contributed.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated which committee Sen. Orrin Hatch leads.

Twitter: @philipataylor Email: ptaylor@eenews.net

http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060037048