Cliven and Carol Bundy, right, chat with Churchill County commissioner Bus Scharmann in this Lahontan Valley News file photo.
Cliven Bundy, who went up against the Bureau of Land Management in April protecting his farm and cattle, told of his experience Wednesday night at the fairgrounds.
The Fallon Tea Party sponsored the southern Nevada rancher’s appearance.
Bundy began his speech by saying everyone should be educated about the great land of Nevada and this country.
“We need to have the younger generation present when we’re talking about the Constitution,” Bundy said. “If it wasn’t for our children or grandkids, we wouldn’t be fighting so hard; we fight for the younger generation.”
Bundy said that “we the people” needed to draw a line.
“We need to draw the line and decide if we are a state or a territory of Nevada,” he said.
How was the Constitution created, Bundy asked.
“The Constitution was created by God. God inspired our founding fathers and gave them the inspiration for the Constitution,” he added.
Bundy said President Lincoln acknowledged that Nevada came into statehood under equal footing of the original 13 states with boundaries and with equal representation. “Now let me quote (blogger) Mr. Ed Presley,” Bundy said. “It doesn’t matter what happened before the moment of statehood. What matters is what happens at the moment of statehood.”
At the moment of statehood, the residents received the Constitution of the United States, Bundy said. Nevada became part of the United States as a sovereign state.
“We divided that sovereign state of Nevada into 17 counties,” Bundy said. “We the people are the ones who elect a county commission or a sheriff. We give the sheriff money to protect our property and life and he swore an oath. We the people continue to elect judges and we the people are the jury. We the people have control over our homes and counties.”
Bundy said the federal government abused its power when the BLM decided to block him from his land and take his cattle.
“They shut my operation down,” Bundy said. “They arrived with 100 white vehicles and 200 men in military uniform and guns. They had helicopters they used to round up my cattle, closed the town, put up big pens and abused my cattle and children.”
Bundy’s son, Dave, was arrested by the federal government as he was trying to take pictures of the BLM hauling Bundy’s cattle off, Bundy said. He said his son was stuck in a police car handcuffed for four hours and brought to the federal courthouse in Las Vegas. After hours of interrogation, he was released with no way to get home.
“My son thought he was going to die that day,” Bundy said. “The federal government even abused my sister and threw her on the ground. They ended up tazing my son three times leaving him bloody, and they even set their dogs loose on us.”
The sheriff, police and Nevada Highway Patrol wouldn’t even assist “the people” when we called them for help, Bundy said.
“We the people were standing there protecting ourselves from these different agencies,” Bundy said. “When all of them came into play, we realized that all of their guns were pointing at ‘we the people’.
Bundy said in the heat of everything, the Clark County sheriff helped ease tension with both parties, and the BLM finally left the area.
“We the people need to exercise our freedom and liberty,” Bundy said. “We can’t be told what to do. We lose control by taking money with mandates and we need to stop. The government says I owe $1.2 million in grazing fees but my cattle don’t graze on federal land ... they graze on Nevada land. I own those grazing and water rights so why am I going to pay for something I own? The things that I use are protected by Nevada law.”