. . . That doesn't really pass the scrutiny of real life. The types who showed up to his ranch are no different than the kind of people who show up to any protest, be it against wall street, or the UN, or whaling, it's just the specific flavor and the issue that changes.
Accusing a rancher of forming his ranch into a psuedo-feudal system is more than a little ridiculous.
No, I perfectly meant illegal. It's illegal for the federal government to take personal property without the approval of the State (and Nevada specifically disagreed with the Federal decision here). More likely though, the presence of armed protesters is an incredible, incredible deterrent to police brutality.
The government took over the management of land that'd been grazed by his family for literally decades and legal action was pursed by both sides in a bunch of different courts for a number of years. When court cases continued to decide in favor of Bundy, the government's response was to force the issue with the threat of force.
Sorry bro, as someone who makes his bread and butter by being naked government force, the act of motivated, organized protesters kinda shows that the government is in the wrong. If it issue isn't important enough for BLM to escalate, then it's not exactly the kind of issue worth trying to back charge a guy for decades of arguable use of land
Also, desert tortoises are a causis beli here, note. The actual purpose behind all the legal maneuvering is BLM trying to force cattle off the land to allow mineral rights to be leased.