So we have a rancher who owes the government a ton of money but refuses to pay his bills. The rancher doesn't believe that the federal government has authority over him or even exists. When the authorities try to collect payment from the rancher, the rancher calls out for help to militia members. Armed individuals descend on the ranch and intimidate the government employees from doing their duty. Plans are made to use women and children as human shields against the tyrannical government. Oh, the rancher is also a racist to boot.
Cliven Bundy? Yes, but I'm also talking about a Montana rancher by the name of Ralph Clark who was a member of the Freemen "patriot" movement. Ralph Clark and the Freemen kept the federal government at bay for 81 days before surrendering in 1996. So I have seen this movie with Cliven Bundy before.
Ralph Clark got into financial trouble in the 1980s, and he used over $676,000 dollars in federal subsidies to keep his ranch afloat. When his ranch was foreclosed on, Clark refused to go. In fact, Clark threatened the local cops who tried to evict him with a shotgun. Clark was able to hold off eviction for two years with his repeated threats of violence.
Meanwhile, Clark had blamed the federal government for his financial problems. This burning hatred of the federal government lead Clark to fall in with a "patriot" group in Montana known as the "Freemen." The Freemen believed that all government was tyrannical. Examples of government tyranny were paying taxes, driver licenses, and registering vehicles.
The Freemen abused the legal system by filling phony liens against individuals and businesses. The banking system listed the liens as assets. The Freemen utilized the fake assets to create bogus money orders, which they deposited into another bank. Before either bank realized that the assets did not exist, the Freemen would use the money orders to pay bills or buy goods.
In other words, the Freemen were con artists and crooks.
The fraud did not stop at fake money orders and bad checks. The Freemen believed that they could also print their own currency because the Federal Reserve was illegal. And they set up a school for others in the militia movement to learn how to defraud others using their techniques. The Freemen set up their criminal activities at Clark's ranch.
To prevent arrest, the Freemen threatened local officials with kidnapping and death. If Freemen were arrested, other Freemen would show up brandishing weapons at the local police station. The local police and other government officials asked the FBI to step in for help. Finally, two of the Freemen leaders were lured off Clark's ranch and arrested. This precipitated the 81 day stand off with the federal government to arrest the rest of the Freemen.
To prevent another Waco, the feds brought in other crazies like Bo Gritz to negotiate with the Freemen. Not only were the Freeman heavily armed, but there were several women and children at the Clark ranch, or as the Freemen called it now "Justus Township." So the feds were wary of rushing in.
Gritz,managed with other negotiators to get the women and children to surrender to the feds. However, Gritz grew disgusted with the Freemen. It became abundantly clear to Gritz that the Freemen were hiding behind the women and children, and furthermore, Gritz denounced the Freeman as frauds and not true patriot movement believers.
It probably didn't help that before the standoff began many other so called patriots showed up for classes taught by the Freemen, or some heard about the Freemen and their "cause" and decided to move out to Montana to help. Turns out that many of the Montana Freeman wannabees were fugitives on the run. And others were racists and anti-Semites of the Christian Identity movement. And yes, Clark was a raging bigot, so he welcomed the new additions to his ranch.
Finally, the Freemen realized that they were beat, and they decided to surrender after 81 days. Many of their group were tried and sent to prison on a long list of charges. And the arrests and convictions were applauded by many of the locals in Montana.
As I mentioned earlier, Cliven Bundy is a repeat of the Montana Freemen. Bundy's tirade against African Americans places him squarely in the mainstream of the militia movement, and his political beliefs are a cover for his criminal activities. So I am not surprised by Cliven Bundy and his racist rants. In fact, to bring up Chris Hayes, I "understand" where Cliven Bundy is coming from because this is a sequel to a very bad militia movement movie. The only change are the actors.
And one more note, I'm betting that many of Bundy's armed supporters have outstanding warrants and are fugitives. How else does anyone hang out for weeks at a time at a ranch? Think any of those nuts work or have a steady job? I don't think so.
Eventually, the government will freeze Bundy's assets, and Bundy will be forced to pay. It will all be a matter of time, as the Freemen episode shows.