RENO, Nev. (AP) — U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials said they agree with a Nevada sheriff’s position that rancher Cliven Bundy must be held accountable for his role in an April standoff between his armed supporters and the federal agency.
Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Bundy crossed the line when he allowed states’ rights supporters, including self-proclaimed militia members, upon his property to aim guns at police.
The case remains under investigation and the bureau is “working diligently to ensure that those who broke the law are held accountable,” bureau spokeswoman Celia Boddington said in a statement Saturday.
But she disputed Gillespie’s contention that the agency mishandled a roundup of Bundy’s cattle 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, which was thwarted by Bundy and his armed supporters.