News 3 LVLAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) — A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to threatening a top official of the Bureau of Land Management during the standoff between Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy and federal agents in April 2014.
Will Michael, 24 pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of threatening a federal law enforcement officer and to interstate communication threats, the Review-Journal reported Tuesday.
Michael was accused of sending threatening phone messages to Mike Roop, the chief BLM ranger for Oregon and Washington, after he saw an April 9, 2014, online video of Roop removing Bundy’s sister, Margaret Houston, from blocking BLM vehicles outside the family’s Bunkerville ranch, Review-Journal writer Jeff German reported.
A federal indictment of Michael was returned in Portland, Ore. The case later was transferred to Philadelphia , where the defendant pleaded guilty while in custody.
The confrontation at the Bundy ranch began when BLM agents and rangers tried to enforce a federal court order to confiscate the rancher’s cattle in partial payment for more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees.
Ultimately, the BLM backed off and returned the cattle to Bundy, promising to pursue his violations of federal law through other means.
Meanwhile, threats to the Bundy family and the people protecting him are not being brought to court. The hypocrisy is so outrageous.
Threatening federal agents who are conducting illegal operations should be protected by the 1st Amendment.