Commentary: Former Nevada Congressman Steven Horsford, who represented the district encompassing the Bundy Ranch until 2015, and the Center for Western Priorities today released a petition urging all elected officials to call for an end to threats of violence against public lands employees and cease incendiary rhetoric that fans these flames.
Direct threats against civil servants have come into sharper focus after armed militant extremists seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, but this is not an isolated incident. An investigation by High Country News found that public lands employees have been subject to dozens of assaults, threats, and other violent tactics over the last several years.
Inflammatory political rhetoric, such as a county commissioner comparing the Bureau of Land Management to the Gestapo, a House committee chairman expressing sympathy for the armed militants this morning, and one presidential candidate calling the Bundy supporters “pretty upstanding people” also contributes to the situation.
“Kudos to the politicians who have already condemned the takeover of federal property in Oregon by anti-government extremists,” said former Rep. Steven Horsford, who represented Nevada's 4th district, home to the Bundy Ranch, until 2015. “Our elected leaders must go further and decisively denounce groups that have consistently supported anti-government activity and worked to undermine the authority of the U.S. government. They must also put an end to their own anti-government rhetoric and political grandstanding that inflames actions like we’re seeing in Oregon.”
Jennifer Rokala, Executive Director at CWP, continued, “Park rangers and public lands employees face an epidemic of threats. These public servants work tirelessly to safeguard America’s public lands for our generation and the next. Just like every other American serving our country, these men and women deserve to have a workplace that is safe from violence.”
CWP authored a report in 2015 connecting the dots between politicians advocating for land seizure in Western states and militia groups like the Oath Keepers, the III%ers, and the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. The report, Going to Extremes, is available atwesternpriorities.org/extremes/. The High Country News’ Defuse the West can be found atwww.hcn.org/issues/46.18/defuse-the-west
Rep. Steven Horsford, Jennifer Rokala, and report author Jessica Goad are available for video and audio interviews. To schedule an interview, or for more information, contact media director Aaron Weiss at aaron@westernpriorities.org or 720-279-0019.