Reid calls Bundy supporters ‘domestic terrorists’

Note well: "Reid, the Senate majority leader who is in Las Vegas during Congress’ Easter recess, said he understands there’s a federal task force being set up in order to deal with Bundy, and Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie is involved as well."

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid on Thursday called supporters of Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy “domestic terrorists” because they defended him against a Bureau of Land Management cattle roundup with guns and put their children in harm’s way.

“They’re nothing more than domestic terrorists,” Reid said during an appearance at a Las Vegas Review-Journal “Hashtags & Headlines” event at the Paris. “I repeat: what happened there was domestic terrorism.”

The BLM shut down its weeklong roundup of Bundy’s cattle Saturday after an armed confrontation with militia members who had traveled to Southern Nevada.

Bundy has not paid federal grazing fees for 20 years and owes about $1 million to the government.

Reid, the Senate majority leader who is in Las Vegas during Congress’ Easter recess, said he understands there’s a federal task force being set up in order to deal with Bundy, and Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie is involved as well.

“Clive Bundy does not recognize the United States,” Reid said. “The United States, he says, is a foreign government. He doesn’t pay his taxes. He doesn’t pay his fees. And he doesn’t follow the law. He continues to thumb his nose at authority.”

Reid noted there are two court orders allowing BLM to conduct the roundup of Bundy’s 500 to 900 “trespass cattle.”

“It is an issue we cannot let go, just walk away from,” Reid said.

“There were hundreds, hundreds of people from around the country that came there,” Reid said. “They had sniper rifles in the freeway. They had weapons, automatic weapons. They had children lined up. They wanted to make sure they got hurt first … What if others tried the same thing?”