Lawmaker On Bundy Standoff: BLM Should Not Have ‘Paramilitary Units’

[Stephanie]

Obama promised to transform us, give's you the warm fuzzies? and to see some people cheering this is what's frightening and sickening..CALL your Representatives and DEMAND all these agencies be DEFUNDED NOW
links in article at site

SNIP:



Protesters gather at the Bureau of Land Management


Lawmaker On Bundy Standoff: BLM Should Not Have ‘Paramilitary Units’

4:55 PM 04/30/2014
U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican, condemned that paramilitary powers of U.S. federal regulatory agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, which put its policing power to frightening use during the standoff at Cliven Bundy’s cattle ranch earlier this month.

“There are lots of people who are really concerned when the BLM shows up with its own SWAT team,” said Stewart, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “They’re regulatory agencies; they’re not paramilitary units, and I think that concerns a lot of us.”The dispute between BLM and Bundy concerned the rancher’s cattle-grazing practices. The BLM claimed that federal lands — including endangered tortoise habitats–were threatened by the cattle, and that Bundy owed millions of dollars in unpaid taxes. The organization dispatched armed agents and four-wheelers to the property and besieged the ranch for several days, provoking a brief conflict with Bundy’s family and supporters.

(RELATED: Harry Reid: Cliven Bundy And Supporters Are ‘Domestic Terrorists’)

The use of tasers on protesters and establishment of a “free speech zone” concerned many civil libertarians.

Eventually, BLM agents withdrew from the area, citing safety concerns.

Stewart said that regardless of whether Bundy was right or wrong, policing power should be left up to local authorities, not federal agencies.

all of it here
Read more: Lawmaker On Bundy Standoff: BLM Should Not Have 'Paramilitary Units' | The Daily Caller

 

[WinterBorn]

It is only in recent years that many agencies have begun arming their people.

The US Forestry dept was one that did not arm their people. Nor did the dept over the park rangers. I worked as a park ranger in a National Forest when I was much younger. One of the complaints I had was their method of dealing with violence. If I was attacked I was to drop to the ground and curl up into a ball. One of my friends was attacked, did what was suggested, and spent a month in the hospital. He got off easy.

 

[JakeStarkey]

I am very glad that Chris and Jason's folks listened.

And determine if local law enforcement is reliable.

If not, bring in federal paramilitary units as back up whose mission are security, not land management.