Months after the tense standoff between federal authorities and protesters at the Bundy Ranch, the Department of Homeland Security produced a report warning that potentially violent uprisings against a growing federal government could result across the U.S.
Among the judgments outlined in the DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis report is the fear that a “perceived victory” by demonstrators at the Bunkerville ranch would “prompt more violence.”
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While militias from surrounding states responded to the show of force by armed Bureau of Land Management agents in April, the report seeks to tie a subsequent shooting to the standoff.
“Violent anti-government extremists Jerad Dwain Miller and Amanda Renee Miller ambushed and killed two Las Vegas Metropolitan police officers at a local restaurant on 8 June,” the report asserted.
Although the pair was reportedly at the Bundy Ranch during the standoff, it quickly became clear that they were actually far-left supporters of the Occupy movement who were forced to leave the Nevada demonstration by the peaceful protesters leading the demonstration.
Nevertheless, the DHS report paints the murderous couple as indistinguishable from the citizens who opposed the BLM’s ambush at the Bundy Ranch.
“At least three incidents in 2014 appear to have a connection to the events in Bunkerville based on open source and law enforcement reporting,” the analysis alleges.
In addition to the bizarre shootings by the Millers, DHS cites two isolated comments by purported militia members ostensibly calling for violence against federal agents.
“After years of only sporadic violence from violent domestic extremists motivated by anti-government ideologies,” the report continued, “I&A has seen a spike within the past year in violence committed by militia extremists and lone offenders who hold violent anti-government beliefs.”
By using a variant of the word ‘violent’ four times in one sentence, it seems clear that DHS wants to portray critics of an encroaching federal government as dangerous–despite any real evidence aside from anecdotal claims to support its position.