Bundy, supporters celebrate victory

Bundy and his supporters celebrate victory after the BLM decides to end the confiscation of his cattle. He addresses a crowd outside his ranch by shouting:

Good morning, America! Good morning, world! Isn’t it a beautiful day in Bunkerville? … We the people in this area have nothing to fear. We can carry our weapons if we like because we have Second Amendment rights, and those are God-given rights. Those Second Amendment rights are our rights. But, and I say ‘but,’ because we don’t have to carry them right now because we’re afraid. I’m telling you that right now. Because there’s been a lot of people who’ve been afraid, and I know that feeling. Just yesterday evening I was really afraid. … Today, we have been confirmed by our creator that we do not have to be afraid. This is his battle. This is his battle.

Bundy’s son Ammon claims that the hills around the ranch were filled with federal snipers, but, “We sent them packing.” He adds, “We won the battle,” referencing others’ description of the standoff as the “Battle of Bunkerville,” comparing to the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Bunker Hill. Cattle rancher Brent Mackelprang of Arizon says the decision to seize Bundy’s cattle had nothing to do with “the supposedly endangered” desert tortoise and was instead an excuse “to go in and grab land from the people.” The government’s entire conservativation efforts are “nothing but a lie,” he says:

It’s not about the turtle or the cactus or the spotted owl. This is all about the federal government overstepping its bounds like it always does and thinking it owns the world. Well, we’re here to say that it doesn’t. But if you’re a rancher and you’re living on the Colorado Plateau, then you’re going to need some luck to make a living.