Sheriff warns of imminent firefight

Just before armed militia members began moving to assault the BLM compound, Bundy orders Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie to forcibly disarm all federal agents in the area. Bundy says in part:

You disarm those Park service people. You take a pick-up [truck] and I want those arms. We want those arms picked up, don’t we? Call Riley Disposal and go up here to this compound [indicating his ranch house] and we want all of those arms put in that compound taday! We want those arms delivered right here under these flags in one hour!

Gillespie ignores the command. Instead, Gillespie calls the governor, federal officials and others, warning of a potential bloodbath. Conservative talk show hosts such as Fox News’s Sean Hannity have helped whip the militia members into a frenzy, he says, and violence is imminent. Gillespie later says:

We saw all the guns. We knew the potential. These militia guys were very well armed.

Gillespie is worried that an accidental discharge of a weapon would precipitate an all-out firefight.