The following is the personal account of a female Los Angeles attorney who drove Bunkersville, Nevada, to support besieged rancher Cliven Bundy:
I rolled into Laughlin really early, like 5:30 am. So many people had shown up, that we decided to leave in groups. A second group to leave at 8 AM as scheduled. Ours was a big group too. About two dozen cars, loaded with passengers.
The highway was almost empty until near Mesquite. Then it was a traffic jam. Motor homes, campers, ATVs running along side the freeway, motorcyles, vehicles, every thing you could possibly imagine. Everyone on their way to Bunkersville.
Then it [the traffic] about stopped, just inching along.
Word traveled down the traffic line that the feds had blocked the road just out of Mesquite and were searching vehicles for weapons and cell phones. Cell phones were confiscated and smashed. The people were given a chit for $30.00 redemption value. I left my phone at home.
Some of us that had four wheel drives decided to just leave the road and head overland. As we got closer to the ridge, we were stopped by armed militia. We could not go any further. We could wait, or turn around and go back to the road. Men, who I suspect were special forces, had climbed the ridge from the back side and captured the snipers. They were at that moment coming down the ridge to take them to Mesquite where they would be let go. They weren’t prisoners, they were just going to be replaced by friendlies.
Because of the roadblock on I-15, people refused to be searched, and refused to turn back. They just pulled off the road and parked. It was like a dam backing up a river. Soon the feds were trapped between the Americans who had already gotten through, and the Americans who had been stopped on the highway. The BLM agents went into full panic mode and called for help. LVPD [Las Vegas Police Department] who had REFUSED to show up to help Americans HAD to show up to rescue BLM that was now trapped and helpless. The blockade was SEVEN MILES LONG! That’s a potload of people.
A group of armed Americans along with local cowboys went to Mesquite to liberate the cows that had been confiscated and held by BLM. They were being driven back home in an old fashioned cattle drive. The feds say it was voluntary [that they voluntarily returned the confiscated cattle to Bundy], don’t believe it.
I was basically standing around twiddling my thumbs when the word came down that the Director of BLM had surrendered and all forces would be withdrawn. I could not go on. The road was blocked and would be blocked probably for the rest of the day at least. A bunch of us turned around and left. It was over.
There were THOUSANDS of people there, and more arriving every minute. The ranch, Gold Butte, the entire area was completely surrounded by Americans. The highway was completely blocked in both directions of people trying to get through. Everyone was very peaceful and friendly. No fights or anything. There was a rumor in the line, that some of the mercenaries hired by the feds had defected and were now on the side of the Americans.
I came back and immediately saw this [the media's] pack of lies and half truths.
At one point, I-15 was closed in both directions, about seven miles south of Mesquite, because protesters had blocked the freeway. Nearly two dozen police officers and a SWAT unit were at the scene to keep the peace and assist the BLM enforcement officers to safely leave the area. They were scared crapless!
H/t FOTM’s Miss May
~Eowyn