Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy may have been partly to blame for his standoff with federal authorities, but the government's stunning show of force was disturbing and wrong, says Arizona State Rep. Kelly Townsend.
"I can't recognize my country [if] that's how we handle these very simple solutions that didn't have to escalate to this point, these simple solutions could have prevented all of this," she told John Bachman and J.D. Hayworth on "America's Forum" on Newsmax TV.
Story continues below video.
"What they chose to do was round up these cattle, break the water infrastructure, surround the property with snipers, throw a 50-year-old cancer survivor to her knees so hard that it tore her pants . . . [and these were] unbelievable tactics on how to clear this land so they can put up solar panels," Townsend said.
Townsend was referring to allegations that the
government's motivation in confronting Bundy was to use the disputed federal land as part of a Chinese energy company's plan for a proposed solar field.
Reports suggest that plan was scrapped almost a year ago, but it has nonetheless fanned the flames of outrage at the government's response, which Townsend said was over the line.
She said Bundy was in the wrong, too, for not having paid fees to graze his cattle on federal property for 20 years.
"I think that Mr. Bundy needs to pay his fees . . . so, buy some fence and fence it off, what's the big deal?" she said. "I'm not getting why this has to be a Waco situation."
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.