Incident Summary:
04/12/2014: Several hundred anti-government militia members engaged in an armed standoff with federal and local law enforcement officials along I-15, near Bunkerville, Nevada, United States. The standoff took place against the backdrop of a years-long dispute over cattle grazing rights and federal government jurisdiction between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and rancher Cliven Bundy. Militia members and demonstrators armed with firearms including AR-15 and AK-47 rifles took aim at BLM officers overseeing the seizure of Bundy's cattle. They made anti-government statements on camera and posted online. At least two participants were convicted of charges related to threatening, intimidating, and assaulting federal law enforcement officers. No casualties were reported; however, BLM ended the round-up and released the cattle due to concerns about the safety of officers and the public.
Overview
GTD ID:
201404120086
When:
2014-04-12
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Nevada
City:
Near Bunkerville
Location Details:
The incident occurred along I-15.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Department of the Interior |
Specific Description |
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Employees |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Target Type: Police |
Name of Entity |
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department |
Specific Description |
Personnel |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Weapon Details |
Firearms included AR-15s and AK-47s. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Anti-Government extremists |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Personal claim) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"Bundy follower gets 68 years for role in armed Nevada standoff," Reuters News, July 26, 2017. |
"The Latest: Mistrial declared for 4 in Cliven Bundy standoff," Associated Press Newswires, April 24, 2017. |
"At scene of Cliven Bundy's ranch standoff, 'citizen soldiers' are on guard," The Baltimore Sun Blogs (The Darkroom), April 25, 2014. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties