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The Department of Homeland Security warned that an April standoff had energized the radical right, echoing findings in a 澳彩开奖 report entitled "War in the West."

The July DHS report, 鈥淒omestic Extremists Pose Increased Threat to Law Enforcement and Government Officials,鈥� notes the role earlier standoffs have played. 鈥淗istorically,鈥� it said, 鈥渟pikes in violence have followed high-profile confrontations involving the United States Government, such as Ruby Ridge and Waco,鈥� a reference to deadly standoffs with extremists in Idaho and Texas in 1992 and 1993, respectively. 鈥淭he April 2014 Bunkerville, Nevada standoff likely represents a similar event that could inspire further violence.鈥�

The report was referring to the case of Cliven Bundy, a rancher who had accumulated a debt of more than $1 million in federal grazing fees that he refused to pay, calling the federal government illegitimate. When the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finally moved to seize Bundy鈥檚 cattle based on a court order, the rancher put out a call to radical militias, many of whose members flocked to the ranch. There, a tense standoff ensued, with many militiamen pointing their weapons at federal officers, finally causing the BLM to withdraw rather than court the very real possibility of a bloodbath.

About two weeks before the July 22 DHS report was released, the 澳彩开奖 published a comprehensive study of the incident, 鈥淲ar in the West: The Bundy Ranch Standoff and the American Radical Right.鈥� It concluded that what was seen as a Bundy victory had 鈥渋nvigorated鈥� and 鈥渆mboldened鈥� the radical right, and noted that several similar confrontations had followed the Bundy standoff as a result. Parts of that study also were published in the last issue of the Intelligence Report.

The DHS report said that for 鈥渕ilitia extremists,鈥� the BLM climbdown was seen as a 鈥渄efining victory over government oppression鈥� that was 鈥済alvanizing some individuals 鈥� to actively confront law enforcement officials.鈥� It cited three cases that followed the standoff: the murder of two Las Vegas police officers and another man by a couple who had been at the Bundy ranch; another person who reportedly was at the ranch who later said that militias would 鈥渆xterminate鈥� federal officials attempting a 鈥渓and grab鈥� in north Texas; and a Missouri militia group that discussed possible attacks on federal forces that might be used in some future law enforcement raid on the Bundy ranch.

Another recent law enforcement report, a New York state counterterrorism bulletin, made a similar point. The New York State Intelligence Center鈥檚 June report said that the recent killings of five police officers in the United States and Canada 鈥渉ighlight a trend of growing violence by far-right extremists that is likely to continue in the near term.鈥�

That report followed a June announcement from Attorney General Eric Holder that he was re-establishing the Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee to deal with domestic extremists with motives 鈥渇rom anti-government animus to racial prejudice.鈥�