Sheriff Doug Gillespie negotiated with Bundy and newly confirmed BLM director, Neil Kornze, who elected to release the cattle and de-escalate the situation.

"[40] On December 21, 2012, the United States moved for summary judgment in this new case, and this motion was granted in an order signed by Senior District Judge Lloyd D. George on July 9, 2013.

[64] In media interviews, Bundy used the language of the sovereign citizen movement as a rallying call, beckoning support from members of the Oath Keepers, the White Mountain Militia, and the Praetorian Guard.

"[79] A photojournalist for Reuters wrote that armed supporters had "taken up tactical positions on government officers," and that one man pointing a rifle in the direction of BLM employees said, "I've got a clear shot at four of them.

"[76] BLM Director Neil Kornze said that "Based on information about conditions on the ground, and in consultation with law enforcement, we have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather because of our serious concern about the safety of employees and members of the public.

"[81][82][85][86] BLM spokesman Craig Leff stated on April 14 in an email that "The gather is over" but that the agency planned to seek a solution "administratively and judicially" and intended to pursue court action to collect more than $1 million in back grazing fees owed by Bundy.

[15] On May 2, 2014, Bundy and his family filed a complaint with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department alleging crimes committed by federal agents, including illegally blocking roads, harassing photographers, using attack dogs, pointing weapons and threatening people.

"[108] Vanderboegh is the author of a novel that allegedly inspired a domestic terror plot[109][110] and the leader of the Three Percenters Group,[109] which the Anti-Defamation League characterizes as "part of an anti-government extremist movement.

[112] A "wild, paranoid rumor" that Attorney General Eric Holder was preparing a drone strike against them caused Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes to remove his men from the supposed "kill zone.

[101] On May 8, Clark County sheriff's officials said that they were interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into armed Bundy supporters who confronted federal officers during the standoff.

Cliven Bundy said that the couple, Jerad and Amanda Miller, had been asked to leave the ranch after a few days because they were "very radical" and did not align themselves with the protest's main issues.

[119] According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Jerad and Amanda Miller were two of "perhaps hundreds of thousands" who saw the outcome of the Bundy standoff as "a huge victory against the federal government," which "may have pushed them over the edge.

"[122] In January 2016, armed men led by Ryan and Ammon Bundy seized control of the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon.

"[136] In a July 20, 2014, column in The Salt Lake Tribune and The Washington Post, then-Representative Steven Horsford (D-Nevada) described recent incidents of violence in his district and nearby states, and he criticized the "nonstop attention and demagoguery from media and politicians alike," saying: "There can be reasonable disagreements about the Bundy Ranch.

"[137] Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval sided with Bundy, saying, "No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans.

Hannity stated that some fear events could wind up mirroring the Waco siege and Ruby Ridge and said, "This is public land, and it's not being used, in my mind, and I'm not a rancher, (but) I would think the federal government might be thankful because you're cutting the lawn for free, and they're charging huge amounts of money, right, to let your cattle graze there with these fees.

"[145] The Casper Star-Tribune wrote that Bundy was cheating taxpayers, an "embarrassment to ranchers in Wyoming and across the West who work hard, pay their taxes and maintain good relationships with managers of federal land on which their cattle graze.

"[146] In response to Bundy supporter Mike Vanderboegh's comment, "Don't poke the wolverine with a sharp stick, Harry [Reid], unless you want your balls ripped off", a writer for The Nation framed the remark as part of a larger, right-wing obsession with castration.

[152] In Texas, Michael Joseph Kearns, a convicted felon with alleged ties to the sovereign citizen movement who describes himself as a "self-taught paralegal", filed a motion seeking to overturn a 2013 ruling allowing the BLM to seize Bundy's cattle.

"[159] Dallas Hyland, in his column in Utah's St. George News, wrote, "The stand-down was necessary to prevent bloodshed, but it must be recognized that if Bundy and a multitude of his supporters, militia friends, and even family members who broke the law, are allowed to go unpunished, anarchy will follow.

"[160] Indian Country Today Media Network wrote that government treatment of Cliven Bundy "stands in stark contrast to what was done to the Dann Sisters and other Indigenous Peoples on Shoshone territory"[162] and that "United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination found "credible information alleging that the Western Shoshone indigenous people are being denied their traditional rights to land.

[164] The Las Vegas news at KLAS-TV reported that the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians had provided them with a map indicating that a federal treaty had promised them the land on which the Bundy ranch is situated.

"[65] Elaine Hurd, a resident of nearby Mesquite Nevada, told local television station KLAS "I feel that the rule of law supersedes armed militias coming in from all over the country to stand with a law-breaking rancher, which is what he is.

"[63] Brad Knickerbocker of the Christian Science Monitor saw the events as echoing the Sagebrush Rebellion, a 1970s movement to transfer control of public domain lands to the states.

"[14] Rob Mrowka, also with the Center for Biological Diversity, said that the BLM "is allowing a freeloading rancher and armed thugs to seize hundreds of thousands of acres of the people's land as their own.

[168][169] A spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management wrote in response to a reporter's inquiry: "Our primary goal remains to resolve this matter safely and according to the rule of the law."

The response added "The Bureau of Land Management remains resolute in addressing issues involved in efforts to gather Mr. Bundy's cattle and we are pursuing the matter through the legal system.

[171] On February 10, 2016, Cliven Bundy traveled to Portland, Oregon, in response to federal law enforcement moving to end a standoff led by his sons Ammon and Ryan at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Former militia group member, Gregory Burleson, of Arizona, who has also been a paid FBI informant, was convicted of assault upon and threatening of a federal officer, aiding extortion via both interstate commerce and travel, obstruction of justice, plus multiple gun counts.

[191] On December 20, 2017, Judge Navarro declared a mistrial, stating that federal prosecutors had willfully violated evidence rules and failed to turn over pertinent documents to the defense.