Surprise! Earth haters turn against law enforcement in Maude case

In South Dakota members of the law enforcement industry enjoy qualified immunity from prosecution for the often lethal offenses they commit in the line of duty so the violence they visit on suspects is simply dismissed as justified. 

But, on January 6, 2021 the attack on the US Capitol was a climax of an anti-law enforcement movement emboldened by the 2014 Bundy standoff. So, it's hardly surprising that Earth haters like Cliven Bundy and Harriet Hageman are defending Charles and Heather Maude because they hate what they call the administrative state even as it benefits them. 

US Forest Service Supervisor Jack Isaacs (now retired), Special Agent Travis Lunders and District Ranger Julie Wheeler are receiving death threats just for doing their jobs then thrown under the bus by the Trump Organization's agriculture secretary. Extremists are screaming that Agent Lunders came unannounced to the Maude ranch in 2024 in full tactical gear to serve the summons to appear in district court because the Maudes blew off civil remedies after breaking federal law. The Forest Service denies the agent was outfitted with "any tactical uniform, gear or assault weapons" even though it is widely known property owners in that part of South Dakota are militantly opposed to gubmint especially those of Democratic administrations but love all that subsidized crop and livestock insurance anyway. 

Jon Haber spent a career in the Forest Service and is now a Missoula, Montana attorney who specializes in environmental litigation.

I was watching this case develop, and then stopped when it got quashed – thanks, Dave [Mertz] for digging into it. I think you quite likely nailed it with: “I would imagine that any similar event in the future would certainly make a Forest Service Line Officer wonder whether the Secretary of Agriculture would have their back.” You have the more traditional “don’t mess with anyone politically connected to the administration, with the addition of an administration that likes to make examples of people as a tool for intimidation. And they especially seem to like to promote stories that make government agencies look bad. Dave’s words, but maybe more to the point in this case as “not interested in the facts.” [comment, Haber, Theft of Government Property or an Innocent Mistake?]

Heather Maude is a Wyoming native and her parents are Trump supporting Earth haters, too.

The case in South Dakota takes place against a backdrop of federal agencies frequently struggling with the way they’re perceived among rural people. [Federal Fence Line Fight With Ranchers Is ‘Odd,’ Wyoming Attorney Says]

But public servants who arrest people of color for trespass in Madison are qualified immune because selective enforcement is nothing new in South Dakota.