Bill sparked by Red Rock shooting would limit feds’ power on state land

CARSON CITY – Federal agencies would be prohibited from enforcing state laws on state lands without permission from the county sheriff under a bill heard Monday by the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Assembly Judiciary Chairman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, said Assembly Bill 283 is needed because federal agencies, primarily land management agencies including the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, are overstepping their authority.

Hansen said there have been cases of federal law enforcement officials issuing speeding tickets on state roads.

But he said the primary incident that motivated the bill was the shooting death of a Las Vegas man by two federal rangers near Red Rock Canyon in February 2014.

D’Andre Berghardt Jr., 20, was shot and killed Feb. 14 during a confrontation with two BLM rangers while walking along state Route 159 near Calico Basin. The confrontation and subsequent shooting were caught on an onlooker’s cellphone video and showed Berghardt being pepper-sprayed and kicked by the rangers before he climbed into a Nevada Highway Patrol vehicle and was shot.

The bill is one of several being considered in the 2015 Legislature that points to local concerns with federal overreach, primarily by Republican lawmakers who control both the Senate and Assembly.

Hansen’s legislation would expand existing Nevada law that outlines arrest powers within the state for federal agencies to include other agencies that now have law enforcement agents, including the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We’re not trying to limit federal authority to enforce federal law on federal land,” he said.

Eureka County Sheriff Keith Logan said his predecessor dealt with a situation in 2000 where a BLM ranger blocked a county road and demanded information from four county residents about what they were doing in the area.

More recently, several BLM rangers in full tactical gear were present at a controversial horse gather southwest of the town of Eureka, he said.

Ranchers there took it as a show of force just as happened in Bunkerville with Cliven Bundy, Logan said.

The April 2014 effort by the BLM to round up Bundy’s cattle brought an armed confrontation between federal agents and Bundy supporters.

“Let us do our jobs,” Logan said.

Hansen said the BLM agents showed up at the horse gather to intimidate local law enforcement.

Chuck Callaway, representing the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said the agency is neutral on the bill. But the agency does not have enough officers to patrol all areas of the county, such as at Lake Mead, he said. So if a BLM ranger saw an intoxicated driver, the agency would want the federal officer to take appropriate action, he said.

If the bill was to pass, Las Vegas police would enter into a memorandum of understanding with the federal agencies, Callaway said.

Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas, urged Logan and other sheriffs to push the issue, saying that as Nevada is “invaded by the BLM” they should throw them in county jail.

Fiore said that when she was in Bunkerville as an elected state lawmaker, she was potentially a target along with other citizens protesting the BLM actions.

Hansen agreed, saying it may take a case of a sheriff arresting a federal agent for impersonating a police officer to settle the issue of federal versus state jurisdiction.

The Nevada Association of Counties endorsed the bill, saying it would bring clarity to the law enforcement jurisdiction issue.

The committee did not take any immediate action on the bill.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801