Indicted Bundy Ranch Militant Hand-Picked by Team Trump as Delegate to GOP Convention
When the New Hampshire Secretary of State released a list of delegates (PDF) who will represent the state at the Republican National Convention, one unusual name appeared: Gerald DeLemus. The man is listed as an alternate for Donald Trump’s candidacy, but unfortunately for him, he might be too busy to attend the event in Cleveland in July. DeLemus will instead be facing federal indictment for his alleged involvement with the Bundy family, according to Gawker.
When Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy staged an armed standoff against agents from the federal Bureau of Land Management back in 2014, DeLemus was allegedly at Bundy’s side. The 64-page, nine-count indictment released earlier this month lists him as a “mid-level leader and organizer of the conspiracy,” and claims DeLemus joined eight other men who “planned, organized, led, and/or participated as gunmen in the assault, all in order to threaten, intimidate, and extort the officers into abandoning approximately 400 head of cattle that were in their lawful care and custody.”
This isn’t the first time DeLemus has gotten Trump into hot water for being aligned with an anti-government militia movement. In December, DeLemus joined his wife, State Rep. Susan DeLemus in several interviews along with a CNN panel discussion advocating for their candidate of choice as well as voicing their anti-government sentiment.
“Feature stories on Trump’s supporters have tended to highlight people like DeLemus — that is, political extremists, white nationalists, or those who admire Trump for his hair, the pizzazz of his hotels, and the menacing brio he showed on ‘The Apprentice,’” reported Al-Jazeera. “This journalistic cherry-picking avoids an obvious question: If over 30 percent of all Republicans like Donald Trump, are all his fans really on the fringe?”
The judge in the case denied bail, instead ordering that DeLemus remain in custody until his trial date in Nevada. DeLemus’s wife is also listed as an alternate delegate.
