Yahoo News:

A father and son angered by a state plan to seize some of their land for a highway killed two officers who went to their home, setting off a 13-hour standoff and a “horrendous gunfight,” authorities and neighbors said.

The Bixby family had decided that they would defend their land to the death, authorities say.

“This was planned,” State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said.

The gunfight was so fierce that police at one point had to bring in extra ammunition, Stewart said. Agents found suicide notes, anti-American material and items that may relate to militias, Stewart said.

Arthur Bixby and his son, Steven Bixby, 36, were charged with murder in the deaths of the two officers, authorities said Tuesday. Steven Bixby was to be arraigned Tuesday; Arthur Bixby, was still being treated for gunshot wounds.

Arthur Bixby’s wife, Rita, was charged with being an accessory to murder, and all three also are charged with conspiracy, officials said.

Neighbors said the Bixbys were angry over the road widening project, even though it would take only a portion of their land.

It does occur to me, that if people actually had an effective means of petitioning the government for redress of grievances this sort of thing wouldn’t happen. It also doesn’t lend to the credibility of the case against the Bixby’s that the authorities are just throwing a bunch of charges at the Bixby’s hoping that as many as possible will stick.

Posted in Eminent Domain on December 10th, 2003 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |