Cliven Bundy backs down: God didn't ask us to sue the Feds

Anti-government rancher Cliven Bundy released a statement on Tuesday apparently citing religion as a reason he would not sue officials with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Gawker reported.

"We have chosen not to engage in legal action up to this point for two reasons," the statement read. "First, is simply because we have not felt impressed to do so. We understand that as humans we are limited to knowledge and understanding. We believe that the creator of this world possesses all knowledge and understanding."

Bundy said that he and his family had been approached by "well known, highly effective lawyers from all over the country" who were willing to represent them against the BLM on a pro bono basis. He did, however, say they would be "assembling a team of legal advisers."

The statement also criticized Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) and Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie for not joining Bundy and his supporters in their standoff against BLM officials last month. Bundy has refused federal grazing fees for his livestock for the past 20 years, which led the agency to attempt to round the cattle up. The BLM suspended the roundup following the arrival of hundreds of self-described militia members, many of them armed.

"The people took the right action by standing up to these trained mercenaries," the statement read. "If allowed to remain for the seven planned weeks, lives most assuredly would have been taken and the freedom we enjoy on this land would have been forever lost."

However, the statement did not mention former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack's remarks to Fox News that he planned to put women in front of the "rogue federal agents" if the confrontation devolved into a firefight.

The standoff briefly made Bundy into a darling of conservative media, before a series of disparaging remarks about African-Americans made him politically radioactive.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that a federal investigation has been launched into a "protest ride" involving Bundy's son, Ryan Bundy, through federally-protected archaeological sites in southern Utah.