May 06, 2020 11:07 AM UTC

Accused Domestic Terrorist Testified Against "Red Flag" Law

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• by: Colorado Pols

CBS4’s Rick Sallinger continues the investigation into Bradley Bunn, a “Reopen Colorado” far-right activist who was arrested with pipe bombs after attempting to organize a failed illegal armed protest at the Colorado state capitol building last Friday. In March of this year, Bunn testified in a legislative committee in favor of legislation that would repeal the state’s new “red flag” law, which creates a legal process to temporarily remove firearms from persons ruled in court to be a threat to themselves or the public.

This latest development is, needless to say, dripping with irony:

The Red Flag law is a controversial statute that allows for the removal of guns from those mentally disturbed if approved by a judge under certain conditions. Bunn’s family members described him as mentally disturbed after returning from Iraq where he said he was injured in combat.

Testifying before the Colorado House Judiciary Committee Bunn said, “I was going to end my life with a Glock 40 caliber to the heart. You only get to experience death once so I wanted to experience all of it to take it to the heart.”

On his Facebook page there is a seal that reads, “When tyranny becomes law rebellion becomes duty.”

It appears that in the course of testifying against the state’s new extreme-risk protection order (ERPO) law, Bradley Bunn became an unwitting testimonial for exactly why such a law is needed–both in terms of protecting the public, as well as those at risk of dying by suicide who this law is equally intended to protect. ERPOs can be requested either by family and household members of a person at risk or by law enforcement, but the standard of evidence of a substantial threat required to obtain an order from a judge is high enough that we don’t think this testimony itself would have risen to the level of justifying one.

But as it turns out, Mr. Bunn was broadcasting his crimes, and desire to commit more crimes, every way he could. Testifying before the legislature he later proposed to storm, as insane as that may sound, doesn’t seem to have been out of character. And we’ll be watching now for more on Bunn’s connections to Colorado’s greater hard-right political activist hordes.

We do hope, of course, that there are not too many more like him out there…