Men used AR-style rifles to kill protected wild burros in Mojave Desert, federal prosecutors say

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

Updated on: March 19, 2024 / 11:22 AM EDT


Two men have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for fatally shooting three wild donkeys with AR-style rifles in Southern California's Mojave Desert, prosecutors said Monday.

The men, identified as Christopher James Arnet, 32, of Colorado, and Cameron John Feikema, 36, of California, said in their plea agreements that they drove out to the desert in Arnet's truck in November 2021. The area they drove to was public land in San Bernardino County, according to a news release from the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. When the men got out of the truck, they were dressed in tactical gear, including helmets with night-vision goggles, and carrying short-barreled AR-style firearms.

At around 1 a.m. local time, the two men fired on wild donkeys, or burros, killing three of the animals. One animal was paralyzed and in "severe pain before it died," prosecutors said. Each man fired multiple rounds, and Arnet fired the bullet that paralyzed one of the donkeys, according to an investigation by the Bureau of Land Management.

The firearms were later seized from the men's homes. Investigators found that the weapons were unregistered, despite requirements that they be registered under federal law.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christopher-arnet-cameron-feikema-plead-guilty-killing-wild-burros-feds-say/

[pandr32]

1. This is a worry, a horror in the making.

What good are buying these guns, having them and holding them, and not getting to use them?

[Escurumbele]

13. I don't want to misunderstand what you wrote, but on the surface it looks like you are defending the guys

that killed the burros? And they killed those animals just so they could use their rifles, and maybe they should be allowed to because otherwise why have them? That is not what you meant, right?

[pandr32]

17. Absolutely not!

The title called it a worry and a horror and I thought the text made clear that those wanting these kind of killing machines will not be able to resist using them once they have one.
Those wild burros were the targets these asshats wanted to shoot to pieces.

[PatSeg]

19. I don't think that is what they are saying

Sounds more like what was going on in the minds of these crazy gun guys. Some gun nuts do seem to look for an excuse to use their weapons. The whole story is so bizarre and tragic.

[jaxexpat]

33. It's perfectly reasonable that grown boys who squander hundreds of dollars on single purpose toys............

would play with them. Unfortunately, though, guns being guns and boys being boys, playing is definitively lethal........to something or someone.

[PatSeg]

45. Yes and it might start out fairly innocent

Target practice perhaps, but pretty soon that isn't satisfying enough. Throw in some booze and the possibilities expand.

I remember a guy in Texas who had too much to drink and came out of his trailer to shoot at a stray dog that had been sniffing around his female dog. It was a trailer park full of children! At least one bullet hit a trailer. The cops came and he got a slap in the wrist. He easily could have killed someone and being Texas, there was a possibility that he might not have gone to jail.

This was many years ago and I remember how nervous I was watching kids with rifles in the field shooting at some kind of small animals. I often wondered what if they got tired of varmints and decided to aim at a human instead. Meanwhile, we were quite sure that our next door neighbor shot one of the dogs my husband had adopted. We heard a gun go off and never saw the dog again. One of our female dog's puppies just up and disappeared too.

[Wonder Why]

48. I agree. What are you going to do when you hve these and there are no schools nearby? I mean, there aren't any

nearby LGBTQ clubs to shoot up, nothing. Poor guys were just itching to show their NRA credentials by using them. They should have appealed to the SCOTUS on the grounds that the 2nd Amendment, if it gives them the right to bear arms, also gives them the right to shoot anyone or anything. SCOTUS would have gone along and nullified the law.

[Botany]

2. The wild horses and donkeys are a hammer on the environment* but this is just sick

The animals were probably “bedded down” for the night when they were shot.

* and they do need to be controlled

[stopdiggin]

4. totally agree

conservation measures are appropriate and necessary.
But we wouldn't hire this kind of mindless cretin - to wash down the work trucks.

[kimbutgar]

3. The children had those big new guns and camo clothes and they wanted to coz play killing wild donkeys.

There is no reason for anyone outside of the military to have these weapons of war. I hope they get sent away for a long time killing innocent animals who posed no threat to them.

[FirstLight]

5. WHY?...why would you do this? just to KILL SOMETH*ING

This is why I hate Humans.

I drive through that desert at least 2 times a year. Last time I was looking and thought I saw herds of cattle(?). Upon closer look, it was a whole HERD of burros! I'd never seen more than a few at a time!

Wish they'd shoot that asshole in his spine and see how he likes it

[Diamond_Dog]

11. FirstLight, you have spoken for me as well.

[byronius]

32. Me too.

[Codifer]

53. Divide these gun-humpers into two groups

and let them hunt each other.

Film it with drones and air the complete stupidity of it.

Proceeds go to gunshot victims.

THEY are vermin.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

6. Which Federal law says Assault Rifles have to be registered.

I know we have one in California, but I thought that was one of the non-starters for the NRA federally.

[SarahD]

10. You are correct. Article is wrong.

If they were capable of firing in fully automatic mode, they would have to be registered and permitted. Assuming they are AR-15 style rifles, they are "modern sporting rifles" and not subject to any special rules.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. See this

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3211834

[yagotme]

26. If the barrels are less than 16", with a stock, they have to be registered.

Under 16", no stock, classified as a pistol, no federal registration.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. Here is the DOJ Press Release

https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/yorba-linda-man-and-colorado-man-plead-guilty-fatally-shooting-wild-burros-mojave

Yorba Linda Man and Colorado Man Plead Guilty to Fatally Shooting Wild Burros in Mojave Desert and Unlawfully Possessing Firearms

Monday, March 18, 2024
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California

RIVERSIDE, California – An Orange County man and a Colorado man pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for shooting three wild burros (donkeys) to death in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County in late 2021.

Christopher James Arnet, 32, of Loveland, Colorado, and Cameron John Feikema, 36, of Yorba Linda, California, each pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession of an unregistered firearm, namely a short-barreled rifle, and one misdemeanor count of maliciously causing the death of a burro on public lands.

According to their plea agreements, on November 5, 2021, the defendants drove in Arnet’s truck to public land north of the town of Yermo, in San Bernardino County. Arnet and Feikema eventually got out of Arnet’s truck and were dressed in tactical gear, including ballistic helmets equipped with night vision goggles. Arnet and Feikema each possessed an AR-style firearm.

At approximately 1 a.m. on November 6, 2021, Arnet and Feikema collectively fired at least 13 rounds from their firearms, striking and killing three wild burros. Arnet fired at least five rounds from his firearm while Feikema fired at least four rounds from his weapon. One burro was shot near its spine towards its hind legs, which paralyzed the burro’s hind legs and caused the animal severe pain before it died. A bullet removed from that burro was fired from Arnet’s firearm.

Law enforcement later seized the firearms involved in the burro shootings at Arnet and Feikema’s residences. When the firearms were seized, each was a short-barreled rifle and therefore required to be registered under federal law. Neither of the firearms was registered.

United States District Judge Jesus G. Bernal scheduled July 8 sentencing hearings for the defendants, who will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for the firearm count and up to one year in federal prison for the burro death count. As part of the plea agreements, defendants agreed to forfeit or abandon the illegally possessed rifles, over 4,000 rounds of ammunition, night vision goggles, and other tactical gear.

The Bureau of Land Management investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Cory L. Burleson, of the Riverside Branch Office, and Alexander Su, of the Asset Forfeiture & Recovery Section, are prosecuting these cases.
Contact

Ciaran McEvoy
Public Information Officer
[e-mail]
[phone]
Updated March 18, 2024

[jaxexpat]

38. They had to give up their "insurrection fantasy toys", how sad. Bet that hurt.

Let's move back to the 10-year sentence and attach the year-per-donkey rider for starters. Enough with the plea agreements for white, middle-aged delinquents. What is the possible rationale for their flaunting of the law everyone else depends on with, relatively, zero liability?

[OneCrazyDiamond]

47. Ah, Thanks.

So there is precedence for a registry. That's goods to know.

[jmowreader]

35. It's the Short Barreled Rifle thing

A rifle with a barrel less than 16" in length is a National Firearms Act weapon and falls into the same field of firearms law as a machine gun. Machine guns, silencers, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns and Any Other Weapons - they have a list, but it includes things like rifles disguised as walking canes - are all sold over ATF Form 4. You need to submit a fingerprint card, a passport-type photo, and a sign-off from the local sheriff to get one. You've got to pay $200 in tax for anything but the Any Other Weapons, and there the tax is $5.

[Zeitghost]

54. Article calls them

Short barreled rifles. If that is correct and they were legally short barreled rifles with a barrel less than 16", they would need to have a federal tax stamp and ATF registration.

[sop]

7. Guess they got tired of waiting for the coming "bloodbath" for a chance to use their tactical gear and guns.

[yagotme]

28. Guess if they had just plain old lever actions they wouldn't have done it...

[Novara]

8. NO ONE needs a weapon like this

A few weeks ago there was a shooting on the corner near my house. One bullet hit my house; several more hit the house across the street. This is what that weapon did to its target in about 5 seconds of shooting:



NO ONE needs a weapon like that.

[UpInArms]

15. That is horrifying

[Novara]

20. And it was LOUD

It literally scared the piss out of one of my cats and for weeks afterwards both of them freaked out at any unexpected noise. For weeks afterwards I had trouble sleeping.

I live in a pretty safe neighborhood, but with lax gun laws in this country, eventually every one of us is going to be touched by gun violence eventually. No matter where you live or work, it's a matter of statistics and probability. We simply have far too many angry people with far too many lethal guns.

And until you see (and hear) the damage an assault weapon can do, you can remain more or less insulated from the issue. It is an academic issue.

The bullet in my house went in at an angle and fortunately didn't go through to the inside. It's still lodged in my exterior wall. A few inches lower and it would have broken that bedroom window. And I live in a safe neighborhood. The guy across the street put his house up for sale. Can't say as I blame him. A bullet went through his wall right above where his son was sitting in his living room. And he was several houses away from the actual shooting. That's how powerful these guns are.

NO ONE needs that sort of weapon.

[yagotme]

29. Rather impressive.

Over 50 rounds just on the car, in about 5 seconds, not a whole lot of dispersion. Looks more like full auto, which would require federal registration to be legal.

[jaxexpat]

44. You really have to hate Dodges to do that.......................

My 1st cousin's 21-year-old son died of a semi-automatic weapon fired from a passing vehicle in 2003. Apparently, a gang-war related incident. He and some friends, riding their bikes on a sunny spring day in Chicago, took a wrong turn and ended up on hell street, USA.

I really appreciate your angst, friend. So long as thoughtless people have easy access to extremely lethal weapons, we are all an equally endangered species. There are desperados on our streets. People who think life is a motion picture or YouTube video, an episode where they are the player. Their unreality and ability to use real props in their act-outs separate our whole society, preventing us from living real lives.

[Novara]

46. I'm sorry to hear about your cousin's son. What a devastating loss.

This illustrates why these weapons should NEVER be in the hands of civilians on the streets. You don't have to be a good shot - you can spray bullets everywhere and still hit your target. You also kill innocent people in the process.

He might not have died had the weapon been a single shooter.

Utterly senseless.

[cbabe]

9. Wild boars and big snakes are available for killing. My

nephew liked hitting. I gave him a xylophone.

There’s always another way.

[littlemissmartypants]

30. A drum set would also be a fine alternative, imo. ❤️

[cbabe]

42. Yep. And fencing lessons.

[littlemissmartypants]

43. Fencing is good. Been there, done that. ❤️

[CrispyQ]

12. Fuck these inhumane assholes. I'd shoot them a couple of times & let them bleed out in the desert if I could.

[Aristus]

14. Headline should have read: "Asses Kill Donkeys."

[sop]

37. Perfect New York Post headline.

[Evolve Dammit]

16. So brave.... Hope they go to a real prison

[flying_wahini]

18. My brothers keeps burros on his ranch to kill snakes and predators. Better than dogs in that respect.

Here is a shot of Elvis and Priscilla 🥰

[PatSeg]

22. Great photo

Thanks for sharing.

[riversedge]

25. Love the photo. Thanks

[Rhiannon12866]

52. Awwwww! Adorable!

[Blue Owl]

21. Surprised to hear it wasn't Gums & Junior

Those sick fucks and their canned trophy hunts....

[SamKnause]

27. Fucking cowardly scum !

[littlemissmartypants]

31. They must not believe in Jesus.

That's the "horse" that he rode in on after all.

[Sanity Claws]

34. Were they practicing for something nefarious?

Tactical gear, night-vision googles, short-barreled AR type firearms,

These are not just two yahoos who want to test their hunting skills and gear. They wanted to prepare for military-like events. Hmmm.

[patphil]

40. That was my thought also.

[sop]

41. Hmmm. The Democratic Party's symbol is a donkey. Practicing shooting Democrats?

[FirstLight]

36. commenting again, cuz this really chaps my hide and I am Pissed

These aren't teens just fucking off with guns in the desert.

GROWN-ASS men! They snuck out there at 1am...they KNEW they were doing something fucked up!

...and they had 400 rounds? why is THAT in itself not a felony?

I am so fucking done with these cretins who claim to be "people"...they are less than human in my book

[Ponietz]

39. Still aching from the 3600 birds slaughtered by other inhuman trash

[link:https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143168500

They’re mentally ill.

[FirstLight]

51. Horrible 😞

Humans suck

[republianmushroom]

49. Let these so-called men sit in jail for 5 plus years., "NO monetary fine", jail time only.

[pansypoo53219]

50. they need to loose thier 2nd amendments rights. for life. they can have a water gun.

[maxsolomon]

55. two and a half years to a guilty plea

justice sure grinds slowly.

they killed the burros at 1 in the morning. must have been so challenging. fuckers.

they deserve a couple years and a lifetime weapons ban.