Two men from Honduras were charged Tuesday with unlawful possession of a Bald Eagle and are alleged to have shot and killed the protected bird in Nebraska.
CNN noted the Stanton County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) said the two men “planned on cooking and eating the bird.”
A press release from SCSO indicated deputies discovered the two men after a “suspicious vehicle” was reported around 4 p.m.
Responding deputies found “the vehicle…in a field and while having contact with the two males it was determined that they had a dead North American Bald Eagle in their possession.”
SCSO also noted: “Nebraska Game and Parks was contacted and took custody of the eagle and the rifle used to kill the eagle. Two Honduran nationals Ramiro Hernandez-Tziquin, 20, and Domingo Zetino-Hernandez, 20, both of Norfolk were cited for unlawful possession of the eagle.”
File/ An American Bald Eagle flies over Mill Pond on July 29, 2018 in Centerport, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Hernandez-Tziquin also received a citation for no driver’s license.
Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger has been in law enforcement for 40 years and he told CNN this is the first time he has had to deal with a Bald Eagle being killed in his county.
The Bald Eagle, chosen as a national emblem in 1782, is protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.