Global Courant 2023-05-07 09:58:13
EMMETT, Idaho (AP) — A far-right activist best known for confronting federal and state law enforcement officers in Oregon and Nevada is now waging a unilateral confrontation of a different kind after refusing to comply with court orders in a Libel suit in Idaho.
The lawsuit by St. Luke’s Regional Health was filed more than a year ago, accusing Ammon Bundy and his close associate Diego Rodriguez of making defamatory statements against the hospital and its employees after Rodriguez’s grandson was temporarily removed from his family and taken to St. Luke’s over concerns about his health.
Since then, Bundy has ignored court orders related to the lawsuit, filed trespassing complaints against people hired to deliver legal paperwork, and summoned dozens of his followers to camp at his home for protection when he learned he could be arrested based on an arrest warrant for a felony charge of contempt of court.
“We can build a defense system from here… This is what will protect us from all the terrible things that will happen to us and the rest of the world,” Bundy told dozens of people gathered late at his house. April, according to a video of the speech posted to Facebook.
Bundy’s rhetoric is similar to how he spoke during his armed confrontations with federal police Nevada And Oregon several years ago. But this time — despite frequent YouTube videos, far-right media interviews, and a “call to action” text to members of the People’s Rights network — Bundy hasn’t gotten the same attention. The initial gathering of dozens seems to have faded to a handful.
In 2016, Bundy led a 41-day armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, to protest the arson convictions of two farmers who set fires on federal land where they had grazed their cattle.
The 2014 Nevada standoff was led by Bundy’s father, farmer Cliven Bundy, who rallied supporters to stop officers from seizing Bundy Ranch cattle for more than $1 million in unpaid fees and fines for grazing cattle on government land.
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Ammon Bundy was acquitted of charges in Oregon and the Nevada criminal case ended in a mistrial.
Bundy and his People’s Rights organization subsequently drew attention to a series of protests at the Idaho Statehouse over coronavirus-related measures, and he was temporarily banned from the government building in 2020.
In the current civil suit, Bundy appears to be following a “blueprint,” using rhetoric similar to that used in the Oregon and Nevada standoffs to escalate the conflict, said Devin Burghess, the director of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Burghess has been hired by St. Luke’s attorneys to serve as an expert witness in the defamation case.
“Bundy has tried to take the lawsuit and turn it into something bigger. If he is able to take this lawsuit and turn it into a bigger confrontation, that could be very problematic,” Burghess said.
Fewer people seem willing to put their own lives on hold this time around to stay in Bundy’s property, Burghess noted.
The in-person response can be overshadowed by the online response. According to court documents filed by St. Luke’s, at least three witnesses in the defamation case are unwilling to testify against Bundy in court, fearing they could be harmed by Bundy’s supporters.
A nurse wrote in court documents that she had a security system installed in her home and was afraid to wear her hospital badge outside of work. Another health worker said she had repeatedly lost sleep and was traumatized because Bundy supporters accused her and others of abducting or harming children.
“Intimidation, slander, doxing, trespassing, threats of violence, armed ‘protests’ at homes and businesses, and, if all else fails, armed standoffs with law enforcement—these are the weapons of choice for Ammon Bundy and its more than 60,000 members. strong militia, People’s Rights Network,” St. Luke’s Health System lawyers wrote in a recent lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Bundy recently told followers that he would rather “go back to his Heavenly Father” than go back to prison — although contempt convictions generally carry a maximum jail term of five days under Idaho law.
Bundy also claims that he will not stop making the alleged defamatory statements against St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center regardless of any court ruling, claiming his freedom is at stake.
“I believe it’s my absolute right to be able to say those things,” Bundy told The Associated Press in April. “The judge has no authority to take them away, they are inalienable rights.”
Sheriff’s deputies visited Bundy’s property at least twice in recent weeks to serve the warrant, but left when they were told Bundy was not home.
St. Luke’s filed the defamation lawsuit in May 2022 against Bundy, his close associate Diego Rodriguez and their various political and business entities, alleging that the pair made false statements against the company, caused millions of dollars in damages and incited supporters to to harass and intimidate staffers.
The case stemmed from an incident two months earlier when Rodriguez’s 10-month-old grandson was temporarily removed from custody and taken to St. Luke’s over concerns about his health. The baby was temporarily placed in the care of the state and returned to his parents after about a week.
Bundy and Rodriguez said the child was wrongfully taken away from a loving family after he started vomiting after trying solid foods. At the time, Meridian police said medical staff determined the child was malnourished and had lost weight, but the family insisted the child was healthy and should stay with his mother to breastfeed.
Bundy urged his followers to protest at the hospital and at the homes of child protection workers, law enforcement and others involved in the child protection case. Rodriguez wrote on his website that the baby had been “kidnapped” and suggested that the state and people involved in the case were engaged in “child trafficking” for profit.
In the lawsuit, the hospital alleged that Bundy, Diego and their various political organizations orchestrated a widespread smear campaign against the hospital to raise their own profile and enrich themselves. The company asked a judge to award millions of dollars in damages and bar both men from making statements calling hospital officials criminals or alleging participation in the abuse, kidnapping, trafficking or killing of children .
Bundy, who previously said he ignored the court documents because he wanted to end the case quickly, has now asked for the case to be moved to federal court.
