A judge issued a new warrant for militia leader Ammon Bundy’s arrest on Monday, after he failed to attend a mandatory court appearance.
Bundy, who rose to prominence in a pair of armed standoffs with law enforcement, was due to appear on a series of contempt of court charges stemming from a lawsuit brought by an Idaho hospital. In its lawsuit, the hospital accused Bundy and associates of harassment. But Bundy never appeared in court during that case, leading a jury to slap him and a colleague with $52.2 million in damages, to be paid to the hospital and its staff.
His failure to participate in court proceedings has set off an avalanche of legal consequences, including a new arrest warrant and a $250,000 bond on Monday.
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In March 2022, Bundy and members of his activist group, the People’s Rights Network, converged on an Idaho hospital where a group member’s grandson was being treated for malnourishment by order of child protective services. Although the child was returned to his parents after several days of successful treatment, Bundy and followers falsely claimed the child had been kidnapped.
The group demonstrated outside of the hospital, temporarily shutting down the facility’s ambulance bay. They later led an online campaign against the hospital and individual doctors, falsely accusing them of child trafficking, and leading to death threats against hospital staff.
The hospital filed suit against Bundy and his associates in 2022. Rather than participate in that case, Bundy has avoided the courtroom, resulting in his arrest in August on contempt of court charges. Bundy bonded out of jail on $10,000.
That bond was revoked when Bundy refused to show up to court for the contempt charges on Monday.
Erik Stidham, an attorney representing St. Luke’s hospital said the hearing was an opportunity for Bundy to answer to claims that he had harassed hospital staff while the lawsuit was ongoing.
“St. Luke’s filed its lawsuit (1) to recover for the very real harm and significant economic damages caused by Mr. Bundy and (2) to protect its staff, providers and patients from Mr. Bundy’s ongoing intimidation, harm, and harassment," Stidham told The Daily Beast in an email.
“Yesterday, he had an opportunity to present evidence, testify under oath, cross-examine witnesses, and defend himself against those charges. Instead, Mr. Bundy ran away from that opportunity, just as he has previously fled from every such opportunity. Each time Mr. Bundy fails to appear, he simply confirms that the jury verdict and court’s findings were just and correct.”
Ahead of the hearing, the Idaho Statesman reported, Bundy emailed the court to note that he would be absent again.
“I am writing to inform that I will not be in court attendance on Monday or any other day,” Bundy wrote. “I have much more important matters to attend to, such as providing for my family’s needs. My entire life has been consumed by political prosecutions and now I must do what is necessary to sustain my family.”
Bundy’s new arrest warrant comes with a much steeper $250,000 bond.
Bundy has previously suggested fleeing Idaho to avoid the case. Ahead of his August arraignment, Bundy released a video claiming that he and his family had begun boxing up their belongings for an out-of-state move, but that God wanted him to stick around and attend his arraignment. (Bundy would have been arrested again, had he missed the August court appearance.)
“We started boxing up our house and I just couldn’t see and had been asking the lord for direction and just couldn’t see an end to this and scheduled a moving truck, and the day the moving truck was scheduled to come, I—praying the whole time—the day the moving truck was scheduled to come, I woke up early in the morning,” Bundy said in the August live stream. “And I felt very, very clear understanding from God, and I believe and know that that happens [...] I felt very clear understanding that I was not to leave Idaho yet, that I was to stay and fight.”
His current location is unknown, although the Statesman reported that Bundy’s wife recently indicated on Facebook that her family was moving. “I wish we could have stopped by before you left!” a friend commented.
On Twitter, Bundy acknowledged the new warrant, and defended his false claims about the hospital.
“Today Judge Baskin issued a $250,000 warrant for my arrest,” he wrote. “The only thing I care to say is that I don’t regret any of it. I was honest in everything I said and getting Baby Cyrus back makes all of the trouble worth it. Please pray for my family.”
