An earlier diary about Ammon Bundy hightailing it from Idaho provided multiple links, but I want to fill in some of the details on why Bundy decided to leave his home and go into hiding. Bundy did not want to pay for the $52 million dollars he owes to St Luke’s Hospital as part of a defamation lawsuit that he lost. In no surprise, Bundy used harrasment and what I think are terror tactics against St Luke’s Hospital with regards to a child custody/medical treatment case.
I know. HUH? A defamation lawsuit involving a hospital? Over what? Treatment of a child?
When dealing with a far right criminal, you enter The Twilight Zone.
One recent Friday afternoon far-right militia figure Ammon Bundy started a live video feed on his YouTube channel in the wake of being arrested on trespassing charges at a hospital in Idaho, where he is running for governor.
Bundy appeared disappointed to tell his followers what he believed the government was forcing him to do next. He looked down at the camera, wearing an open-collared shirt and his usual cowboy hat, and let out a sigh. Then he threatened a sitting Idaho judge, summoning his supporters to go to his home.
What had excised Bundy so much was a child custody case. But what his actions really revealed was a troubling development in America’s ever-more divided political landscape where far-right figures feel emboldened enough to threaten a judge, wield their followers against the institutions of the state and where an implicit threat of violence is increasingly present as they seek elected office.
By the time Bundy made his remarks, his 17,000 YouTube subscribers were receiving near daily updates about a 10-month-old child near Boise, Idaho, who was taken into temporary protection from his parents after officials determined the child was suffering from severe malnourishment and in imminent danger.
Diego Rodriguez, Bundy’s campaign consultant and friend, is the grandfather of the child at the center of a controversy in which even the far-right deputy governor, Janice McGeachin, has become embroiled. An ultra-converative pastor, Rodriguez is emblematic of the Christian fringe pushing to create a US “theocracy” in Idaho.
Bundy railed against what he considered a “kidnapping” at the hands of the government. After an Ada county judge signed a warrant transferring temporary custody of the child to health and wellness officials, Bundy urged his followers – who are often armed – to physically descend on the judge’s house, to the deep alarm of local police.
Emphasis is mine.
Now, the grandchild ended up in St Luke’s Hospital, and here is what the emergency room doctor and the rest of the staff experienced when Bundy got to work on Rodgriguz’s behalf:
Rodriguez's infant grandson was taken into the custody Department of Health and Welfare last year because doctors observed the infant was malnourished and dehydrated. The child was hospitalized first at St. Luke's Meridian and was then re-admitted to St. Luke's Boise. This gave way to days-long protests outside the St. Luke's hospitals by Bundy, Rodriguez and their followers claiming the hospital kidnapped the child and were engaging in human trafficking, causing emergency services to re-route patients and put the property on lockdown…
During the trial, one security guard testified the staff was barricading the doors of the hospitals as crowds tried to enter to get the infant back. One emergency room physician, who testified the infant was so malnourished he could die, said she was harassed so much online after the protests she installed security systems in her home.
They had to barricade the doors to keep Bundy’s thugs from taking the kid back! And when that didn’t work, Bundy went online to claim the hospital was part of a child sex trafficking ring! And this is what precipitated the defamation suit against Bundy.
And Bundy being Bundy decided not to participate in the trial because it was “fixed.” Therefore, it was easy for the judge to find Bundy liable and hit him and Rodriguez with having to pay $52 million to the hospital. Bundy wasn’t interested in paying, so the hospital got the court to seize Bundy’s home. This was because Bundy had build a shitty move to protect his assets by “selling” his home to a friend and then paying rent.
St. Luke’s has won significant battles recently in its fight against far-right activist Ammon Bundy. The health system, which won a defamation case against Bundy and one of his associates this year, has taken ownership of his Emmett property and succeeded in getting Bundy’s websites removed from the internet.
Ever since an Ada County jury ordered that Bundy, Diego Rodriguez and their entities had to pay $52.5 million in damages for defaming St. Luke’s and some of its employees, the health system has been pushing hard to collect money. It has also been trying to get Bundy and Rodriguez to remove false, defamatory online statements about St. Luke’s and its staff as part of a judicial order.
This week, St. Luke’s made gains on both fronts.
When Bundy refused to begin making damage payments, St. Luke’s was able to go after his assets instead. St. Luke’s asked 3rd District Judge Brent Whiting to undo the sale of Bundy’s home, alleging that he sold it illegally last year to put an asset beyond a creditor’s reach, which is considered a fraudulent conveyance under the law.
Aaron Welling, a close associate of Bundy’s, purchased the property — and all the furniture and appliances in it — through his corporation White Barn Enterprises for $250,000 last December, according to court records. Land Advisors Organization, a Boise real estate agency, stated in court filings that the house and property were worth at least $1 million. Bundy and his family continued to rent the Emmett house and live there until last month, according to court documents.
The furniture is all gone, by the way.
Once again, Bundy decided rules are not for him, so he didn’t appear in court to contest the fraudelent sale of his home. Therefore, the judge vacated the sale of the home and awarded it to St Luke’s.
Even better, St Luke’s got Bundy’s internet platform taken down:
When it came to the defamatory statements online, St. Luke’s not only succeeded in getting those removed, but was able to get entire websites run by the defendants to be stricken from the internet. Web hosting services removed sites run by the Bundy-founded People’s Rights Network, Freedom Man Press (run by Rodriguez) and Bundy’s campaign website. He ran for governor as an independent last year.
He really is a piece of shit. Mr. Courageous Cowboy Outlaw Ammon Bundy decided that he didn’t have the political might to take on the civil law, so he is fleeing to parts unknown right now I’m sure his deluded followers will think of this as typical of the western outlaw fighting the good fight, but it’s not. Deep down, Bundy cares mostly about his money, and instead of standing up and taking this like a man, he did a runner.
