© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ammon Bundy arrested on warrant in Gem County

Ammon Bundy standing on stairs outside the Idaho Statesman with two man standing on either side of him, one holding a sign that says "no immunity!"
Keith Ridler
/
AP
FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2020, file photo, Ammon Bundy, center, who led the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation, stands on the Idaho Statehouse steps in Boise, Idaho. Mainstream and far-right Republicans are battling for control of the party and the state in deeply conservative Idaho. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler, File)

Ammon Bundy, the anti-government provocateur, has been arrested according to the Gem County dispatch service.

Bundy has had an active arrest warrant since mid-April after an Ada County judge found him in contempt of court for refusing to show up to legal proceedings for nearly a year over a civil lawsuit filed by St. Luke’s Health System.

His bail was set at $10,000.

Gem County Sheriff Donnie Wunder was initially hesitant to serve Bundy legal notices in the case, saying he didn’t want to risk harm coming to his deputies “…over a civil issue.”

The state’s largest health system sued Bundy, as well as his associate, Diego Rodriguez, for defamation. Both men accused the hospital of kidnapping Rodriguez’s infant grandson, who was the subject of a child protection case.

Bundy and Rodriguez called for protests over the child’s hospitalization, which eventually resulted in a lockdown at St. Luke’s downtown Boise campus, along with threats called into the hospital’s switchboard, according to a sworn statement by the organization’s vice president of population health.

An Ada County jury sided with St. Luke’s last month, forcing him, his associate, Diego Rodriguez, and their respective business entities to pay the hospital $52.5 million, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Editor's note: St. Luke's is a financial supporter of Boise State Public Radio, but had no knowledge of, or input, into this story.

Follow James Dawson on Twitter @RadioDawson for more local news.

Copyright 2023 Boise State Public Radio

I cover politics and a bit of everything else for Boise State Public Radio. Outside of public meetings, you can find me fly fishing, making cool things out of leather or watching the Seattle Mariners' latest rebuilding season.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.