Ammon Bundy refusing to accept service of court papers in hospital lawsuit

Far-right militia activist Ammon Bundy is once again at odds with law enforcement — this time over a lawsuit from a hospital in Idaho, reported Slate on Thursday.

Bundy is the son of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who famously was at the heart of an armed conflict with federal agents nearly a decade ago — an event that saw far-right groups like the Oath Keepers coming out to support him.

"Ammon Bundy and supporters on his property are refusing to accept service of court papers related to a lawsuit filed against him by a state hospital system, St. Luke’s," reported Ben Mathis-Lilley. "The lawsuit alleges that Bundy and others defamed and harassed the hospital and its employees after a March 2022 incident in which the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare brought the infant grandson of one of Bundy’s friends to a hospital location for medical treatment. Bundy and others then assembled on the grounds of the hospital and refused to leave; he was arrested and pleaded guilty in January of this year to misdemeanor trespassing."

"The hospital has since sued Bundy, the child’s grandfather, and several affiliated activist groups for making false statements about its doctors (that they kidnap and kill children and so forth)," said the report. "Bundy has refused to appear in court to respond to the suit, which led the judge in the case to issue a civil arrest warrant against him. Bundy’s People’s Rights Network group has called on supporters to 'surround' and protect him, and on Tuesday, one of them blocked the county sheriff’s office from serving the arrest warrant."

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Bundy has said he will not show up in court because he considers the lawsuit to be harassment, and furthermore he cannot afford an attorney.

So far, this standoff has been more low-key than the previous one, in which Bundy and his supporters forcibly occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon to protest the prosecution of a pair of ranchers who were illegally setting fires, putting them in armed conflict with federal workers. According to the report, law enforcement is proceeding cautiously and not surrounding his property — and Bundy even threw a barbecue on the premises after a judge issued a default order against him.