(TheConservativeTimes.org) – After learning he may be arrested on a warrant for contempt of court (a misdemeanor charge), a prominent activist and one-time candidate for governor has refused to comply with court orders in an ongoing lawsuit. He has filed trespassing complaints against those hired to deliver legal paperwork and rallied dozens of supporters to camp outside his house for safety.
Ammon Bundy, who has fought with federal and state police in Oregon and Nevada, is currently embroiled in a standoff in a defamation lawsuit in Idaho, where he is refusing to obey court orders.
St. Luke’s Regional Health had filed a lawsuit against Bundy and his partner Diego Rodriguez, claiming that the two made defamatory comments against the hospital and its employees after the hospital briefly held Rodriguez’s young grandchild when he was taken away from the family for health reasons.
Bundy’s behavior is reminiscent of the previous armed standoffs with federal law enforcement.
In 2016, to protest the convictions of cattle ranchers who were said to have committed arson on federal land, Bundy organized a 41-day armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon. The Bundy patriarch, Cliven Bundy, spearheaded the charge in the Nevada standoff that year. The criminal prosecution against Ammon Bundy in Nevada was declared a mistrial, and he was cleared of all counts in Oregon.
In his current civil case, Bundy appears to be following a “blueprint,” using terminology identical to that used in Oregon and Nevada, as noted by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights director Devin Burgess. Burgess has been hired as an expert witness in the defamation case brought by St. Luke’s attorneys.
Recently, Ammon Bundy has been assuring his fans that he would “go back to Heavenly Father” instead of spending time behind bars. He argues he is in danger of losing his freedom if compelled to cease making statements about St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center.
The AP reported in April that Bundy had said, “I believe it’s my absolute right to be able to say those things.”
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