Far-right activist Ammon Bundy threatens ‘shotgun’ confrontation over hospital lawsuit


Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Six years after last armed clash with law enforcement, far-right leader Amon Bundy This time around a lawsuit from an Idaho hospital accused of harassment.

“They’re suing me for defamation. They’re probably going to try to sue me for over a million dollars and take everything from me,” Bundy said. conservative idaho dispatch and Livestream video of the week“And I’m not going to let that happen. I’m taking action to keep it from happening. If I have to meet my friends on my doorstep with a shotgun, I will. They’re my property.” I’m not going to take it away.”

Bundy, who recently ran for governor of Idaho but was unsuccessful, has been involved in several campaigns across the country on his family’s Nevada ranch in 2014 and at Malheer National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 in a tense confrontation with federal law enforcement. gained a reputation. , a far-right activist group.

Far-right activist Amon Bundy arrested for hospital trespassing

Bundy, the People’s Rights Network, and other parties are defendants. lawsuit By St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center accusing right-wing network of defamation.

MarchBundy and the People’s Rights Network were mobilized against St. Luke’s where Bundy claimed the baby was “medically abducted” […] Because I missed a non-urgent doctor’s appointment. ”

Authorities disputed Bundy’s characterization of the incident.The baby, the grandson of a People’s Rights member, was hospitalized earlier that month with “severe malnutrition,” police said. His 10-month-old baby gained weight in the hospital and was discharged with his parents. He then “lost a lot of weight and his parents canceled the next follow-up appointment and were unable to locate him.” The baby’s attending physician, who had nothing to do with the hospital, reported his concerns to the Idaho Department of Health and Human Services, according to the hospital lawsuit, which said the baby was in “imminent danger involving life-threatening and/or emergency situations.” I was warned that it was in

After agreeing to another appointment and failing to show up, the parents are said to have refused to allow police to check their children at home. , where he was treated for three days. DHW returned him to his parents three days after him.

While the baby was hospitalized, Bundy and followers harassed staff at the ambulance, Bundy’s arrest Suspicion of trespassing, resisting or obstructing a police officer. The People’s Rights Network’s campaign caused a security threat, and hospitals were put on lockdown, unable to receive ambulances for an hour.

The Bundy network concocted a conspiracy theory about St. Luke’s Hospital and its staff and ran an online fundraiser, the hospital alleges in the lawsuit. “These charitable donation solicitations were based on defamatory statements about the kidnapping, trafficking and murder of children by St. Luke’s and others.”

An online campaign falsely accused hospitals of vaccinating babies against their parents’ wishes, saying that babies were forced to take “toxic poisons” and “could lose their lives because of people’s decisions.” It has potential,” he claimed. [at St. Luke’s] Who cares ‘about him. The campaign also singled out a St. Luke’s doctor who was falsely accused of mass kidnapping.

“They told followers to target the same individuals for exposure and harassment. Defendants reflected false statements on websites and social media they controlled,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants also organized a campaign of technological disruption. They encouraged believers to flood St. Luke’s phone lines and email inboxes in an effort to stop St. Luke’s operations. Defendants’ supporters jammed phone lines with threatening calls (including death threats), sent threatening emails, and spammed and disrupted servers.”

St. Luke’s claims the defendants raised more than $115,000 from the protest.

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Bundy, who did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment, is not cooperating with the lawsuit. Sanctions Hearings in SeptemberIn his interview Expedited shippingBundy said he was picking up piles of court papers and throwing them in the trash.

“Just throw it all out. Literally just take it out of the mail and throw it in the trash,” he said. “I haven’t responded to them in the slightest.”

St. Luke’s seeks monetary damages from the defendants. saying to donate To Children at Risk Evaluation Service. It is unclear exactly how much the hospital will charge, but in total it demanded at least a total of $50,000 from the defendants.

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