Who is Ammon Bundy? All about the militia leader involved in Idaho hospital defamation lawsuit

Ammon Bundy, a right-wing militia leader known for leading armed standoffs with federal officials in Nevada and Oregon, was issued a civil arrest warrant by Ada County Judge Lynn Norton. The warrant comes after Bundy repeatedly failed to participate in a lawsuit filed against him by St. Luke’s Health System in Idaho. In 2022, Ammon Bundy was sued for harassment and defamation over what the hospital called a "knowingly dishonest and baseless smear campaign."

Reportedly, protests led by Bundy and his associate Diego Rodriguez falsely accused St. Luke's employees and doctors of multiple things. These include kidnapping, trafficking, and murdering children in Idaho. The protests were against St. Luke’s alleged treatment of Rodriguez's grandchild.

Ammon Bundy also founded the group People's Rights Network (PRN). The group is known for holding aggressive protests outside the homes of one county commissioner who spoke in favor of COVID-19 precautions. The group also held aggressive protests outside the house of a judge who was overseeing one of Bundy’s many criminal cases, Idaho Statesman reported.

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Ammon Bundy has over 18,000 subscribers on YouTube

Ammon Bundy was born on September 1, 1975, in Bunkerville, Nevada, to parents Cliven and Carol Bundy. The right-wing militia leader also has a YouTube channel where he has more than 18K subscribers who are kept up-to-date with everything the militia leader is doing.

In an April 2022 article in The Guardian, it was stated that Ammon and the Bundy family were "established figures in anti-government folklore." They were called that after they led an armed standoff at their ranch in Nevada.

The report also said that Ammon's father, Cliven, avoided paying grazing fees to the Bureau of Land Management for as many as two decades. He claimed that his cattle has more rights to the land where they grazed than the government did.

When the government took action against Cliven and sent armed federal agents to confiscate the cattle, hundreds of protesters and armed militias came to the Bundy family's support.

Ammon Bundy has been constantly in the news for his anti-government stances and for the violent protests he leads.

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Ammon Bundy's followers allegedly sent death threats to St. Luke's staff

Bundy and his PRN group led protests on March 15, 2022, with the intention of shutting down St. Luke's operations, the hospital said. Doctors and nurses were blocked from entering or exiting the building along with rerouting ambulances and directing patients to other locations.

All this began when Bundy, Rodriguez, and PRN accused St. Luke's of medical kidnapping and abuse in connection with the treatment of a baby at the hospital.

However, St. Luke's complaint alleged that the parents of the infant had consented to all care provided. They added that the state's Department of Health and Welfare intervened after the parents failed to attend follow-up appointments. Police took custody of the infant on March 11, 2022.

Bundy and Rodriguez claimed that the hospital vaccinated the baby against the parents' wishes and harmed the baby in irreparable ways. However, St. Luke's denied all these allegations.

St. Luke's accused Bundy of launching a "campaign of technological disruption," where his followers flooded phone lines and inboxes with death threats and intimidating messages.

In a report by Law&Crime, Bundy was quoted saying that Idaho citizens should unite against "medical tyranny" and take back their rights.

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Bundy threatens process servers who force him to go through legal process

Bundy to run for Idaho governor in 2026 (Image via Getty)

In a video, Ammon Bundy discussed the defamation lawsuit against him and threatened the servers or anyone who forced him to go through with the legal process. St. Luke's plaintiffs have asked the Idaho Supreme Court to force Gem County Sheriff Donnie Wunder to serve the notices on Ammon Bundy.

Meanwhile, St. Luke's lawyers said that anyone, from individual corporate leaders to government officials, who offended Ammon Bundy and the PRN knew that they would be attacked online. The lawyers said that the people would also face armed protests outside their homes and would have to live with the threat of violence against themselves and their families.

Bundy was arrested in January for refusing to leave the hospital grounds and received a suspended sentence of 90 days in jail. He was also arrested in 2021 for refusing to wear a mask inside a court building during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ammon Bundy has already declared that he will run for Idaho governor again in 2026.