IDAHO HEALTH SYSTEM WANTS AMMON BUNDY HELD IN CONTEMPT OF COURT

BOISE, Idaho — St. Luke’s Health System has filed paperwork asking an Ada County judge to consider holding far-right leader Ammon Bundy in contempt of court — again.

In court documents filed by Holland & Hart attorney Erik Stidham, St. Luke’s alleged that Bundy violated Fourth District Judge Lynn Norton’s protective order by failing to remove “defamatory statements” on the People’s Rights Network — a far-right group started by Bundy — about St. Luke’s President and CEO Chris Roth.

“A finding of contempt are needed here as Bundy disregards and disrespects the court and continues to disrupt plaintiff’s lives and livelihoods,” according to the memorandum. “Absent a finding of contempt, there is no doubt that Bundy will continue to defy the court.”

Norton also issued an order allowing St. Luke’s to seek punitive damages that amount to at least $7.5 million.

In early 2022, local law enforcement agencies took the then-10-month-old grandson of Rodriguez to St. Luke’s Meridian over concerns about his welfare. Bundy led protests outside St. Luke’s hospitals in Meridian and Boise. A March protest outside of the Meridian hospital blocked the ambulance bay and forced ambulances to be diverted to other locations and hospitals, Owyhee County Prosecutor Chris Topmiller said.

Bundy was arrested and later, in a rare move, pleaded guilty to trespassing at the hospital in what he called a “peace offering.” He’s previously gone to trial twice for trespassing charges in 2021 and 2022.

–The Idaho Statesman