Guy who hated government so much he decided to campaign for office to run it in his state Ammon Bundy has been charged with trespassing after refusing to leave a hospital where a child of a campaign supporter was taken there by police, the Idaho Statesman reports.
The infant at the heart of the issue is reportedly malnourished and had initially been reported to the police when brought into the hospital earlier this month. After a 3-day hospital stay, the child was discharged to the parents, but in a follow-up exam, hospital staff found the infant had lost more weight.
The parents–one of whom is the child of Diego Rodriguez, a Boise pastor, People’s Rights activist and figure in Bundy’s bid for governor–canceled a follow-up exam scheduled for Friday, with his mother saying she was sick. Hospital staff could not locate the parents, so they called the police, who located the family at a gas station in a neighboring town, where the family was at a friend’s house for dinner, and took the child into custody Friday.
The mother broadcast on Facebook Live the interchange with the police officer who informed her that her son was being taken into protective custody. She or someone watching the video put out alert to the “People’s Rights” organization to which Bundy belongs. Later, Bundy tweeted:
Please read. Last night my very good friend Diego’s grandson was medically kidnapped because a medical practitioner called CPS for a missed doctor appointment. If this happened to them, it could happen to you. We must stand against this medical tyranny. https://t.co/YIwXjLjrgx
— Ammon Bundy (@RealABundy) March 12, 2022
Bundy and his gubernatorial campaign manager, Wendy Kay Whitaker, were arrested at St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center at 1:15 a.m. Saturday, as they were apparently searching the hospital for the child. When ordered to leave the hospital, Bundy and Whitaker refused, and hospital staff called local police.
The Bundy family has had a long string of run-ins with police, from claiming to have land rights on federal property to graze cattle to trying to prevent federal ownership of forest land in Oregon. Typically, the true issue is that the Bundys don’t want to pay taxes.