Idaho judge issues new arrest warrant for far-right activist Ammon Bundy

A judge in Idaho has issued a $250,000 arrest warrant for Ammon Bundy, the anti-government activist, after he repeatedly failed to show up in court.

The 48-year-old son of the controversial Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, and organiser of a takeover of an Oregon wildlife reserve that left one of his supporters dead, fell foul of the court after not attending hearings in relation to a $52.5m defamation ruling against him and his political organisation.

He was supposed to appear in court on Monday but once again did not appear. Instead, he sent an email in which he said his life had been “consumed by political prosecutions”.

In response, district judge Nancy Baskin revoked Bundy’s $10,000 bond and ordered his arrest.

“This court is doing everything in its power to protect Mr Bundy’s rights, to give him an opportunity to confront and cross-examine witnesses, to have his motion to dismiss heard. I simply cannot do that unless he is actually at court,” Judge Baskin said, per the Idaho Capitol Sun.

She also announced that she was issuing a fresh arrest warrant with a bond of $250,000: “Once again, Mr Bundy thinks he can simply say he does not need to be in court. Again, that is not how the rule of law works in this country.”

Bundy, who last year ran and lost in a bid to become the governor of Idaho, has often blasted the authorities on social media.

On Monday night, he wrote on X: “Today Judge Baskin issued a $250,000 warrant for my arrest. The only thing I care to say is that I don’t regret any of it.”

He added, alongside images of himself and his wife holding their baby: “I was honest in everything I said … Please pray for my family.”

Previously, Bundy has twice managed to escape efforts by the authorities to convict him. In 2016, a court acquitted Ammon and his brother Ryan Bundy along with five others, of all charges to their occupation of the Malheur national wildlife refuge in Oregon.

Later, in 2018, a federal judge dismissed all charges against Cliven Bundy and his sons, in relation to the armed standoff at the Bundy ranch in 2014 that had its roots in a fight over land-grazing fees.

Bundy’s latest brush with the law follows a court decision earlier this year that found him and other defendant, Diego Rodriguez, guilty of defaming St Luke’s medical center in Boise.

In the spring of 2022, he had organised protests in Boise after authorities took Rodriguez’s grandchild into custody amid concerns about his wellbeing and transferred him to the hospital.

The protests were such that they shut down the hospital’s downtown campus and forced medical staff to reroute ambulances. Reports from the time said that some protesters, a number of whom were armed, sought to force their way into the hospital’s locked exits.

In July, a jury found Bundy, Rodriguez and several other members of Bundy’s political organisation, the People’s Rights Network, guilty after a 10-day trial.

They were ordered to pay a total of $52.5m in compensatory and punitive damages, and told to remove 18 months of material that defamed the hospital from the internet.

During the trial, an emergency room physician, Rachel Thomas, told the court that the 10-month-old baby was suffering from malnourishment and that its stomach was distended.

Bundy did not attend the trial or have a lawyer, as he claimed he could not afford one.

After the judgment, the hospital said: “The jury’s decision imposes accountability for the ongoing campaign of intimidation, harassment and disinformation these defendants have conducted.”

It added: “It also affirms the importance of protecting healthcare providers and other public servants from attacks intended to prevent them from carrying out their responsibilities.”

On Tuesday, Bundy did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. It was not clear if he had a lawyer to represent him for the latest appearance.