'Threats and intimidation': Ammon Bundy slammed with over $52 million in damages in hospital lawsuit
In 2022, far-right militia supporter Ammon Bundy and his ally Diego Rodriguez turned their wrath on St. Luke's Medical Center, accusing the Boise, Idaho hospital of wrongdoing in a child welfare case. St. Luke's responded with a civil lawsuit, and on Monday, July 24, a jury awarded St. Luke's more than $52 million in damages — including $26.5 million in compensatory damages and $26 million in punitive damages.
According to the Idaho Statesman's Sally Krutzig, "The $500,000 extra in the compensatory category came as a result of the jury's finding that violations of the Idaho Charitable Solicitation Act by Rodriguez and his Freedom Man Press business had harmed the plaintiffs."
Attorneys for St. Luke's have stressed that the hospital suffered considerable harassment because of Bundy, who claimed that the child in the custody case was "kidnapped" by the hospital.
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In an official statement, St. Luke's said, "Taking legal action is not something we take lightly. But standing up to the threats, bullying, intimidation, disruption and self-serving actions of the defendants was necessary. Inaction would have signaled that their menacing behavior was acceptable. Clearly, it is not, and the jury's decision validates that fact."
The Daily Beast's Kate Briquelet, reporting on the verdict, notes that Bundy "was a consistent no-show throughout the legal proceedings."
"In April," Briquelet explains, "a judge issued a default judgment against Bundy and Rodriguez for failing to respond to the suit, leading Bundy to put out an emergency alert that falsely claimed cops surrounded his home and that beckoned his (People's Rights Network) disciples to show up to defend him…. As a result of the default, jurors in the two-week trial were tasked with deciding what damages Bundy and Rodriguez owed to the hospital system."
Briquelet adds, "They heard testimony from doctors and administrators about the men's mob stoking fear among patients and families in the emergency room, and Life Flight pilots refusing to land at the facility, fearing shots from the armed crowd on the ground."
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Lindsay Schubiner, programs director for the Western States Center, is applauding the verdict. The Western States Center, which has been vehemently critical of Bundy and his allies, monitors far-right extremists.
Schubiner said of Bundy, "His decision to target St. Luke’s and to use inflammatory, dishonest rhetoric about the hospital's actions endangered both staff and patients. This verdict shows that the courts have the ability to treat this kind of threat with the seriousness it deserves."
