Far-right activist Ammon Bundy was arrested Saturday for trespassing at an Idaho hospital, local police said.
According to the Meridian Police Department, Bundy — a candidate for governor in Idaho famed for an armed occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge in 2016 — was arrested after refusing to leave an Idaho hospital.
The department reports that Bundy, accompanied by "many" followers, arrived at St Luke's Meridian and "refused to leave the property when asked to do so," the department report said.
After "multiple attempts" to release Bundy, 46, the Meridian Police Department said it arrested Bundy for trespassing. Police took Bundy to the Ada County Jail, and he was charged with one count of misdemeanor trespass. According to Meridian police, a 21-year-old and a 23-year-old man involved in the protests were also charged with trespassing.
In a statement, Bundy claimed he was "arrested for the offense of disagreeing with the hospital and [child protective services]."
"Make no mistake about it, it was an ambush arrest without any legal basis," he resented in a statement posted on Twitter on Saturday morning.
The far-right candidate claimed that the family's child had been "medically abducted" and complained that their "parental rights" had been violated.
"Idaho must unite against medical atrocities and take back our rights," he said.
Bundy's protests erupted when the Meridian Police Department said he had been taken to a hospital later in the month after a 10-month-old was told by medical personnel "suffering from severe malnutrition." The unnamed child was able to reach a healthy weight and the baby was released to go home with his parents a few days later.
But officials found during a subsequent visit that the child had "again lost considerable weight," police said. When police visited the family's home, the 10-month-old's parents were "uncooperative" and did not allow officers to investigate the total.
According to the police report, after Meridian police received a warrant to enter the house, they learned that the parent and child were gone. According to Meridian Police, Garden City Police then found a vehicle driven by the child's father and officers from the Meridian Police Department took the apparently endangered child to the Meridian of St. Luke for medical attention.
Saturday's incident was not Bundy's first recent arrest for trespass.
In August 2020, Bundy was removed from the state Senate gallery and arrested at the Idaho Statehouse after protests against proposed coronavirus legislation. This happened after Bundy detailed a day before he interrupted state lawmakers.
Bundy is set to stand trial on Monday for two misdemeanor charges for stunts at the Idaho Statehouse, according to reports.
Bundy announced last month that he would run as an independent candidate for November's general election, after initially saying he would seek to win the Republican primary.