Ammon Bundy Arrested For Being Idiot Again
High Plains Grifter Ammon Bundy was arrested in Boise yesterday after he refused to put on a face mask for his scheduled trial on misdemeanor trespassing charges. You see, the Idaho Supreme Court has ordered that masks be worn in all courthouses, so when Bundy staged a three-hour standoff over his refusal to follow a simple public health measure, Judge David Manweiler eventually said the hell with it and issued bench warrants for Bundy and a co-defendant, Aaron Schmidt, on charges of failure to appear. Yes, even as the two patriots were right there refusing to go into the Ada County Courthouse, if you can believe such a thing.
As of yet, the nation has not risen up in outrage at this oppression. We'll be sure to let you know the minute that happens.
Bundy and Schmidt were supposed to appear yesterday for trial on trespassing charges stemming from another unmasked protest they took part in at the Idaho Capitol in August 2020. In that very important stand for liberty, Bundy and a bunch of fellow-minded loons from the antivaxxer group Health Freedom Idaho had seated themselves at "press" tables in the Capitol and refused to leave, even long after the end of the hearing they had barged into. Bundy had been wheeled out of the Capitol in an office chair he refused to get out of.
Health Freedom Idaho, we'll note, organized that stupid mask-burning outside the Capitol earlier this month, although it seems Bundy wasn't there, possibly because he'd been banned for a year from Capitol grounds following his arrest last year. We can't imagine he'd knuckle under to mere earthly orders from tyrants, so we'll assume he was either busy that day or wanted to save getting arrested for being an asshole for the start of his trial.
The Idaho Statesmanreports that when an Ada County Sheriff's deputy informed Bundy and Schmidt of the failure to appear warrant, they refused to come into the building again, and then deputies tried to arrest them. Bundy lay down on the concrete, as one does:
"At that point, Bundy laid down on the ground and refused to move," the sheriff's office said in the news release. Some of Bundy's supporters tried to block the arrests, though deputies were able to take both into custody.
Two men in the small crowd of Vanilla Isis supporters were arrested as well, for trying to block the arrests.
Casey Baker, a 69-year-old Nampa man, was arrested and later booked into the Ada County Jail on a felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer and a misdemeanor count of resisting and obstructing an officer. Garth Gaylord, 32, was cited for a misdemeanor charge of resisting and obstructing officers. Gaylord was not booked into jail.
Before the jackbooted thugs carried him off, Bundy had a fine old time yelling at deputies through the courthouse's revolving door, shouting, "It's illegal! It's completely unconstitutional! [...] It's against the law!"
Bundy later told one of the officers: "Listen, you are breaking the law. I will hold you personally accountable. … They have faulty charges and I'm coming to defend myself. I have a right to defend myself."
If Bundy, who's representing himself, really thinks the state Supreme Court lacks the authority to require masks in courthouses, he should probably have raised that in a court filing at some point before the day of his trial. Back in November, Bundy had argued, unsuccessfully, that any jury at his trial must not wear masks, because there's no science to prove COVID-19 is harmful or that masks work, and besides, he couldn't get a fair trial if he couldn't see the full faces of jury members instead of just their eyes rolling at everything he would say.
Look, the Constitution clearly says white blowhards who yell about liberty a lot can get whatever they want.
Since moving to Emmett, Idaho, Bundy has become quite the annoyance in the Gem state, joining Health Freedom Idaho, the far-Right Idaho Freedom Foundation, and sometimes a local gun organization for protests at the Capitol, for mobbing a cop's home after the arrest of an antivaxxer mom for entering a closed park, and of course for his great big Easter Superspreader Jamboree last year. Last fall, Bundy bravely shut down a high school football game by refusing to either wear a mask or leave, which was so oppressive that he once again claimed he was just like a Jew in Nazi Germany, a favorite metaphor of his.
As of last night, Bundy and Schmidt were being held in the Ada County Jail — which is a whole lot like Dachau, if Dachau were near a hospital parking lot and some car dealerships — in lie of $10,000 bond. We'll keep you updated, because we have every reason to believe this will all get much dumber. Judge Manweiler doesn't seem to brook any nonsense, and that's just about all Bundy has. That, and the money sent to him by fellow idiots.
Oh, yes, and also yesterday, Idaho's House State Affairs Committee advanced a bill to the full state House that would forbid any government entity from mandating masks, because Ammon Bundy isn't the only pro-virus asshole in this godforsaken state.
[Idaho Statesman / WaPo / KTVB-TV]
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