Anti-government activist Ammon Bundy was arrested in Idaho on Monday after refusing to wear a mask in court, preventing him from entering and preventing him from appearing at his own trial, officials said.
Ammon Bundy, 41, was due to appear in a Boise court at 8:15 am to start his trial for trespassing and resisting arrest charges stemming from an August incident at the Idaho State House.
For almost a year, the Idaho Supreme Court has required masks for entry into any state court.
“Mr. Bundy today refused to wear a mask to enter the courtroom and therefore was not allowed to be admitted,” Steven Hippler, administrative judge for the Fourth District Judiciary, told NBC News.
And when he failed to enter the Ada County courthouse, Judge Judge David Manweile issued a Bundy arrest warrant. As of 2:30 pm, Bundy was still being held in place of $ 10,000 bail, prison records showed.
If or when Bundy pays bail, a condition for bail will be a requirement that he follow court rules, including facial coverage, Hippler said.
Bundy’s listed cell phone went straight to voicemail on Monday afternoon.
Bundy is best known for a stalemate in 2016 with his father, Cliven Bundy, at a wildlife refuge in Oregon.
And last fall, he refused to leave the campus of a college that had asked him to wear a mask if he wanted to watch his son’s football game. The confusion caused school officials to end the game at halftime.
In August, Bundy and two others refused to leave the government palace after a hearing was moved to another part of the building. When Bundy refused to get up from his swivel chair, the state police pushed him out.
