Ammon Edward Bundy (born September 1, 1975)[2][3] is an American anti-government militant[4][5] and activist[6] who led the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

Prior to the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, he had lost a home in a short sale[12] and was behind on his property taxes.

[16] On April 9, Bundy drove an all-terrain vehicle in front of a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) truck to block it from leaving.

To that, Ammon added, "If someone came in, busted into my house and abused my children, and so I call the cops, they don't respond, and then I take them to court.

In early April 2016, Judge Brown of the Oregonian prosecution approved an order to send the four defendants charged in both cases, including Ammon and Ryan Bundy, to Nevada to make an appearance in court there.

[28] On January 8, 2018, U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro declared the mistrial to be with prejudice, effectively dismissing the charges, on the grounds that the defendants could not receive a fair trial.

"The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated," the federal judge was quoted to have written in an order, as reported in the Los Angeles Times.

[30][31][32] In 2015, ranchers Dwight and Steve Hammond were resentenced to five years for two counts of arson on federal land, after their original sentence was vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

[36] Early in the standoff, a Twitter user claiming to be Ammon Bundy tweeted a statement comparing the group to civil rights activist Rosa Parks.

[38] Speaking through his lawyer Mike Arnold the day after his arrest (see below), Bundy urged those remaining at the refuge to "please stand down" and go home.

[39] Bundy was peacefully arrested on January 26, 2016, when the vehicle he was traveling in was pulled over by a joint force of FBI agents and troopers from Oregon State Patrol.

[40] Another vehicle in the convoy fled the traffic stop until it encountered a roadblock, where Oregon State Patrol officers shot and killed LaVoy Finicum.

[50] On March 8, 2016, the federal grand jury in Oregon returned a new superseding indictment that unsealed the following day, charging Bundy and 25 co-defendants with a variety of crimes in relation to the occupation.

Brown, citing longstanding Supreme Court precedent establishing the federal government's power to own and manage public land under the Property Clause as being "without limitations," and ruled that Bundy was "mistaken" in his belief that the existence of the wildlife refuge is unconstitutional.

[67] On May 26, 2016, Bundy replaced his legal counsel, removing the Arnold Law Firm from the case and hiring J. Morgan Philpot as his lawyer.

Denying the motion on grounds that this policy is rational and that the Bundys did not show their attire would prejudice their case, Judge Brown said Ammon was "dressed better than most people in the building, period.

"[91] In December 2018, Bundy disavowed the militia movement due to his disagreement with President Donald Trump's immigration policy, specifically regarding the Central American migrant caravan.

"[99] A report by IREHR and the Montana Human Rights Network detailed the formation of the group, including numerous ties to violent, anti-government and racial supremacist individuals both in affiliation and leadership, concluding that "it is Ammon’s Army, and it marches to a far-right drumbeat of narcissistic rage and insurrection," which involves "troubling displays of far-right conspiracism, racism, antisemitism, anti-indigenous and anti-transgender sentiment, and omnipresent threats of violence.

"[100] IREHR analysis connects the group's political stances, generally based in overturning civil rights as "a broad-based, anti-Democratic and bigoted social movement," to pre-Civil War interpretations of the U.S. Constitution and Christian nationalism;[98] the extremist Posse Comitatus (organization);[101] secessionist and violent right-wing militias such as the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, and Patriot Prayer;[102] racist historical revisionists such as W. Cleon Skousen;[103] various antisemitic conspiracy theories;[104] bad-faith and convoluted denials of Racism in the United States aimed at furthering White supremacy;[105] and anti-indigenous bigotry.

[6][114][115][116] On August 25, 2020 the speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives closed the auditorium at the State Capitol and ordered protesters to leave the building.

Ammon Bundy and three others refused to leave when directed to do so by Idaho State Police Officers, and were arrested for criminal trespass.

Bundy claimed that he had the permission of the Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives to be present at the special session and that he had been respectful of the legislative process, and peaceful at all times during the protests.

He was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 48 hours community service in lieu of five days jailtime, and was required to pay a $500 fine plus court costs of $417.

[122][123] Bundy attended a football game between Emmett and Caldwell High Schools on October 2, 2020; he refused to wear a mask and was denied entry.

[124] On April 8, 2022, Bundy was convicted of trespassing and resisting arrest for refusing to leave a closed committee room at the statehouse.

[126] In July 2023 St. Luke's Regional Health sued Bundy, Rodriquez, and three affiliated organizations (the Ammon Bundy for Governor, the People's Rights Network and the Freedom Man Press/Freedom Man PAC) in a civil trial for defamation, saying that the defendants had harassed medical staff and orchestrated a smear campaign against the hospital.

[137] Following the civil trial in Ada County, the jury found all defendants liable for defamation, false light, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

[137][139][138] The hospital system praised the jury verdict as "accountability for the ongoing campaign of intimidation, harassment and disinformation" conducted by Bundy and his co-defendants.

[141] The judge cited numerous irregularities in the sale of the home to Aaron Welling's White Barn Enterprises, including the fact that no money was paid to Bundy for the "sale," that White Barn assigned all the money from Bundy's rent payments into existing mortgage payments on the property after taking over the mortgage, and that Bundy had made public statements prior to the sale indicating that he was making efforts to put his assets beyond the reach of a court judgement.

[144][145][146] As of November 2023 an arrest warrant with a $250,000.00[147] bond was issued against Bundy for contempt of court due to his refusal to appear at his trial.