August 26th, 2020
(This post was originally posted on Facebook, and has been posted here with additional videos and images).

I was arrested on Tuesday, August 25th, and then again, the following day, on August 26th, at the Idaho State Capitol. Already, much has been shared about the events surrounding my arrest(s), and as usual—it is all either completely wrong, or missing important details which change the perspective of the situation entirely.

I am writing this open letter today, to a watching world, so that all can see for themselves the reality of the tyranny we are now living under—even in a place like Idaho. Below you will find a summary of the events that took place, including the clear abuse of power and the disregard for the peoples’ rights, particularly by members of Idaho’s law enforcement and by leaders in our own Idaho State Government.

On Tuesday, August 25th, I was seated near the back of the Lincoln Auditorium to participate in the committee hearing process regarding RS28049, the bill regarding civil liability immunity, to which I am opposed.

While seated, I noticed an Idaho State Police officer speak to two citizen journalists seated at the front in the press section of the committee room. They both then got up and came to the back of the room to speak with the Sergeant-at-Arms. I overheard the conversation and specifically heard the Sergeant-at-Arms tell them that they were sitting in an area of the room reserved for pre-approved members of the press only. One of them, Miste Karlfeldt, showed that she was a credentialed member of the press (which she is), and then they continued to speak, but I did not hear how the conversation ended.

Eventually, both journalists returned to the press area of the committee room. Shortly thereafter, Chairman Greg Chaney began the hearing. Then, the Sergeant-at-Arms came up to Chairman Chaney and leaned down to whisper in his ear. After doing so, Chaney stopped the hearing and proclaimed that the two journalists had to leave the press area because they were not wearing the pre-approved “brown badges.” Miste again responded that she was a credentialed journalist, but immediately, within seconds, a crowd of ISP officers barged into the auditorium and down the hallway like storm troopers, to physically remove them.

The other gentleman, Bryan Bowermaster, was forcefully removed by multiple officers as if he was a violent and dangerous criminal, while Miste continued to talk to other officers and show her credentials and her confusion as to why she was not allowed to sit where the press normally sits.

At this point, there was obviously a lot of chaos in the room with audience members and police officers shouting back and forth, while the committee members sat by and watched. (Plenty of videos of this activity have been shared online.) At this point I decided to head up to the front of the room and sit at the same press table where Miste and Bryan were just removed from to show the absurdity of the actions on behalf of the Idaho State Police and Chairman Greg Chaney.

Of course, nobody did anything to me or spoke to me at that point. So, I just sat there and did nothing. Several others decided to sit with me, as well.

After the chaos died down a little bit, Chaney and the committee members decided they needed to move their committee hearing to another room which would be more private and where they would only allow certain people in from the public—please don’t forget this important detail. I decided to stay in the Lincoln Auditorium, sitting at the table “reserved for the press.”

A little after 5:00 pm, Blake Higley of the Idaho State Police, along with dozens of armed and aggressive ISP officers walked back into the Lincoln Auditorium and demanded that everyone leave or face arrest. Most of the room cleared out, but I decided to stay. Another gentleman, Aaron, who also posed no threat in any way, was then arrested. Multiple officers then descended upon me to arrest me as well. I was then handcuffed (not zip-tied as has been reported) to the chair I was sitting in and wheeled out of the room. Another innocent woman named Jill who was standing outside the Lincoln Auditorium was yelled at by one of the officers who angrily snapped, “Come on in if you want to go to jail,” who then proceeded to step outside of the auditorium and then forcefully grabbed her by the neck and threw her inside the auditorium to arrest her.

Mind you, committee hearings and other meetings were still ongoing in the Capitol at this time.

As always, circumstances must be placed in their proper context. In this case, the events of Tuesday, August 25th, must be placed within the context of the previous day, Monday, August 24th. Monday was the very first day of the special (aka extraordinary) session of the Legislature called by Governor Brad Little.

This special session, as I believe (along with thousands of other freedom loving Idahoans), was called by the Governor in order to protect himself from the consequences of his own tyrannical actions and to serve his own cronies, the wealthiest and most influential special interest groups in Idaho. More specifically, the chief issue at hand, RS28049 about Civil Liability Immunity, was written by IACI (Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry—the most corrupt and influential lobbying organization in Idaho), and has been referred to amongst legislators as “The IACI Bill.”

Citizens were rightfully outraged about this egregious bill which: gives Brad Little cover for his own egregious and illegal actions taken in the name of “coping with the coronavirus crisis,” gives a free pass to big businesses in Idaho like St. Luke’s and St. Alphonsus for knowingly harming patients during the coronavirus crisis, and it lays the foundation for total protection against all entities who would later be involved in the forced vaccination of Idaho citizens, against their will. It’s a disgusting bill and Idahoans came to voice their outrage over the Governor not only trying to ram this bill through the legislature, but going so far as to call a special session in order to get it passed.

Now, according to Idaho State Statute Title 74, Chapter 2 (and according to common sense and basic citizens’ rights in a free country) all public policy meetings held by public officials must be open to the public.

The public has the RIGHT to be present at any and all legislative sessions. So, hundreds of informed and righteously indignant citizens showed up to show their unified voice against this corrupt attempt to force this immoral legislation on the people of Idaho.

However, Idaho State Police officers were onsite preventing the people from entering the house gallery. This is a clear violation of the peoples’ rights, and it is a clear violation of Idaho State Law. So, here we had Idaho State Police clearly and evidently VIOLATING the peoples’ rights and violating State Law.

This was filmed on dozens, if not over a hundred cell phone cameras, and immediately shared all over social media, the internet, and privately between citizens.

In one instance, Idaho State Police officers tried desperately to slam the entrance door shut, in clear violation of the law, while Idaho citizens who had already made their way past the entrance grabbed the same door and tried to pull it open in order to allow their fellow Idaho citizens access, as well. This door had a glass window on it, and the pushing of the door near the middle of the door by a police officer, while the same door was simultaneously pulled near the top by an Idaho citizen, caused the door to bend, which ultimately caused the glass window in the door to shatter.

This was then spread across fake news media outlets with a narrative that tried to describe these concerned patriots as an angry mob who shattered the glass door in order to violently push their way into the legislative session. A few headline examples were, “Unmasked spectators shatter glass door in Idaho Capitol building as special session starts,” (Idaho Statesman), and “Crowd shatters glass to get to Idaho House session on virus,” (Associated Press). Of course, those headlines are all lies and a video, taken by Bryan Bowermaster himself, was published showing the truth of what caused the glass to break.

The truth is, of course, that Idaho State Police were violating peoples’ rights, breaking Idaho state law, and trying to physically slam the door in the faces of honest Idaho citizens who were simply exercising their right to be present in public policy meetings. That attempt was resisted by Idaho citizens and it was the police’s actions that caused the door to shatter, not the peoples’ actions. Bryan Bowermaster’s video demonstrated this for the whole world to see and put on display the tyranny of the Idaho State Police along with the dishonesty of mainstream media, and ultimately humiliated both the ISP as an institution, and the media, in general.

Videos even surfaced of ISP officers literally crying when Idaho citizens pushed their way through because they, in their own words were, “just trying to do my job.”

It should be noted, that the Idaho State Police, never ceased to attempt to prevent the people of Idaho from entering the House Chambers, which is their right as citizens, and which is clearly documented in Idaho state law; until Speaker of the House Scott Bedke arrived and gave the orders to allow the people in.

Taken as a whole, the events of August 24th in the Idaho State Capitol, as I just described them were seen as a major blot against the Idaho State Police. They were publicly humiliated and their violation against Idaho citizens was put on display for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people to see.

This meant evidently, that they had to restore their position, and demonstrate to citizens once again, “who is in charge.” They were going to have to put on a show of force to remind citizens that it is they who have the authority and that citizens must submit to them!

It is important to note that the actions of the people for the rest of the day were 100% totally and completely peaceful. Had it not been for the Idaho State Police violating the peoples’ rights and preventing the people from entering a public legislative session, there would have been absolutely no confrontation, no shattered glass, and no public humiliation. The people were peaceful, as always. It was the Idaho State Police who provoked the yelling, the pushing, and the chaos.

Sure, later in the day, there was some outbursts from people in the gallery, along with comments, loud snickering, claps, boos, and a general lack of decorum. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but order can easily be maintained by simply requesting it from the gallery.

Furthermore, it can be argued that if the legislature doesn’t want to get booed, they shouldn’t try to pass laws that violate the peoples’ rights.

Much has already been said about Chairman Greg Chaney, his character, and his past. I have no interest in adding to that conversation, but I will state that it was clear that Chaney was chosen to ensure that this legislation, as written by IACI, get rammed through the house and ultimately adopted into Idaho State Law.

This was designed by the Governor himself, but Chaney, because of the activism and grass roots response of the people of Idaho, failed to get IACI’s bill passed out of committee. This was a major failure on the part of the committee, with Chaney as the chair, and it was also obvious that there would be no way that these committee members could vote in favor of this bill with so many members of the public physically present in the committee hearing, opposing the bill.

And therein lies the problem. They can’t have their committee hearing in private or in secret, because that is against the law. And the people have already demonstrated that they know the law and are not going to allow themselves to be kept out of the hearing. So, what’s a legislator to do? Well, it was obvious that they had to come up with a plan to make an excuse to keep people out of the hearing room. And what better excuse than to claim that there are violent upheavals, or violent mobs, or violent or disruptive anything that requires police force. It was evident that this was planned. They needed and wanted an excuse to keep the public out of the committee hearing. If it wasn’t “press credentials” it would have been something else. Read on and you will understand…

It was evident that on Tuesday, the Idaho State Police needed to both save face, and put themselves back in the IN CHARGE position in the eyes of the people. They couldn’t allow the people to feel like they were the ones in charge and that they did not have to obey the police. All tyrannical agencies respond this way. In order to “take back control,” they showed up with an over the top, show-of-force, and then sought to make someone an example in order to intimidate anyone and everyone else.

This is why on Tuesday, as can be seen in dozens of videos circulating online, the State Capitol was absolutely filled to the brim with ISP officers. There was obviously no need for this, but with the previous context in mind, you tell me why this many officers were needed?

Additionally, before we entered the Lincoln Auditorium that day, there were dozens of ISP officers in and outside of the auditorium talking amongst themselves and several of them speaking with the committee members. However, before the meeting began, most of the ISP officers cleared out and there only remained about 8 officers.

But within seconds, as soon as Miste Karlfeldt responded to Chairman Chaney that she did, indeed have press credentials, all of those additional ISP officers filed into t he auditorium to forcefully remove Bryan Bowermaster. Is it coincidence that Bryan is the same citizen journalist whose video was used to humiliate the ISP a day earlier? Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. I’ll let you decide.

But I ask everyone—how could you not recognize this was planned in advance when the ISP entered into the room within seconds of Miste’s response? Had it not been planned, there would have been a longer exchange between Miste and Chaney. Chaney would have then had to call for the Sergeant-at-Arms to assist in “keeping order” and someone would have had to have radioed for the additional officers to come in. That all takes time. It doesn’t happen in seconds.

Additionally, if they had not planned in advance to have this show-of-force to intimidate the people, why couldn’t either the individual sergeant-at-arms, or any of the 8 or so ISP officers who were in the building have come down to escort Miste and Bryan, peacefully, from the press area? Neither one of them posed a threat. Why the over the top use of force?

This doesn’t even begin to discuss the legality or ethicality of whether or not Miste and Bryan should be allowed to sit at that table in the first place. But that is another argument altogether.

What is very clear is this—the Idaho State Police broke the law. They violated the peoples’ rights. And then when their transgressions were exposed, they responded with an over the top show of force, further abusing the peoples’ rights, and even physically assaulting many innocent citizens in the process (several innocent citizens were pushed, shoved, and thrown on the floor).

That is why I sat in that chair that day. That is why I refused to move. That is why I got arrested. Because I was letting the world see how abusive our own Idaho State Police have become. You tell me, what is a greater threat to our freedom—a peaceful citizen sitting in a chair? Or a violent and aggressive police force who knowingly violates law and the peoples’ rights all in the name of following orders?

Unfortunately, I have been through this all before. I know, as well as anybody, how the government uses and manipulates the media and controls the narrative in order to abuse its own people. And from civil asset forfeiture, to qualified immunity, to George Floyd, to Waco, to Ruby Ridge, the government has their “go to” handbag of tricks to manipulate the people and protect themselves from citizen outrage.

The most common things they do are to claim that innocent citizens were either “resisting arrest” or “trespassing.” These are claims that are used so broadly and accepted so widely that anybody can be arrested at any time for these reasons. And you can see how indiscriminately these charges or claims are used. Take Sarah Brady, for example, who was arrested by Meridian Police Officer Branden Fiscus for “trespassing” at a public park in broad daylight with hundreds of other Idaho citizens at the same park at the same time.

I, along with Aaron and Jill, were also arrested for “trespassing” at the Capitol. But why? Hundreds of other citizens were at the Capitol at the same time. Why weren’t they all arrested? It should be obvious that they wanted to make examples out of us.

I was also charged with “resisting arrest.” This has been proven to be one of the most egregiously used claims against innocent citizens that has ever existed. You can be arrested for no reason, and then if you “resist” that arrest, you can then be charged with a crime! Of course, there are many examples of abusive cops physically beating people who are not fighting back or doing anything at all, while the cops yell, “stop resisting, stop resisting” in order to give themselves a legal excuse for their abuse. Because if they are investigated for their abusive action, they can simply claim that the person was “resisting arrest.”

In my case, my personal testimony is (and this is validated by the numerous videos that were taken), that I simply sat in that chair and did nothing. I wasn’t violent. I wasn’t yelling. I didn’t even move. I sat completely peacefully and posed a threat to no one. Nevertheless, multiple officers physically assaulted me, handcuffed me to the chair and then disgracefully wheeled me out of the building while still handcuffed to the chair. And after I was treated that way, they charged me with “resisting arrest.” Does that sound ethical or moral to you?

The following day, I returned to the Idaho State Capitol and sat down in the Idaho Senate Chambers with friends and fellow patriots. Again, I posed no threat. I maintained decorum and was doing absolutely nothing when Idaho State Police came again into the gallery and violently arrested me and physically dragged me out of the building. Why? Again, they charged me with “trespassing.”

To add insult to injury, I was physically abused by these officers who took special care to wait until they were out of public view to inflict additional harm and pain on me. One of them intentionally dug his knuckles into my neck and then ripped his hand across my jugular. Why? Why was that necessary? Why do they do that? Because they can. Because their abuse goes unreported and unpunished. If they did that to me for simply sitting silently and peacefully in the Senate gallery, exercising my rights as a citizen—imagine what they do and how they abuse Idaho citizens on a daily basis.

The news is reporting that I have been banned from the Capitol for 1 year and that this ban came personally from Governor Brad Little, Speaker of the House Scott Bedke, and Senate Pro Tem Brent Hill themselves. So ask yourself, if they have the authority to ban a single Idaho citizen from the Capitol for doing no wrong and for breaking no law, then what can they do to you?

And if they can, in a show-of-force and abuse of power, make me an example to the rest of you, so that patriots are no longer emboldened to resist the violation of their rights, then will they not have a free pass to do whatever they want, without consequence?

Who is more dangerous—a citizen with a cell phone camera filming a public event in a public building paid for by citizen’s tax dollars, or an abusive and angry police officer who will grab that same innocent woman by the neck, and violently throw her into a room in order to arrest her for doing no wrong?

What is more dangerous—a man trying to open the door to a legislative session, or an unconstitutional police officer trying to slam that door in the faces of other citizens who are trying to enter the building that they have the legal right to enter?

What is more dangerous—a citizen journalist without a pre-approved brown badge sitting at a table “reserved for the press” or a corrupt Chairman using these journalists lack of “pre-approved credentials” as a pretext to call in a small army of police officers, arrest citizens, physically harm others, and ultimately shut citizens out of the committee hearing so that they can’t voice their opposition to their immoral bills?

People need to learn what is really going on. People need to call a spade a spade. Believe it or not, I personally want to support law enforcement. I want the rule of law to exist in our society. I want my children and family to have a respectful relationship with those that wear a badge.

But please tell me how the actions of the Idaho State Police, and by many of our legislators and political leadership deserve our respect? Tell me why I should allow tyrants to trample on our rights? Why should we allow the police to violate our own laws?

At this moment in time, it is evident that our own government and our own law enforcement agencies are truly the greatest threat to our freedom. They must be reformed. They must be stopped from abusing the people.

And I humbly ask each and every one of you to ask yourself, where is your line? What is the line that you say they cannot cross before you say “no more?”

Sincerely,
Ammon Bundy