Idaho Statesman
Fact check: Ammon Bundy used edited video to falsely accuse St. Luke’s doctor of lying
Ryan Suppe
Mon, September 11, 2023 at 6:00 AM EDT·5 min read

Two weeks after a jury found that Ammon Bundy and his associate defamed St. Luke’s Health System, Bundy posted a social media video that used highly edited police body camera footage to falsely accuse a St. Luke’s doctor of lying to the jury.

The 14-minute video posted to YouTube shows Dr. Rachel Thomas, a former St. Luke’s lead emergency room physician, saying in police body camera footage that an infant at the center of a child protection case was “healthy” and “totally stable.” Bundy in the video suggests that the evidence contradicts Thomas’ court testimony, in which she told jurors the child was malnourished and could have died without medical attention.

“St. Luke’s witnesses and attorneys lied to the jury many, many times,” Bundy said in the video.

What Bundy doesn’t say in the YouTube video is that Thomas’ conversations with police and the emergency medical service (EMS) report he references both centered on whether the child was healthy enough to be transported, not whether the 10-month-old was healthy overall.

Last year, St. Luke’s sued Bundy and his associate Diego Rodriguez, after the right-wing activists lied about the health system online and led protests at hospitals where Rodriguez’s grandchild was being treated for malnutrition. St. Luke’s won the case by default because Bundy and Rodriguez failed to appear in court, and a jury awarded the health system $52 million in damages.

Among the “materially false and malicious defamatory statements” Bundy and Rodriguez made was that the infant “was perfectly healthy” when taken by Idaho’s child protective services, according to Ada County District Judge Nancy Baskin’s record of the defamation case. Bundy currently is facing trial for contempt of court charges after allegedly violating a court order that barred him from “witness harassment” and intimidation.

Bundy’s recent video uses the same edited police footage that Rodriguez, the infant’s grandfather, used in a previous video, which Thomas refuted in court.

“I had already determined the severity of the infant’s condition,” Thomas told the court in a sworn declaration commenting on Rodriguez’s January video. “Rodriguez is selling a lie, that the infant was healthy, based on wrongly edited video of me.”

Edited footage skirted references to diagnosis

Thomas was an emergency room physician at a St. Luke’s hospital in Meridian, where Rodriguez’s grandchild was admitted following a child welfare check on March 12, 2022, according to a transcript of Thomas’ court testimony.

The infant had experienced vomiting and weight loss in recent weeks, and the child’s parents neglected hospital discharge instructions following a three-day stint as well as multiple check-up appointments, according to Baskin’s record of events. The missed appointments sparked intervention by Idaho’s child protective services.

After an ambulance brought the child to St. Luke’s, Thomas examined the infant as a crowd of protesters gathered in the hospital’s ambulance bay. She diagnosed the 10-month-old with “severe malnutrition and dehydration that could lead to death if not immediately addressed,” according Baskin’s record.

Thomas then decided the infant should be transferred to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital in Boise for “a higher level of care,” she told the court. She also told a Meridian police officer that she wanted to create separation between the child and the mob outside the Meridian hospital, according to body camera footage.

Thomas had conversations with fellow hospital personnel and law enforcement officers about how the infant should be transferred to the Boise hospital, according to the footage.

“I state that the infant is ‘medically stable’ and totally stable’ for transport, meaning that the infant will not likely have a cardiac event or other catastrophic health incident while being transported from Meridian to St. Luke’s Boise,” Thomas said in her court declaration. “I was not providing — and it would not be appropriate to provide — a comprehensive evaluation of the child’s health to the law enforcement officer.”

Bundy and Rodriguez’s edited versions of the footage don’t include Thomas’ references to the infant’s diagnosis. Immediately after saying the infant was “totally stable” for transport, Thomas said the child was diagnosed with “failure to thrive,” when a child’s weight is significantly below standards.

Thomas also went on to tell the officer that the infant had lost three-quarters of a pound since the child’s last check-up. That portion of the footage was not included in Bundy’s or Rodriguez’s videos.

Baby was healthy for transport, doctor said

Thomas in her court testimony also addressed the EMS report, which quotes her as saying the infant was a “healthy baby with no interventions.” Thomas said that’s not the language she used and her statement was taken out of context.

“With our EMS crews and for us as well, we’re required to document that we don’t assume there will be any loss of life during a transport,” Thomas told the court. “My statement to EMS was, the child was previously healthy with no medical conditions other than the malnutrition and failure to thrive we were addressing.”

“No interventions” referred to the fact that the infant didn’t need medication during a 15-minute transport to Boise, Thomas said.

Bundy could not be reached to comment.

Thomas, after facing online attacks from Bundy and his supporters, told the court that she planned to take a break from medicine and move her family to New Zealand.

“I have constant fear to be in my own home,” she said.Idaho Statesman Fact check: Ammon Bundy used edited video to falsely accuse St. Luke’s doctor of lying Ryan Suppe Mon, September 11, 2023 at 6:00 AM EDT·5 min read Two weeks after a jury found that Ammon Bundy and his associate defamed St. Luke’s Health System, Bundy posted a social media video that used highly edited police body camera footage to falsely accuse a St. Luke’s doctor of lying to the jury. The 14-minute video posted to YouTube shows Dr. Rachel Thomas, a former St. Luke’s lead emergency room physician, saying in police body camera footage that an infant at the center of a child protection case was “healthy” and “totally stable.” Bundy in the video suggests that the evidence contradicts Thomas’ court testimony, in which she told jurors the child was malnourished and could have died without medical attention. “St. Luke’s witnesses and attorneys lied to the jury many, many times,” Bundy said in the video. What Bundy doesn’t say in the YouTube video is that Thomas’ conversations with police and the emergency medical service (EMS) report he references both centered on whether the child was healthy enough to be transported, not whether the 10-month-old was healthy overall. Last year, St. Luke’s sued Bundy and his associate Diego Rodriguez, after the right-wing activists lied about the health system online and led protests at hospitals where Rodriguez’s grandchild was being treated for malnutrition. St. Luke’s won the case by default because Bundy and Rodriguez failed to appear in court, and a jury awarded the health system $52 million in damages. Among the “materially false and malicious defamatory statements” Bundy and Rodriguez made was that the infant “was perfectly healthy” when taken by Idaho’s child protective services, according to Ada County District Judge Nancy Baskin’s record of the defamation case. Bundy currently is facing trial for contempt of court charges after allegedly violating a court order that barred him from “witness harassment” and intimidation. Bundy’s recent video uses the same edited police footage that Rodriguez, the infant’s grandfather, used in a previous video, which Thomas refuted in court. “I had already determined the severity of the infant’s condition,” Thomas told the court in a sworn declaration commenting on Rodriguez’s January video. “Rodriguez is selling a lie, that the infant was healthy, based on wrongly edited video of me.” Edited footage skirted references to diagnosis Thomas was an emergency room physician at a St. Luke’s hospital in Meridian, where Rodriguez’s grandchild was admitted following a child welfare check on March 12, 2022, according to a transcript of Thomas’ court testimony. The infant had experienced vomiting and weight loss in recent weeks, and the child’s parents neglected hospital discharge instructions following a three-day stint as well as multiple check-up appointments, according to Baskin’s record of events. The missed appointments sparked intervention by Idaho’s child protective services. After an ambulance brought the child to St. Luke’s, Thomas examined the infant as a crowd of protesters gathered in the hospital’s ambulance bay. She diagnosed the 10-month-old with “severe malnutrition and dehydration that could lead to death if not immediately addressed,” according Baskin’s record. Thomas then decided the infant should be transferred to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital in Boise for “a higher level of care,” she told the court. She also told a Meridian police officer that she wanted to create separation between the child and the mob outside the Meridian hospital, according to body camera footage. Thomas had conversations with fellow hospital personnel and law enforcement officers about how the infant should be transferred to the Boise hospital, according to the footage. “I state that the infant is ‘medically stable’ and totally stable’ for transport, meaning that the infant will not likely have a cardiac event or other catastrophic health incident while being transported from Meridian to St. Luke’s Boise,” Thomas said in her court declaration. “I was not providing — and it would not be appropriate to provide — a comprehensive evaluation of the child’s health to the law enforcement officer.” Bundy and Rodriguez’s edited versions of the footage don’t include Thomas’ references to the infant’s diagnosis. Immediately after saying the infant was “totally stable” for transport, Thomas said the child was diagnosed with “failure to thrive,” when a child’s weight is significantly below standards. Thomas also went on to tell the officer that the infant had lost three-quarters of a pound since the child’s last check-up. That portion of the footage was not included in Bundy’s or Rodriguez’s videos. Baby was healthy for transport, doctor said Thomas in her court testimony also addressed the EMS report, which quotes her as saying the infant was a “healthy baby with no interventions.” Thomas said that’s not the language she used and her statement was taken out of context. “With our EMS crews and for us as well, we’re required to document that we don’t assume there will be any loss of life during a transport,” Thomas told the court. “My statement to EMS was, the child was previously healthy with no medical conditions other than the malnutrition and failure to thrive we were addressing.” “No interventions” referred to the fact that the infant didn’t need medication during a 15-minute transport to Boise, Thomas said. Bundy could not be reached to comment. Thomas, after facing online attacks from Bundy and his supporters, told the court that she planned to take a break from medicine and move her family to New Zealand. “I have constant fear to be in my own home,” she said.

How is prn still collecting donations when their assets and bank accounts have been frozen? How do they still have the money to hold events when they owe millions to St. Luke’s Hospital and several of its employees for harassment, discrimination, and defamation? Perhaps the judge needs to come down even harder in on Bundy, Ridriguesz, prn, and freedomman press. He should go after this group under RICO because this is an organized grift network, organized crime. Also the judge allowed Bundy to pick his crops, bundys thanks to the judge was to give away the harvest so that no money from the sale of the harvest would go to St. Luke’s. So Bundy took the judges Grace and slapped him with it, by continuing his fraudulent conveyance. This time, not of his home, but of his crops! They need to make an example of this group, that this type of tantrum will not be tolerated in our societyHow is prn still collecting donations when their assets and bank accounts have been frozen? How do they still have the money to hold events when they owe millions to St. Luke’s Hospital and several of its employees for harassment, discrimination, and defamation? Perhaps the judge needs to come down even harder in on Bundy, Ridriguesz, prn, and freedomman press. He should go after this group under RICO because this is an organized grift network, organized crime. Also the judge allowed Bundy to pick his crops, bundys thanks to the judge was to give away the harvest so that no money from the sale of the harvest would go to St. Luke’s. So Bundy took the judges Grace and slapped him with it, by continuing his fraudulent conveyance. This time, not of his home, but of his crops! They need to make an example of this group, that this type of tantrum will not be tolerated in our society

I considered deleting this comment, however, I think I will leave it up because I think the hate and rhetoric that is spewed in this comment really exemplifies the totalitarian police state that is happening in this country. Which, ironically, is the very reason that I showed this movie.
I would however, like to point out a few things in your comment.
A, The founding fathers of this nation have never a recognized protesting as harassment. Nor did they recognize verbal "Discrimination" and "Defamation" as real issues. These were addressed in the first amendments "Redress of grievance" "Right to Assemble" and "Right to Free Speech".
B. This judge violated the Constitution by punishing an individual by demanding financial penalties above what is reasonable, as well as punishing an individual for exercising their God given rights which are protected by the Constitution, which is typical of a totalitarian regime or police state.
C. Every individual is entitled to submit an appeal in this country because a local judge does not have final authority over a case. The reason we have a justice system that enables appeals is because judges can be bought and paid for, especially ones funded by Soros who has a Oligarch agenda.
D. Peoples Rights is a Network with independent areas that can do as they please. We do not function like a Borg Collective, that is how Liberals work.
E. If St. Lukes Hospital need to have ignorant people fight their battles for them, then they must be desperate for money, so you have convinced me make a one dollar donation to their efforts out of pity for their poverty level.
F. I find it intriguing and humorous that you literally wrote, "this type of tantrum will not be tolerated in our society" while literally taking the time to comment with a tantrum on a post that has nothing to do with you at all, while under a false name, thus trolling the internet.
G. You couldn't come up with a better name than Joseph Smith? If I were a false prophet, I would be ashamed to have supporters who clearly don't read the Bible enough to know they are supposed to love, support and be meek and lowly, be slow to take offense, not take sides, be understanding and kind to others because they are supposed to shine a light within their communities rather than act like hired brown shirts pushing communism. But, I digress.

I am sure you meant well,
Have a blessed day.I considered deleting this comment, however, I think I will leave it up because I think the hate and rhetoric that is spewed in this comment really exemplifies the totalitarian police state that is happening in this country. Which, ironically, is the very reason that I showed this movie. I would however, like to point out a few things in your comment. A, The founding fathers of this nation have never a recognized protesting as harassment. Nor did they recognize verbal "Discrimination" and "Defamation" as real issues. These were addressed in the first amendments "Redress of grievance" "Right to Assemble" and "Right to Free Speech". B. This judge violated the Constitution by punishing an individual by demanding financial penalties above what is reasonable, as well as punishing an individual for exercising their God given rights which are protected by the Constitution, which is typical of a totalitarian regime or police state. C. Every individual is entitled to submit an appeal in this country because a local judge does not have final authority over a case. The reason we have a justice system that enables appeals is because judges can be bought and paid for, especially ones funded by Soros who has a Oligarch agenda. D. Peoples Rights is a Network with independent areas that can do as they please. We do not function like a Borg Collective, that is how Liberals work. E. If St. Lukes Hospital need to have ignorant people fight their battles for them, then they must be desperate for money, so you have convinced me make a one dollar donation to their efforts out of pity for their poverty level. F. I find it intriguing and humorous that you literally wrote, "this type of tantrum will not be tolerated in our society" while literally taking the time to comment with a tantrum on a post that has nothing to do with you at all, while under a false name, thus trolling the internet. G. You couldn't come up with a better name than Joseph Smith? If I were a false prophet, I would be ashamed to have supporters who clearly don't read the Bible enough to know they are supposed to love, support and be meek and lowly, be slow to take offense, not take sides, be understanding and kind to others because they are supposed to shine a light within their communities rather than act like hired brown shirts pushing communism. But, I digress. I am sure you meant well, Have a blessed day.