Extremist Ammon Bundy resurfaces on social media after abandoning his Idaho home

An anti-government militant leader with Arizona ties who was ordered to pay millions in a defamation lawsuit recently resurfaced on social media after going into hiding.

Right-wing extremist Ammon Bundy, in a Dec. 28 post on X, formerly Twitter, said he was driven out of his home in Idaho and has lost millions of dollars because of the lawsuit. In a video posted a week earlier, Bundy spoke of leaving Idaho.

In July, a jury awarded St. Luke's Health System and other plaintiffs more than $50 million after a trial in which Bundy was accused of leading a lie-fueled intimidation campaign against the health system and its employees. Bundy, an associate, and several affiliated organizations are responsible for the financial damages, according to the Idaho Statesman.

The Atlantic, in late November, reported Bundy had abandoned his home in Idaho. He faces contempt-of-court charges stemming from the defamation case, and the plaintiffs have sought to recover the money they were awarded. The Atlantic reported Bundy may be living in southern Utah.

Bundy, who once lived in Laveen and Maricopa and ran a business in Tempe, gained prominence in 2014 after staging an armed protest to stop federal agents from seizing cattle owned by his father, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.

In 2016, Bundy led a heavily armed protest of Bureau of Land Management policies at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

That siege culminated in the death of militia member LaVoy Finicum, who had traveled from Arizona to join Bundy and was shot by authorities.

Republic reporter Robert Anglen contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ammon Bundy resurfaces on social media after abandoning his Idaho home