Rancher and activist Ammon Bundy was arrested at the Idaho Capitol after he reportedly refused to leave a press desk in an auditorium.
Bundy has been leading demonstrators in disrupting a special session of the Idaho Legislature over the past few days, and after the hearing had ended on Tuesday, he refused to leave the seat he was in when asked by authorities, the Idaho Press reported.
The conservative figure was reportedly shackled to the rolling chair he had planted himself in and was pushed out of the Capitol building by the Idaho State Police. At the time of his 5 p.m. arrest, the hearing had long concluded, and the House and Senate had adjourned.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bundy said he was upset that “citizen journalists” were being removed from the hearing he was attending and decided to stay put at the press desk as a form of protest.
“I’m going to sit right here,” Bundy, who led a 2016 militia takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge, told the news outlet.
The streets in front of the Capitol were blocked off by at least 30 police cars as Bundy was removed from the building. Two others were also arrested alongside the rancher, and all three face misdemeanor trespassing charges.
