Boise cancels Ammon Bundy park rally, says event was ‘intentionally misrepresented’
Mayor Lauren McLean released a statement Tuesday morning announcing that the city of Boise had canceled a reservation made for an Ammon Bundy campaign rally, saying a park on the Bench was reserved under false pretenses.
Bundy, who is running for Idaho governor as an independent, advertised on social media that he was holding a campaign rally Saturday in Cassia Park.
The city said the reservation for that West Camas Street space was made by someone other than Bundy and did not disclose the nature of the event.
City spokesperson Maria Weeg said Cassia Park is not available for special events, but rather can be reserved for small, private events. A campaign rally would have to go through a different reservation process, she said.
Bundy’s campaign Facebook page advertised the event as having live music, food trucks and a bounce house, and said it would be open to the general public.
”Those things bump it into a special events category rather than a private event category,” Weeg told the Statesman. “Cassia Park isn’t available for special events.”
In Boise, requests for special events have to go before the Special Events Team, where public safety is a top priority and paid security is often required. Weeg said Bundy’s past and related safety issues could be considered in any future applications.
When city employees realized that the park reservation for this event was “made under a different name and for a different purpose,” they canceled it, officials said.
“I believe Mr. Bundy intentionally misrepresented the event on the reservation to skirt the special events process and requirements we have in place,” McLean said in the statement.
Weeg said that anyone who had improperly applied to hold a special event would have had their reservation canceled, and that future Bundy campaign event applications would be reviewed through the proper channels.
The Cassia Park reservation was just made on Monday, according to Weeg. Bundy began advertising for the event on Sunday, though.
“If you want to hear from Ammon Bundy, be able to directly ask all your questions, and get the TRUTH about his candidacy, your chance is coming up in 3 weeks!!” Bundy tweeted.
Bundy’s social media did not make note of the cancellation until late in the afternoon. His Facebook page also said he is holding a “country-style meet and greet” at a ranch in Clearwater.
Bundy released a statement to the media a little after 4 p.m. and said the cancellation highlighted McLean’s and the city’s “attitude of discrimination.” He compared Boise to Birmingham in the 1960s, “where Martin Luther King Jr. was discriminated against.”
“If I was a gay Democrat would Mayor McLean’s Jim Crow type philosophy affect my ability to hold an event in Boise?” Bundy said in the release.
Bundy’s release made no mention of the park reservation problem.
In addition to that issue, McLean referenced Bundy’s behavior — he has been arrested multiple times at the Idaho Statehouse and has led many controversial protests — as a reason for concern.
“Bundy and his associates have made a habit of harassing city employees, personally targeting doctors, and threatening judges and so many others in our community, and consistently disregard established ways of ensuring public safety,” McLean said. “The people of Boise have had enough of his threats and intimidation, and do not wish to welcome someone with Mr. Bundy’s track record into the heart of our community.”
Bundy is involved in a lawsuit with St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center. The hospital alleges that Bundy and his associates intentionally misled their followers about the circumstances of a child welfare case, and that part of their intention was to raise money and gain a bigger political following.
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 1:54 PM.
