FILE — Ammon Bundy, center, one of the sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, arrives for a news conference at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, near Burns, Ore.
Twenty-two Clark County Sheriff's deputies secured a Vancouver hospital Friday evening after a group, including some who were armed, gathered to demand the release of a patient, who was discharged later that night.
At least one person was pepper-sprayed and another pushed by deputies guarding the entrance of the Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center emergency room. No arrests were made, but the incident drew wide attention after video was posted on the YouTube channel of Ammon Bundy, who led the 2016 seizure and occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
People in the crowd — few wearing masks and at least some who self-identified on the video as being members of People's Rights, an affiliation of militia groups, far-right extremists and anti-mask and anti-vaccine activists that has railed against coronavirus restrictions and with which Bundy is closely associated — asserted that the patient was being held against her will for refusing to take a COVID test. They screamed at hospital personnel from outside the emergency room, demanding her release and alleging "medical kidnapping."
The Sheriff's Office said in a statement Saturday that the patient, identified by people in the crowd as a 74-year-old woman, had refused a COVID test and had been "placed in 24-hour quarantine for protection while receiving medical treatment." In the video, people in the crowd said the patient was being treated with fluids and prescribed antibiotics for a urinary tract infection. They said the patient had had a brain tumor and was easily confused and needed support from her daughter, who they said held medical power of attorney.
The Sheriff's Office stated that the patient told a deputy earlier Friday "that she wished to remain in the hospital in order to receive treatment," but at nearly 8 p.m. requested to leave. She was released about 45 minutes later and the crowd dissipated, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Earlier, the live-streamer called for "all hands on deck," repeatedly encouraging supporters to come to the hospital and deluge it and the Sheriff's Office with phone calls demanding the patient's release. The video had been viewed more than 56,000 times by Saturday night.
As the crowd around the hospital entrance grew in number and agitation, hospital security personnel requested additional sheriff's deputies and the hospital went into lockdown, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office said in its statement that the "main focus" of its presence "was to prevent an onrush of persons entering the hospital and to ensure the safety of the patients and staff at the hospital." The Sheriff's Office said some people who arrived at the hospital were carrying firearms and gas masks. The Sheriff's Office estimated the crowd at 15 to 20, though the live-streamer estimated at one point as many as 30.
The statement described an attempt by people in the crowd to "force their way into the hospital when the doors were opened to admit an unrelated person needing medical treatment." The livestream showed a brief confrontation in which deputies pushed people back from the doors, including a woman identified in the video as the patient's daughter, who moments earlier had been asking to talk to them. A moment later a man tried to enter the hospital. A child can be heard screaming, "Dad, Dad," in the background as the man is pushed back. According to the Sheriff's Office, he was told to leave or be pepper sprayed. He stayed and was sprayed in the face through the door with the chemical irritant.
A summary of the event on Bundy's YouTube page said both the patient and her daughter — described by the Sheriff's Office as the person who originally called 911 about the incident late Friday afternoon — arrived at the hospital around 10 p.m. Thursday. The patient did not have flu-like symptoms and was not willing to take a COVID test, according to the summary. They both wore masks, the summary continued, though the daughter did not appear masked in the livestream as she sought access to the hospital to see her mother Friday evening.
There was apparently confusion about whether the patient was tested, according to the Bundy summary, which also alleged the daughter was denied access to her mother on Friday.
On Sunday morning, Legacy Health spokesperson Vicki Guinn said the hospital was back to normal operations.
