LaVoy Finicum

Personal background

According to the High Country News, "the public record on Finicum is thin prior to 2014."

In 2002, Finicum filed for bankruptcy while living in New Mexico and doing business as "Southwest Horse and Trails". By 2008, Finicum operated a foster home near Chino Valley, Arizona. According to a 2010 tax filing, Catholic Charities Community Services in Arizona paid the family US$115,343 to foster children in 2009. In January 2016, the state removed all of Finicum's foster children due to his involvement with the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (discussed below). Finicum said this took away his family's main source of income.

During that time, Finicum also operated a ranch that did not produce income. After the state removed his foster children, Finicum told the media, "My ranch, well, the cows just cover the costs of the ranch."

Initial protests

In August 2015, Finicum decided to cease complying with the terms of his grazing permit with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). At the time, he released a YouTube video in which he claimed it was unconstitutional for the federal government to own BLM lands and said he was inspired by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and events surrounding the 2014 Bundy standoff. In less than six months, Finicum accrued more than US$12,000 in fees and fines, which he refused to pay.

In 2016, Finicum was erroneously mentioned in court filings in the government's felony case against William Keebler, who planted a bomb at a BLM cabin near Finicum's ranch earlier that year. In the first complaint filed with the court, the government alleged Finicum had accompanied Keebler on a "reconnaissance" of the cabin in October 2015. However, the government later filed a corrected complaint and an FBI agent testified Finicum had not actually been there. His widow said Keebler had been at their ranch on other business that day, and claimed her husband had no knowledge of Keebler's bombing plans.

Participation in the occupation

Finicum served as a spokesman for the armed militants who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in early 2016. At first, federal and state law enforcement mostly remained in the city of Burns 30 miles to the north, and allowed militants and supporters to freely come and go from the occupation site. Finicum sometimes traveled away from the occupation site to recruit support.

Finicum was dubbed "Tarp Man" by MSNBC for sitting outside at night in a rocking chair, holding a scabbard rifle on his lap, and sometimes covering himself completely with a blue tarp for additional protection against the elements.

When asked on January 6 if he would rather be killed than arrested if the occupation turned violent, Finicum replied, "I have no intention of spending any of my days in a concrete box."

First arrest attempt

On January 26, Finicum was one of several occupation leaders who left the refuge (located in Harney County) via a two-truck convoy. The convoy also included occupation leaders Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Shawna Cox, and Ryan Payne plus two supporters, Victoria Sharp and Brian Cavalier. Their intention was to speak at a public meeting in the city of John Day in adjacent Grant County. Finicum was driving his white 2015 pickup truck, followed by a dark-colored Jeep.

State and federal authorities used the opportunity to intercept them with a two-phase operation involving a traffic stop and a roadblock about two miles further along the highway. Both were set up on an unpopulated stretch of U.S. Route 395 in Harney County. The operation had originally been planned for a location in adjacent Grant County, but was moved to Harney County because the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Oregon State Police (OSP) considered the Grant County sheriff, Glenn Palmer, to be a security leak due to favorable comments he had made with respect to the militants. Authorities feared a militia response, and a location was selected with poor cell phone service.

As the convoy entered the operation area, vehicles driven by the FBI and the OSP pulled in behind the Jeep. When the Jeep pulled over, Ammon Bundy, Brian Cavalier, and their driver were peacefully arrested.

In the lead vehicle, Finicum kept driving but eventually stopped as well. Police fired a 40mm plastic-tipped round of pepper spray, which hit the top of Finicum's truck. At that point, Ryan Payne exited Finicum's truck and surrendered peacefully. Finicum's other passengers, Ryan Bundy, Shawna Cox, and Victoria Sharp, remained in his truck.

After Payne's surrender, Cox and Bundy each started recording cell phone videos of the confrontation. The videos captured police identifying themselves as Oregon State Patrol and ordering Finicum to turn off his engine. Refusing their order, Finicum yelled back that he was going to meet Palmer and that the only way officers could prevent that meeting was to shoot him. Finicum yelled at the troopers, "You back down or you kill me now. Go ahead. Put the bullet through me. I don't care. I'm going to go meet the sheriff. You do as you damned well please."

Flight and death

About seven minutes after stopping his truck, Finicum drove away with his three remaining passengers at high speed. They were pursued by officers. About 1 mile (1,609 m) later, Finicum rounded a bend and spotted the roadblock. As OSP fired at Finicum's onrushing vehicle, Finicum braked and steered his truck left into deep snow, narrowly missing an FBI agent.

When Finicum's truck became stuck in the snow, he immediately exited the vehicle, just as two shots were fired by an FBI agent. One shot struck the roof of Finicum's truck and the other went wild. These shots became the subject of controversy because the FBI agents initially failed to disclose them.

Meanwhile, Finicum moved about in the snow, alternating between holding his hands above his head and seemingly reaching into his jacket, where officers later found a loaded semi-automatic weapon. OSP officers and FBI agents armed with rifles positioned themselves along the road, while an OSP officer, who had holstered his firearm and equipped himself with a nonlethal Taser X2, walked toward him from the treeline with the intention of subduing him. As Finicum moved his hands down, he turned towards the approaching taser-holding officer and repeatedly yelled, "You're going to have to shoot me!" The troopers believed Finicum to be armed and considered his hand position to signal an imminent threat to the life of the taser-holding officer; Finicum was holding his jacket with his left hand and reaching for a pocket with his right hand. Two troopers fired a total of three times, and a third who was about to fire held back, realizing a fourth shot was not needed. Medical assistance was given to Finicum approximately 10 minutes after the shooting.

Ryan Bundy received a minor shrapnel wound during the incident.

Investigation

After Finicum's death, officials stated that he was reaching for a gun in his pocket when he was shot by a state trooper. The FBI also said that a loaded handgun was found in Finicum's pocket. It was later identified as a 9mm Ruger SR9 handgun. Finicum received the handgun as a gift from his stepson. His public autopsy was performed on January 28, but officials withheld the autopsy report from the press until March 8.

Investigators with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, assigned to process the scene of Finicum's shooting, were accounting for the two known sets of shots fired by the OSP officers during the event (the shots that killed Finicum, and the earlier shots that struck his vehicle) when they discovered a bullet that struck the roof of the truck at a different trajectory. After ascertaining the bullet's existence with cell phone video taken by one of Finicum's passengers, investigators modeled the bullet's trajectory using computers, and determined that the bullet was fired from the direction where two FBI agents were standing. They later determined that a FBI Hostage Rescue Team member fired twice at Finicum, missing and injuring a second militant in the process. The agent, whose identity was withheld, was under investigation, along with four other FBI agents who were suspected of attempting to conceal evidence of the gunshots. They reportedly told investigators that none of them fired a shot during the incident.

During initial processing of the scene, the rifle cartridge casings purportedly fired by the FBI agent were reported not present. However, an OSP officer later described seeing two casings at the scene near where the FBI agents were positioned. FBI aerial surveillance video shows agents searching the area, then huddling together before breaking up moments later, with one agent bending over twice to pick up an unknown object. Law enforcement officials began the investigation into the gunshots after watching the full surveillance video and suspecting something was amiss. Two FBI pickup trucks were searched for casings, but none were found, while at least three OSP officers were interrogated about their initial processing of the scene.

On March 8, officials revealed their findings to the public. The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the conduct of the agents. Deschutes County Sheriff's Office investigators, along with the district attorneys of Malheur and Harney Counties, declared that Finicum's shooting death was "justified and necessary."

On April 5, cellphone video footage shot by another of Finicum's passengers was released by authorities.

Reactions

Prior to the video of the action being released, some of the militants and supporters had claimed that Finicum was cooperating with the police when he was shot. This included a claim by Nevada legislator Michele Fiore (who was not present at the arrest) that "he was just murdered with his hands up." Cliven Bundy was quoted as saying that Finicum was "sacrificed for a good purpose." In a March 3 interview in jail, Ammon Bundy called the shooting "egregious" and said that the officers involved "should be ashamed of it."

At a news conference, officials had initially declined to comment on the Finicum shooting because the encounter was still under investigation, but they later released surveillance video of the incident, which officials said shows Finicum reaching for a handgun after feigning surrender. However, Finicum's family continued to dispute the nature of the shooting, claiming that he was shot in the back while his hands were in the air, and denied the FBI's assertion that Finicum was armed at the time of his death. The Finicum family commissioned a private autopsy, but declined to make the results public.

The Oregon State Police received death threats. On February 6, more than 1,000 supporters attended Finicum's funeral in Kanab, Utah, while others rebuilt a razed memorial on U.S. Route 395. About another 100 people led by the 3 Percenters rallied at the Idaho State Capitol in the afternoon in honor of Finicum, who they believed was unarmed at the time of his death. On March 4, a small group of about a dozen armed protesters surrounded a federal courthouse in Tucson, Arizona, demanding the state troopers who shot Finicum to be indicted and fired. Another rally, led by Finicum's widow, was held at the Utah State Capitol on March 5. 200–300 people were in attendance. Several dozen rallies were held at various locations throughout the country the following Saturday.

On May 12, more than a dozen Arizona politicians wrote a letter to Oregon Governor Kate Brown, in which they asked her to conduct another, more transparent investigation into Finicum's death.

On August 27, Finicum's widow Jeanette announced her plans to sue the OSP and the FBI for civil rights violations relating to his death. She retained a California-based attorney, who is also representing Ryan Bundy, for the case.

Works

Finicum's authorial debut was a self-published post-apocalyptic novel entitled, Only by Blood and Suffering: Regaining Lost Freedom (2015).