Investigators had been looking into the circumstances surrounding the confrontation and shooting of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum in January – three weeks into the Ammon Bundy-led takeover of the Malheur wildlife refuge in southern Oregon.
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During the traffic stop, Finicum, who had previously hinted at his willingness to die for the armed protest, sped away after law enforcement pulled him over.
A county prosecutor on Tuesday released the results of an investigation into the death of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum. The truck plowed into a snowbank.
Law enforcement officers responsible for shooting Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, a protester who was involved in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in OR, are under fire for their handling of the violent confrontation.
FBI agents are under investigation after it was discovered they fired shots at LaVoy Finicum at the federal wildlife refuge and never reported it. On Tuesday, March 8, 2016, authorities said police w…
“Nor did they discuss specific actions they took after the shooting, which are the subject of an ongoing investigation”, Nelson added.
Deschutes County Sheriff L. Shane Nelson said neither of those shots hit Finicum.
Finicum gets out of the vehicle with his hands up, and yells, “Go ahead and shoot me!”.
“You should have never stopped”, Ryan Payne, one of the group’s leaders tells Finicum from the back seat of the truck.
Finicum can be seen raising his hands as he emerged from his vehicle, then turning as he apparently flails his arms and then falls to the ground. A loaded handgun was later found in one of Finicum’s pockets.
January 7, 2016: Ward and two other sheriffs meet with Bundy and other occupation leaders at a remote intersection, but nothing is resolved.
However, FBI agents are under investigation for failing to disclose they fired two shots at Finicum, both of which missed.
His death became a symbol for those decrying federal oversight, on public lands in the West and elsewhere, and led to protests of what they called an unnecessary use of force. She argued he was reaching to his side as a reaction to the pain of being shot.
The cellphone video gives the first glimpse with audio into Finicum’s deadly encounter with federal officials. They tear down a stretch of government-erected fence, saying they are giving a local rancher access to the preserve.
Jeanette Finicum held a news conference of her own in Utah Tuesday, to respond to the investigative report.
The armed occupation of the refuge ended February 11 after the final holdouts surrendered to the law enforcement officials who had surrounded the refuge.
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The new charges come as the government cracks down on the Bundy family and others for leading armed standoffs in a long-running dispute over management of public lands in the Western U.S. Federal authorities have charged Bundy’s father, Cliven Bundy, and several others in recent months with conspiracy, assault and threats in a 2014 armed standoff over grazing rights near the patriarch’s Nevada ranch.
