The fatal shooting of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, one of the armed protesters who took over a federal wildlife refuge in OR in January, was “justified and necessary”, a county prosecutor said on Tuesday. The statement says that the Oregon State Troopers were justified in firing their weapons.
Advertisement
LAVOY FINICUM: You back down, or you kill me now.
FBI agents are under investigation after it was discovered they fired shots at LaVoy Finicum at the federal wildlife refuge and never reported it. Deschutes County Sheriff L. Shane Nelson said neither of those shots struck Finicum. They question whether the officers will shoot out their tires if they leave the scene, and then all passengers duck down, and Finicum begins to drive away. Go ahead. Put the bullet through me. “You’re going to have to shoot me”.
The development is likely to inflame supporters of the armed group, which had taken over the refuge January 2 to protest the federal government’s administration of public lands and the prosecution of two local ranchers. Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, and five others are also facing charges in a separate federal case in Nevada related to their father Cliven Bundy’s 2014 ranch standoff. The agents have not yet been named publicly, but Inspector General Michael Horowitz did reveal the inquiry is part of an ongoing criminal investigation, Oregon Live reports.
The FBI had said earlier that Finicum’s shooting was justified because he was going for a gun.
Following the announcement that the DoJ has ruled that the Finicum shooting was justified, LaVoy’s Finicum’s wife, Jeanette Finicum, released a statement Tuesday claiming that the police are bringing forward “selective evidence.” . The FBI drone surveillance video released in the days following appeared to show that the standoff participant was moving his hands toward his left pocket.
Fincium’s family as well as some of the people in the convoy who have since been indicted, have said that Tinicum’s death was unjustified. The troopers also shot three rounds into Finicum’s truck as it was barreling towards them, officials said.
“The FBI said Finicum was shot after reaching for a gun”, Jeanette Finicum said. After the shooting, a loaded handgun was indeed found in Finicum’s pocket, investigators said.
The US Department of Justice on Tuesday announced that it would be investigating the FBI team responsible for the agents who failed to report their shooting. There were two shots that were fired, between the three shots that hit the vehicle and the three that hit Finicum that could not be accounted for in that probe.
Officials remained mum on details about those other two shots.
Advertisement
“Mr. Finicum repeatedly and knowingly made choices that put him in this situation”, Harney County District Attorney Tim Colahan said in a statement.
