Posted on 01/26/2016 10:42:48 PM PST by Milhous
Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was killed in a shootout Tuesday while traveling from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to John Day for a public meeting, sources have told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
It was one day before his 56th birthday, which his wife had traveled from Arizona to celebrate.
Finicum, 55, gave reporters the first tours of the occupied grounds at the refuge. He frequently represented Ammon Bundy, the occupation's most public face, at news conferences.
Finicum gained the nickname "Tarp Man" from some media outlets early in the occupation after he did a series of interviews one frigid evening with a blue tarp over his head. With a gun in his lap, Finicum said he'd rather die than be arrested.
Finicum rode in support of Cliven Bundy at the 2014 Nevada standoff where the Bundys challenged federal land managers, he said in an interview with the St. George News in Utah.
Finicum was a rancher in Northern Arizona, along the Utah border. He was involved in his own dispute with federal land management authorities over a grazing permit he has held since 2009. Finicum's allotment, nearly 17,000 acres, was primarily administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. His 2014 grazing fee was $1,126, which he paid in advance.
The dispute centered on when Finicum was permitted to graze. The permit allowed 161 cattle to graze from October through May, but the BLM said Finicum was found grazing his cattle on the land in August, outside of the authorized period. A look back at LaVoy Finicum’s role during the Oregon standoff Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, 55, has been the spokesperson during the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation. He was killed Jan. 26, 2016.
The agency issued Finicum a notice of trespass, then in October a notice of proposed decision that he was "in willful trespass." Finicum had not gone to the local BLM office to resolve the dispute, the agency said, and he had accumulated about $12,000 in related fees. The case was handled administratively, and the BLM has not tried to impound his cattle.
A BLM official and Finicum agreed he'd previously had a good relationship with the bureau, according to the St. George News' report. But Finicum told the online news site the 2014 Bundy incident caused him to do "a lot of soul-searching" -- and ultimately to stop paying his own grazing fees to the federal agency.
Finicum and his wife, Jeanette, have 11 children, according to his blog One Cowboy's Stand for Freedom.
He is also a therapeutic foster parent with Catholic Charities Community Services.
Finicum told Oregon Public Broadcasting that four foster children were pulled from his home due to his involvement in the Malheur occupation. He said more than 50 boys had stayed at one time at the family's ranch, mostly from mental hospitals, drug hospitals and drug rehabs.
Finicum told OPB the foster-care payments comprised a large share of his income. A 2010 tax filing showed Catholic Charities paid the family $115,343 in 2009, the public-broadcasting station reporter. Robert "LaVoy" Finicum's last interview with The Oregonian on the day before his death "They're doing all the things that shows that they want to take some kinetic action against us," Robert "LaVoy" Finicum says of federal agents. These were some of Finicum's last words to The Oregonian/OregonLive on the day before his death.
Finicum filed for bankruptcy in Arizona in 2002, public records show.
He wrote a novel called "Only by Blood and Suffering: Regaining Lost Freedom," which is for sale on Amazon.
Arianna Finicum Brown, 26, one of Finicum's daughters, said Tuesday that she hadn't been concerned for her father's safety during his time at the wildlife refuge.
"I talked to him, and he said they were telling people to go if they weren't there for the right reasons, they didn't want anyone there who could make everything go bad," she said. "He had no plans to be violent. My dad was a really good guy."
Although one of her sisters had been worried during the occupation, Brown said that as of Tuesday afternoon she was sure the standoff would end peacefully.
By Tuesday evening, however, the family members who were updating Finicum's Facebook page were asking for their followers' prayers.
That message followed another earlier post from Tuesday as Finicum's wife, Jeanette, bid farewell to the refuge.
"I had a wonderful time in Oregon with wonderful, dedicated, hard working people," she wrote in the post at noon on Tuesday. "I have so much respect for everyone there who loves our Country so much to put ALL on the line."
There must be police video and with that we will see who fired the first shot.
Do we even know that they shot?
“Do we even know that they shot?”
we know very little about who all was doing the shooting.
Thanks milhous, por posting.
Salvation, sunken civ, lucyt
Ping to article.
Prayers up for Leroy’s family...
Supposedly, there were eyewitnesses who filmed the whole thing on their phones. Not sure about that, however.
Perhaps we will know more from Ryan Bundy (also shot),Ammon Bundy, Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier, and Shawna Cox who were arrested at the scene.
These shootings only put gas on a fire. As Trump would say, “How stupid!”
Exactly and if you believe that this was a “ routine traffic stop” ...
“Supposedly, there were eyewitnesses who filmed the whole thing on their phones. Not sure about that, however.”
Good. We need the video to see if the Federal and State police were out of line or if the Bundy crew started shooting when the police approached.
Perhaps not a random traffic stop, but a routine traffic stop until someone started shooting.
We shall see.
damn
Bet tge cameras “malfunctioned” if they were there.
Yes, police cameras have a tendency to malfunction and the worst possible times. In this case, I hope they did not malfunction and we will see real event that occurred and not just the viewpoint of one party.
I am truly sorry to hear of this man’s passing.
He seemed like a heck of a good guy.
Checked out his blog, nice family and includes at least one son in military service.
Sad day.
People here don’t realize the vitriol and pure hatred liberal pukes have for any “republican”
Reading through comments at article linked reminds me again how divided this nation is.
And don’t ever for a minute think these pukes don’t like guns, DU has it’s own gun culture.
Dear God, I’d sure like to see you bring judgement on these assholes.
He wasn’t killed ... he was murdered
First time I've ever seen a planned ambush by people with body armor, fully automatic weapons, emplaced snipers and tactical superiority as a "shootout"...
The Fibbie gearqueers get REAL TOUGH when Hillary gives them their manparts back for a day or so...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3389065/posts?page=6#6
Has info; looks like it was done when he was unarmed & kneeling down....
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