Posted on 01/27/2016 5:55:49 AM PST by xzins
Four days after taking the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, LaVoy Finicum, a 55-year-old Arizona rancher told NBC News that he'd rather die than spend his days in prison.
"There are things more important than your life and freedom is one of them," he said in early January as he sat huddled in a blue tarp outside of the wildlife refuge keeping watch with his gun in his lap. "I'm prepared to defend freedom."
Finicum told NBC that night that he was staying outside to ensure that the FBI could find him if they came to arrest him.
Finicum was shot and killed Tuesday night when law enforcement stopped two cars carrying standoff leaders on their way from the refuge to a meeting in Grant County. Ryan Bundy, another militiaman, was shot and transported to the hospital, but did not suffer any life-threatening injuries, according to The Oregonian.
Before Finicum's death was even confirmed, supporters rushed to portray him on social media as a martyr who, according to unverified accounts, had his hands up and was unarmed when he was shot. Law enforcement sources told CNN that Finicum and Ryan Bundy were the only two leaders who did not surrender during the confrontation.
Finicum had taken a strong interest in land disputes with the federal government after he stood at Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's side during his confrontation with the Bureau of Land Management in 2014. After returning home to Arizona, Finicum – a Mormon father with 11 children– made a decision. He was no longer going to write a check to the federal government for his grazing fees.
At the refuge, Finicum became a spokesman for the militiamen, fielding questions from press and helping plan events like one Saturday where ranchers were invited to come to the commandeered refuge to sign "declarations of emancipation" from the federal government, documents asserting they would no longer pay grazing fees. According to the Oregonian, Finicum had incurred about $12,000 in fees with the BLM.
In a video posting just hours before his death, Finicum described why the militiamen were still holding onto the refuge after more than three weeks and after local officials and community members had asked them to go. Finicum said that the occupation was intended to push back on the federal government's overreach.
"They do not want to let go of this," Finicum said. "They do not intend on loosing here and we do not intend on giving it back to them."
But Finicum's participation in the standoff had taken a toll. Back home in Arizona, child services had removed four foster children from his family's care, a move Finicum characterized as retribution. Oregon Public Broadcasting had reported that Finicum made most of his income from fostering.
Before Oregon, Finicum kept a website One Cowboy's Stand For Freedom where he documented his beliefs, his family and his ranch.
Finicum writes on the website that "he has drawn a line in the sand and that line is the Constitution in its original intent."
He also had written a cowboy thriller about the chaos of the American West after an electromagnetic pulse collapses the country's infrastructure called "Only By Blood and Suffering." The novel traced a family as each grown child navigated the new world and fights back against the overreach of the federal government.
I suppose the local authorities will just let the Feds confiscate all of the evidence again. They never learn.
Thanks.
Seeing middle aged men pretending they are armed revolutionaries is just a failed message. If they did a non violent protest - occupied a federal building non violently - then if the govt uses violence on them they win. If you go in armed and stating you are willing to fight then when the govt shoots at you the level of public sympathy will be low for the protestors.
Again, this is a comment on the tactics and not on who was in he right.
I’m so saddened by this outcome, but not surprised.
I didn’t see that one. Press release in the second link I had, says three shots fired.
Mark McConnell sounds like a psyop.
Well, the man was hit 6 times, so it wasn’t 3 shots.
My comment is only that they killed a guy and there was no reason to.
He was going to a town hall meeting that included the sheriff.
Why was there a confrontation in the first place? Why not — as with Waco — just back off and give it a year or two. Who cares that someone is camping in a firefighter’s shack in an Oregon forest?
Leave them alone. If they’ve got a burr in the butt and feel they MUST get them, then WAIT until they are entirely alone, entirely unarmed and then do the deed.
This was negligent homicide in my opinion.
Eye witness said 120 shots fired, windows on truck blown out, truck riddled with bullets
Well now, wait a minute.
I thought LE said he was “charging” them. If that’s the case, why was the truck shot up?
” comment on the tactics “
They actually were putting their message out. They were doing town halls w/the locals. That’s where they were going when arrested.
However, the mistake was the jurisdiction where they chose to do this.
OWS and BLMatter are run by pros advocating communism, so they pick towns run by folks sympathetic to their cause. Not so for the ranchers.
Here, you had a eco-Nazi, dike, lib governor who was haranguing the feds to get them out of there - “We need some muscle here!”
The message was out there but not received in a sympathetic manner. And I am not talking about preaching to the choir. A protest is supposed to elicit sympathy and support from people outside of the movement. Ghandi’s protests were aimed at the British people not the Indians who followed him already.
These folks (Pacific Patriots Network) were on our local radio this morning. They’ve been on sight and this would be a good reference since they’ve actually spoken with one of the people who were in the car and a witness.
http://www.pacificpatriotsnetwork.com/
Press release
PPN is still on site in Burns, Oregon and we have contact with people inside the Refuge. We are working on maintaining a calm presence in town and are still acting as a buffer between the Refuge and the FBI. We stand by our order of STAND BY at this time. No Call To Actions have been issued.
To confirm what we know so far: Ammon Bundy and several others were arrested while on their way to John Day, Oregon to a pre-scheduled meeting. Two others were arrested at separate times and taken into custody. The charges are 18 United States Code, Section 372. Our legal team is looking into these charges now and a report will be issued later on what we know. We have confirmed that those arrested were taken to Multnomah County Jail for booking.
We have confirmed that all women and children are off of the Refuge at this time. It is confirmed that the authorities have the Refuge surrounded and have made no attempts to ambush. We have inside sources telling us that they have been in contact with the authorities trying to work out a peaceful resolution.
We have several eye witnesses to things happening in Burns this morning. As we confirm and vet these accounts, information will be released. Please be patient as we want to make sure that we are putting out the most accurate information.
Pacific Patriots Network Media Team
media@pacificpatriotsnetwork.com
“It was an unnecessary confrontation. No one was being harmed, and the only way their fire fighter’s shack would be needed would be in the case of a forest fire. And there were none.”
Protestors in Ferguson,etc.destroyed property, looted, assaulted and the police stood and watched. No matter what anyone thinks of the problem with land use, the protestors in Oregon victimized no one.
Absolutely. Burning down cities is just fine.
Sleeping in a firefighter’s shack miles from anywhere is a capital offense.
“Easter Rising”
The Irish learned long ago not to trust the gov where a “meeting” could turn into a massacre.
That’s why the IRA has always had two “wings” (my word, not theirs): the army, and the negotiators.
This way if the negotiators are killed or arrested, you still have an army that can fight.
The ranchers were sending their leaders out to the town hall meetings - big mistake because the leaders were also active participants in squatting on the protected area.
IRA style, the negotiators would not have specific operational knowledge or participation (cell mentality) so neither would there be cause to arrest (other than being associated w/a group) nor would there be a lot of actionable intel obtained from their interrogation.
In the 70’s, the provisional IRA had Sinn Fein as their political wing. They have since put down arms and accepted the peace process, though there have been other IRA groups since then who are militant, but follow the same bi-lateral approach.
That’ the one I heard early this morning.
Where have we heard that before?
Yes. Did you give me the link? I think you did. I had to go to the site to get it to open. Thanks.
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