Tag Archives: Lavoy Finicum

Police: Casings from Bullets Allegedly Fired at Finicum While Exiting Truck Vanished

New findings by law enforcement officials suggest that an FBI agent on the scene of the fatal shooting of Bundy-affiliated protester LaVoy Finicum during a Jun. 26 felony stop might have fired two shots that were not reported, and agents on the scene might have disposed of bullet casings to cover them up.

According to The Oregonian, investigators believe that the shots were fired approximately at the moment at which LaVoy Finicum was exiting his truck with his hands up, prior to when he appears to reach into his jacket and is shot by two Oregon State Police troopers. The above-embedded slow-motion video shows the moment at which investigators believe the shots were fired.

Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson and Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norri, who investigated the incident, concluded that the Oregon State Police officers were justified in shooting Finicum, but also announced that they believe that an FBI agent took two unreported shots and then lied about it. The U.S. Department of Justice has subsequently launched a criminal investigation into the conduct of the FBI agents on the scene.

[RELATED: VIDEO: Cellphone Footage Details LaVoy Finicum Traffic Stop, Shooting]

The Oregonian’s Les Zaitz wrote, “A state trooper later described to investigators seeing two rifle casings in the area where the [FBI] agents were posted. Detectives tasked with collecting evidence didn’t find the casings, police reports indicate.

He added, “FBI aerial surveillance video shows that before the detectives could get there, the FBI agents searched the area with flashlights and then huddled, according to law enforcement sources who have seen the video. The group then broke and one agent appeared to bend over twice and pick up something near where the two shots likely were taken.

Police reports indicate that detectives showed up to collect evidence around 90 minutes after the moment in the surveillance video in which the FBI agent appeared to pick items up from the ground.

[RELATED: Bundy Family Claims Protestor was Unarmed, had Hands Up When Killed by FBI]

All of the FBI agents on the scene that day claimed that they did not take any shots. A state trooper said he had fired three shots while the truck was speeding towards police and two more at Finicum as he was reaching into his jacket after he had exited the vehicle. Police inventory records show that the trooper was missing five rounds after the incident, apparently confirming his story. A fourth bullet hole in the truck came from a different angle of trajectory suggesting that an FBI agent had fired the shot. Investigators believe a second shot, which missed Finicum and did not strike the truck, was also fired by an FBI agent.

Mystery_shot_final-01

Law enforcement officials say that the FBI agents’ weapons and ammo were not inventoried on the scene that day because they claimed not to have fired any rounds.

FBI special agent in charge Greg Bretzing announced at a press conference last week, “The question of who fired these shots has not been resolved.” He declined to provide further comment noting that the federal investigation is still underway.

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VIDEO: Cellphone Footage Details LaVoy Finicum Traffic Stop, Shooting

Following the Department of Justice’s announcement that Oregon State Troopers were justified in shooting and killing Oregon protestor Robert “LaVoy” Finicum on Jan. 26, cellphone video was released which gave additional insight to the events leading up to the shooting.

The video, which was released by The Oregonian on Tuesday, was taken by Shawna Cox, 59, one of the passengers in the truck Finicum was driving. Other passengers included Ryan Bundy, 43, Ryan Payne, 32, and Victoria Sharp, 18. Both Finicum, 54, and the passengers, were part of a group of protesters occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge headquarters in Burns, Oregon.

The DoJ claimed Finicum was struck by three bullets fired by Oregon State Troopers after he exited the truck during an encounter with the FBI and reached for a gun at his side. While the FBI released footage from a plane flying over the area at the time of the shooting, it did not include any type of audio.

[RELATED: FBI Agents Under Criminal Investigation in LaVoy Finicum Shooting]

The cellphone video gives the first glimpse with audio into Finicum’s deadly encounter with federal officials. It starts with a traffic stop, when the protesters are pulled over by Oregon State Police while traveling along U.S. Highway 395.

“The sheriff is waiting for us, so you do as you damn well please, but I’m not going anywhere,” said Finicum, leaning out of the driver-side window of the truck. “Here I am, right there. Right there, put a bullet through it. You understand? I’m going to go meet the sheriff. Back down or you kill me now.”

The officer’s speech is not clear in the video, and Finicum continues yelling, “If you want my blood on your hands, get a gun, because we’ve got people to see and places to go.”

The passengers in the car begin to question whether they should flee the scene, and they note that a second vehicle of protestors behind them is also being pulled over, and communicating with the State Troopers.

While waiting, Cox says, “We have no service here,” and another passenger says, “We should never have stopped.” 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.

As the truck progress down the road, it enters a blockade set up by Oregon State Police and the FBI, and Finicum veers to the left, ands drives off of the road into a snow bank.

Finicum gets out of the vehicle with his hands up, and yells, “Go ahead and shoot me!”

Immediately surrounded by officers, Finicum continues to yell, “Shoot me, shoot me!” He puts his hand on his left side, and then the State Troopers surrounding him fire several consecutive shots.

While Finicum is lying in the snow and the other protesters are huddled in the vehicle, one begins to open the backdoor on the driver side, and then another round is fired at the car. He closed the door as another two rounds are fired.

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.”

“This was not a traffic stop,” Jeanette Finicum said. It was an ambush with a roadblock placed on a blind curve along a lonely stretch of highway. I am told that in law enforcement and prosecuting circles this is called a ‘Dead man’s blockade,’ and is designed to allow a ‘kill stop’ which is illegal.”

An autopsy of Finicum reportedly showed that he was struck by three bullets from behind: one pierced his heart, and two struck his shoulder. Police claimed they found a loaded 9mm. semiautomatic handgun on Finicum’s body.

[RELATED: Bundy Family Claims Protestor was Unarmed, had Hands Up When Killed by FBI]

Jeanette Finicum said she does not believe her husband was reaching for a gun when he was shot. Instead, she argued that he was reaching to his side because he was reacting to a gunshot wound to the leg.

“The FBI said Finicum was shot after reaching for a gun,” Jeanette Finicum said. We reject that statement. The FBI’s aerial video was of poor quality, edited and provided no audio. Our family asserts that he was shot with both hands up; he was not reaching for anything at the time of the first shot. He was walking with his hands in the air, a symbol of surrender. When he reached down to his left hip he was reacting to the pain of having been shot. 

Federal officials announced Tuesday that two of the rounds fired, which did not contribute to Finicum’s death but were aimed at the vehicle, were not reported by the FBI. As a result, both the agent who fired the rounds and four other agents who are suspected of helping him cover it up, are under criminal investigation for failing for report the gunshots.

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FBI Agents Under Criminal Investigation in LaVoy Finicum Shooting

Federal officials announced Tuesday that while they justified the shooting of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum when a group of protesters was apprehended in January, FBI agents involved in the encounter are being investigated for firing shots that were not reported.

Finicum, 54, was part of a group of protestors occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge headquarters in Burns, Oregon. He was shot and killed on Jan. 26, after the FBI confronted the protestors’ vehicle while it was traveling along U.S. Highway 395.

Following an investigation into the shooting by the Justice Department, Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said Tuesday that all six of the shots fired by Oregon State Troopers at Finicum were justified.

However, officials also announced that one FBI agent is suspected of lying about firing twice at Finicum and four other agents are suspected of helping him cover up the lie. While the bullets reportedly did not contribute to Finicum’s death, the five agents involved are now under criminal investigation.

[RELATED: One Dead, Five in Custody After Shots Fired During Confrontation Between Oregon Protestors and FBI]

The FBI released footage from a plane flying above, which showed Finicum exiting the driver’s seat of the vehicle, after it ran off the road when it encountered a blockade set up by the FBI.

Finicum exited the vehicle with his hands up, and was immediately surrounded by FBI agents. He appeared to collapse moments after he lowered his hand to his pocket. While the FBI claim Finicum was reaching for a 9 mm. semi-automatic handgun, there is speculation that Finicum was reacting to a gunshot to the left.

[RELATED: Bundy Family Claims Protestor was Unarmed, had Hands Up When Killed by FBI]

Officials did not release the names of the Oregon State Troopers or the FBI agents who were involved in the Finicum shooting, but investigators reportedly said they “intend to release police reports, interview transcripts, photographs, the autopsy report and new video to allow the public to evaluate the police findings in Finicum’s death.”

[UPDATE: Cellphone Footage Details LaVoy Finicum Traffic Stop, Shooting]

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FBI Releases Video of LaVoy Finicum’s Fatal Shooting

BURNS, OR— The Oregon standoff became deadly this week with the death of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, and some supporters are calling his death a “blood sacrifice.”

While Ammon Bundy and his supporters were traveling to a meeting in the community of John Day, they encountered an FBI-led operation to apprehend them and end the Oregon refuge standoff.

In the video released by the FBI, it appears Finicum walked away from his vehicle with his hands up. Moments later, he was shot.

According to the FBI, Finicum reached twice for a pocket that police say contained a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun before they shot him. (Read full FBI statement here.)

“Actions have consequences. As the video clearly shows, it was a reckless action that resulted in consequences you have seen here today,” said Greg Bretzing, special agent in charge of the FBI in Portland.

An eyewitness, Victoria Sharp, tells a different story that contradicts the FBI’s statement.

According to Sharp, Finicum was shot with his hands up, and he only reached for his side reacting to being shot.

“He’s like, ‘just shoot me then, just shoot me’— and they did, they shot him dead. They shot him right there, he was just walking— I saw it. I swear to God, he was just walking with his hands in the air,” said Sharp.

Listen to Sharp’s account here.

The FBI has not released any audio of the confrontation and has not commented on Sharp’s statements.

According to OregonLive, “five people involved in the traffic stop were arrested while two were questioned and released. Those arrested were: Ammon Bundy, 40, of Emmett, Idaho; his brother, Ryan Bundy, 43, of Bunkerville, Nevada; Ryan W. Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Montana; Brian Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada; and Shawna J. Cox, 59, of Kanab, Utah.”

Joshua Cook recently interviewed Sheriff Richard Mack, who said he asked Ammon Bundy to peacefully withdraw from Oregon. Sheriff Mack told Cook during that interview, “you never know what this corrupt government is going to do.”

The FBI’s statement makes it clear that the standoff is not over.