When the FBI released a video showing the killing of Robert La Voy Finicum, they thought they would show us him reaching twice for a gun in his pocket, but what it showed was, in fact, the cold-blooded killing of La Voy Finicum, extended arms, unarmed. And this is what now has convinced even some who were not so much in favor of the Oregon protesters, that the governmnt is killing people who want to exercise their rights under the First and Second Amendment. Now more people are convinced that the FBI lied, first by infiltrating the protesters and posing as one of them, and then orchestrating an ambush to kill the primary protesters. A new protest is planned for this coming Monday, February 1st. Only the nearby town of Burns Oregon is still against the protesters.
Oregon Protest Leaders Arrested One Killed 1/22/16
Ounce the authorities seeking to end a nearly month-long protest at the Malheur Oregon wildlife refuge realized there was only one way to bring the drama to a close, arrest the leadership, away from the refuge to minimize the potential for violence, the their next move was a road block. The decision to carry out the arrests was set into motion when the leaders left the refuge Tuesday to attend a community meeting in the town of John Day. The incident took place some 45 miles north of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Highway 395. , ended with the arrest of brothers and occupation protest leaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and the shooting death of rancher LaVoy Finicum.
During a news conference Wednesday, federal and county law enforcement declined to discuss the circumstances that led to the traffic stop and shooting, which occurred at about 4:25 p.m. Pacific Time. The FBI earlier described the stop as an “enforcement action” done by federal agents and Oregon State Police in connection with the occupation. Harney County Sheriff David Ward told reporters that prior to the stop, the occupiers had ultimatums that he couldn’t meet.
“I’m disappointed that a traffic stop yesterday that was supposed to bring peaceful resolution to this, ended badly,” said Ward. The law enforcement official said the protesters — a total of nine people — were in two vehicles during the stop. The FBI and state police staked out a spot along the route to John Day to stop the caravan. At first, both vehicles complied with an order to pull over, but then the lead vehicle took off, the law enforcement official said. It didn’t get very far, hitting a snow bank. Finicum, the official said, jumped out of that vehicle “brandishing a firearm.” He was shot and killed. Ryan Bundy, 43, of Nevada, was also struck by gunfire. He was wounded in the arm, the official added, and was released Tuesday night from a local hospital where he’d been treated for the gunshot wound. The official did not know who fired the shot or shots that killed Finicum, 54, of Arizona. His death was also confirmed by his daughter. Finicum was a Mormon rancher with 11 children, 19 grandchildren and a wife of 23 years. He said he would rather die than be taken into custody as part of the occupation. The group had seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2 in the wake of a protest in the nearby town of Burns against the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires on government land. The occupation is also tied to a long-running dispute over how public land is used in the West.
One dead, while the two brothers Ammon, 40, and Ryan Bundy, 43, sons of Clive Bundy were arrested. Three other occupiers were arrested during Tuesday’s incident, authorities said: Brian Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada; Shawna Cox (59) of Kanab, Utah; and Ryan Waylen Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Montana.
Two more — Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, 45, of Cottonwood, Arizona, and Peter Santilli, 50, of Cincinnati — were arrested later in separate but related incidents, the FBI said. All face federal felony charges of conspiracy to impede federal officers from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats, authorities said. The charge carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison. The seven occupiers arrested in Oregon, including the Bundy brothers, were expected to appear in federal court in Portland later this past Wednesday.
“Peaceful people were going to meet with other Americans regarding the constitution and a routine traffic stop winds up with one of my friends dead and another one shot,” said Patrick, one of the people left at the refuge.
