LaVoy Finicum

LaVoy Finicum speaking in a video posted to YouTube during the occupation

Finicum was a spokesman for the armed militants who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in early 2016.[11] He was dubbed "Tarp Man" by MSNBC for sitting outside at night in a rocking chair, holding a rifle on his lap, and sometimes covering himself completely with a blue tarpaulin for additional protection against the elements.[17] When asked on January 6 if he would rather be killed than arrested if the occupation turned violent, Finicum replied, "I have no intention of spending any of my days in a concrete box."[18]

On January 26, Finicum was one of several occupation leaders who left the refuge in Harney County in a two-truck convoy. The convoy also included the occupation leaders, Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Shawna Cox and Ryan Payne, and two supporters, Victoria Sharp and Brian Cavalier. Their intention was to speak at a public meeting in John Day, Grant County. Finicum was driving his white 2015 Dodge Ram pickup truck, followed by a dark-colored Jeep.[19][20][21]

Oregon State Police unsuccessfully attempting to arrest two of Finicum's passengers, Ryan Bundy and Shawna Cox, during a traffic stop. Finicum fled.

State and federal authorities used the opportunity to intercept them with a two-phase operation involving a traffic stop and a roadblock about two miles further along the highway.[22][23] Both were set up on an unpopulated stretch of U.S. Route 395 in Harney County.[24] The operation had originally been planned for a location in adjacent Grant County, but was moved to Harney County because the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Oregon State Police (OSP) considered the Grant County sheriff, Glenn Palmer, to be a security leak because of favorable comments he had made with respect to the militants.[25] Authorities feared a militia response, and a location was selected with poor cell phone service.[22]

As the convoy entered the operation area, vehicles driven by the FBI and the OSP pulled in behind the Jeep. When the Jeep pulled over, Ammon Bundy and Brian Cavalier were peacefully arrested.[20] The driver of the Jeep, Mark McConnell, who was a government informant and the only occupant of the vehicle with a firearm, was not arrested or charged.[26]

Driving the leading vehicle, Finicum initially kept going but eventually stopped as well. Police fired a 40 mm plastic-tipped round of pepper spray, which hit the top of his truck. At that point, Ryan Payne exited Finicum's truck and surrendered peacefully.[20][27] Finicum's other passengers, Ryan Bundy, Shawna Cox and Victoria Sharp, remained in his truck.[28]

After Payne's surrender, Cox and Bundy each started recording cell phone videos of the confrontation. The videos captured police identifying themselves as Oregon State Police and ordering Finicum to turn off his engine. Refusing their order, Finicum yelled back that he was going to meet Palmer and that the only way officers could prevent that meeting was to shoot him. Finicum yelled at the troopers, "You back down or you kill me now. Go ahead. Put the bullet through me. I don't care. I'm going to go meet the sheriff. You do as you damned well please."[23][29]

Finicum (center) reaching towards his side or pocket immediately before being shot to death by Oregon State Police.

About seven minutes after stopping his truck, Finicum drove away at high speed with his three remaining passengers.[20][30] They were pursued by officers. About 1 mile (1,609 m) later, Finicum rounded a bend and spotted the roadblock. Trying to avoid a spike strip,[31] Finicum braked and swerved. His truck plunged into deep snow, narrowly missing FBI agent John Neiter.[19][32]

When Finicum's truck became stuck in the snow, he immediately left the vehicle, with his hands raised shouting "go ahead and shoot me", just as two shots were fired by an FBI agent. One shot struck the roof of Finicum's truck and the other went wide.[27][32][33][34] These shots became the subject of controversy because the FBI agents initially failed to disclose them.[32]

Meanwhile, Finicum moved about in the snow, alternating between holding his hands above his head and seemingly reaching into his jacket, where officers later found a loaded semi-automatic weapon.[7] OSP officers and FBI agents armed with rifles positioned themselves along the road, while an OSP officer, who had holstered his firearm and equipped himself with a non-lethal Taser X2, walked toward him from the treeline with the intention of subduing him. As Finicum moved his hands down, he turned towards the approaching taser-holding officer and repeatedly yelled, "You're going to have to shoot me!" The troopers believed Finicum to be armed and considered his hand position to signal an imminent threat to the life of the taser-holding officer; Finicum was holding his jacket with his left hand and reaching for a pocket with his right. Two troopers fired a total of three times and a third who was about to fire held back, realizing a fourth shot was not needed.[22][23][35] Medical assistance was given to Finicum approximately ten minutes after the shooting.[36]

Ryan Bundy received a minor shrapnel wound during the incident.[34]

After Finicum's death, officials stated that he was reaching for a gun in his pocket when he was shot by a state trooper.[24] The FBI also said that a loaded handgun was found in Finicum's pocket.[37] It was later identified as a 9 mm Ruger SR9 handgun.[7] Finicum received the handgun as a gift from his stepson.[7][38] His public autopsy was performed on January 28, but officials withheld the autopsy report from the press until March 8. The cause of death was listed as three gunshot wounds to the back, abdomen and chest. All wounds were specified as gunshot entry from the back (posterior left shoulder, left upper back and right lower back).[2][39]

Investigators with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, assigned to process the scene of Finicum's shooting, were accounting for the two known sets of shots fired by the OSP officers during the event (the shots that killed Finicum, and the earlier shots that struck his vehicle) when they discovered a bullet that struck the roof of the truck at a different trajectory. After ascertaining the bullet's existence with cell phone video taken by one of Finicum's passengers, investigators modeled the bullet's trajectory using computers, and determined that the bullet was fired from the direction where two FBI agents were standing. They later determined that an FBI Hostage Rescue Team member fired twice at Finicum, missed him but injured a second militant in the process. The agent, whose identity was withheld, was under investigation, along with four other FBI agents who were suspected of attempting to conceal evidence of the gunshots. They reportedly told investigators that none of them fired a shot during the incident.[40][41]

During initial processing of the scene, the rifle cartridge casings purportedly fired by the FBI agent were reported not present. However, an OSP officer later described seeing two casings at the scene near where the FBI agents were positioned. FBI aerial surveillance video shows agents searching the area, then huddling together before breaking up moments later, with one agent bending over twice to pick up an unknown object. Law enforcement officials began the investigation into the gunshots after watching the full surveillance video and suspecting something was amiss. Two FBI pickup trucks were searched for casings, but none were found, while at least three OSP officers were interrogated about their initial processing of the scene.[19]

On March 8, officials revealed their findings to the public.[34] The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the conduct of the agents.[40] Deschutes County Sheriff's Office investigators, along with the district attorneys of Malheur and Harney counties, declared that Finicum's shooting death was "justified and necessary".[42]

On April 5, cellphone video footage shot by another of Finicum's passengers was released by authorities.[42]

An FBI agent, W. Joseph Astarita, was alleged to have fired two shots at Finicum's pickup, one of which penetrated the roof of the pickup and exited through a window. FBI agents were believed to have recovered the ejected empty cartridges. A five-count indictment for lying about the circumstances at the scene of Finicum's death and obstruction of justice was obtained in Portland against Astarita by the Department of Justice. He was represented by a public defender and his trial began in Portland in late July 2018.[43] A federal jury found Astarita to be not guilty on all charges on August 10, 2018.[44]

Authorities attempted to withhold the identities of the two state troopers who shot Finicum. Nonetheless, during Astarita's trial, one witness accidentally identified one of them as then-Lieutenant (and now Superintendent) Casey Codding.[45][46]

Before the video of the action was released, some of the militants and supporters had claimed that Finicum was co-operating with the police when he was shot. This included a claim by the Nevada legislator Michele Fiore (who was not present at the arrest) that "he was just murdered with his hands up".[47] Cliven Bundy was quoted as saying that Finicum was "sacrificed for a good purpose".[48] In a March 3 interview in jail, Ammon Bundy called the shooting "egregious" and said that the officers involved "should be ashamed of it".[49]

At a news conference, officials had initially declined to comment on the Finicum shooting because the encounter was still under investigation,[50] but they later released surveillance video of the incident, which officials said shows Finicum reaching for a handgun after feigning surrender.[51] However, Finicum's family continued to dispute the nature of the shooting, claiming that he was shot in the back while his hands were in the air, and denied the FBI's assertion that Finicum was armed at the time of his death.[52] The Finicum family commissioned a private autopsy, but declined to make the results public.[20]

The Oregon State Police received death threats.[53] On February 6, more than 1,000 attended Finicum's funeral in Kanab, Utah, while others rebuilt a razed memorial on U.S. Route 395.[54] About another 100 people led by the 3 Percenters rallied at the Idaho State Capitol in the afternoon in honor of Finicum, who they believed was unarmed at the time of his death.[55] On March 4, a group of about a dozen armed protesters surrounded a federal courthouse in Tucson, Arizona, demanding the state troopers who shot Finicum be indicted and fired.[56] Another rally, led by Finicum's widow, was held at the Utah State Capitol on March 5 with 200–300 people in attendance.[57] Several dozen rallies were held at locations throughout the U.S. on the following Saturday.[58]

On May 12, more than a dozen Arizona politicians wrote a letter to Oregon Governor Kate Brown, in which they asked her to conduct another, more transparent investigation into Finicum's death.[59]

On August 27, 2016, Finicum's widow, Jeanette, announced her plans to sue the OSP and the FBI for civil rights violations relating to his death. She retained a California-based attorney, who also represented Ryan Bundy, for the case.[60]

On January 26, 2018, Finicum's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the United States district court in Pendleton, Oregon. Named as defendants were the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oregon State Police, the Bureau of Land Management, the Oregon governor Kate Brown, Greg Bretzing, former FBI special agent in charge in Portland, acquitted FBI agent Astarita, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, former U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, Harney County commissioner Steven Grasty, the Center for Biological Diversity and unnamed officers. The lawsuit sought more than $5 million in damages for Finicum's wife and each of their 12 children and his estate.[61] Kieran Suckling, the executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, called the suit a "bizarre, incoherent, yet nonetheless dangerous, attack on free speech".[62] On July 24, 2020, federal Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan dismissed claims against all defendants except the Oregon State Police.[63] In August 2021, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman dismissed the family's claims against the Oregon State Police, the former state police superintendent, the state troopers who fired at Finicum, all claims filed against the federal government, the FBI, Harney County and former Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward. Only a single civil rights claim against Gov. Kate Brown survived Mosman's ruling.[64]