The FBI this evening released video footage of the shooting of Robert LaVoy Finicum during an operation on U.S. 395 in Eastern Oregon. The January 26 incident led to the arrest of the leadership cadre of the Bundy Outfit that was occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The occupation continues with four militants still present.
The “movement” has spent much of today throwing out propaganda about the shooting, calling it cold-blooded murder and claiming Finicum was shot while kneeling with his hands up. The video footage is very clear.
http://www.ktvz.com/news/ammon-bundy-repeats-call-for-refuge-occupiers-to-leave/37694112
Complete video is here (26 minutes).
Finicum clearly reached for his jacket at least twice. Second or third time he was shot by an Oregon State Police Trooper. FBI reports Finicum was packing a 9mm handgun. Some people will doubtless still have “their truth,” but for the reality-based world, the video is definitive.
There’s nothing to celebrate in this, but hopefully we will no longer have to put up with specious claims of murder and malfeasance.
deuce says
This from the Web:
“There are more effective ways of getting out a message. Such as starting with a television station rather than a wildlife refuge center, just to throw one crazy idea out there.
For crying out loud, every South American revolutionary used to start with either a radio station or a TV station. These guys didn’t even reach the level of incompetent Hispanics.”
Not my quote, of course. And of course, I’m not (by posting someone else’s comment) trying to imply that all Hispanics are “incompetent” (just most revolutionaries). All that said, it gave me a grim chuckle.
Advice to would-be revolutionaries: Don’t posture. Use your brain. Don’t tell everybody what you’re going to do. Unless you WANT to end up dead or in prison.
JimC says
All qualifications received and understood. I’d like to think everybody here is well-read and educated enough not to need such, but… we do live in strange times where people look for ways to be outraged, so I get it.
Anyhoo…
I am increasingly convinced that the primary motive of the Bundys and their fellow travelers was attention. It sure as hell wasn’t about effective insurrection. The less-than-a-handful that are still left in the refuge are really pretty pathetic. I mean… sad.
Saddle Tramp says
Wrong place, wrong time, wrong tactics, wrong strategy and ill gotten results. Would you expect anything different? Strange times indeed! I appreciate the allusion. So much worse than that I am afraid. Look to the example of the current state of politics with such an unsophisticated hoax being foisted on us and so many taking the bait. This is the great divide that is being filled with insane possibilities and scary as hell agendas. This showdown was just another symptom of everything coming out of the woodwork. Political correctness as a formula will never add up. Hell… Huck Finn ( as American as one can get ) could not stand up to the muster of this PC world we now inhabit. Paralysis is the end result that eventually become a boiler without a safety valve. Has frustration ever felt greater in recent memory? My fear is that the tail is wagging the dog. We are off the rails. The extreme few ( and so often I am am afraid ) the unworthy get the attention. The overpaid and valueless are way too prevalent. Blame it all on the government. I don’t think so. There is more than enough to go around. Dodge City had to be tamed. Not everyone was happy about it. Some say the guitar tamed the west and others say it was barbed wire. Take your pick. Guns are a last resort. Even Bonnie and Clyde knew their days were numbered…
Let’s hope the Dark Ages are not upon us again, but it sure feels like it ( or as with this outfit ) a self fulfilling prophesy.
Craig Rullman says
After seeing the video I am more convinced than ever this was a suicide by cop. Finicum’s statements, his comportment, and this desperate act leave me no alternative assessment. I sympathized momentarily with Finicum, because he was caught in a riptide of pathology, but the focus of my concern going forward resides entirely with the lawman who put him down. That man will carry a significant burden for the rest of his life, and it won’t matter one iota that he was totally justified. I learned early on: EVERY call for service carries a price tag, it’s just that some are bigger than others. I wish him well.
JimC says
This is the first time I’ve heard that concern expressed in this case. Bears keeping in mind.