County Prosecutor Says the Shooting of Oregon Protester LaVoy Finicum in the Back by State Police Was 'Justified'

Click here for the true story of the incident as told by 18-year-old Victoria Sharp, in an interview shortly after it happened; she was in the pickup truck with Finincum.

She was also interviewed by CNN - see story below.

In addition, she gave her testimony to Scott Bennett, Ph.D., former U.S. Army Special Operations Officer, retired (video below at 59:21 timer):

Police shot Oregon protester in back but act was 'justified': prosecutor

March 8, 2016

Reuters - A slain leader of the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon was killed by three gunshots fired into his back by police, a county prosecutor said on Tuesday, calling the shooting "justified and necessary."

Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was shot and killed by Oregon State Police on Jan. 26 after he ran from his pickup truck at a roadblock along a snow-covered roadside during the occupation by lands rights protesters at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Relatives of Finicum, who was a spokesman for the group that seized buildings at the refuge, have previously said that he posed no threat to police during the confrontation and have rejected official assertions that he was armed at the time.

Speaking at a press conference in Bend, Oregon, Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson said a loaded 9mm handgun was found in the pocket of Finicum's jacket following the shooting.

Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said eight shots were fired at Finicum during the confrontation, six of them by Oregon State Police officers and two by FBI agents.

An autopsy found that three of the bullets fired by Oregon State Police officers struck Finicum in the base of the neck, shoulder and lower back and led to his death, Norris said.

"The six shots fired by the Oregon State Police were justified and in fact necessary," Norris said.

During the press conference, officials played video and audio tapes of the confrontation, during which Finicum can be heard telling law enforcement officers:

"Go ahead, put the bullet through me. I don’t care. I’m going to meet the sheriff. You do as you damn well please.”

At another point he is heard to say:

"If you want a blood bath, it's on your hands."

The videotape had been released previously but was synched with audio from inside the pickup truck and played in slow motion at times to show what law enforcement officials said was Finicum reaching for his weapon immediately before he was shot.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement that its inspector general's office was investigating the actions of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team in the Finicum shooting.The takeover, which began on Jan. 2 with at least a dozen armed men, was sparked by the return to prison of two Oregon ranchers convicted of setting fires that spread to federal property in the vicinity of the refuge.


It also marked the latest flare-up in the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion, a decades-old conflict over federal control of millions of acres in the West.

The leaders of the standoff, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, were arrested at the same traffic stop at which Finicum was slain.

The final four holdouts were taken into custody on Feb. 17, ending the 41-day standoff. At least 16 people have been charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers in connection with the occupation.

LaVoy Finincum Surrended to Law Enforcement, Attempting to Save the Lives of the Others in His Truck

February 3, 2016 

CNN - Victoria Sharp says she is certain LaVoy Finicum was unjustly gunned down by state police after they and the FBI pursued his vehicle in southern Oregon.

"I was just a few feet away in the truck," she insisted to CNN. "I know what I saw." 

Sharp, 18, claims she was one of three people in the back seat of a white truck driven by Finicum, one of the armed occupiers at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. 

Sharp says she and seven siblings went to the occupation site recently to sing Christian songs and provide "moral support for the protest of the federal government." They left the refuge near Burns last Tuesday for a community meeting in another town. The FBI said it had information that Finicum and the others in two vehicles were armed. Finicum pulled away from an attempt to arrest him and Ammon Bundy, the leader of the nearly four-week occupation. A dramatic chase down tree-lined U.S. 395 ensued. As shown on an FBI video taken from a pursuing helicopter, it ends when Finicum swerves to miss a roadblock, nearly hitting an officer and plowing into deep snow.

The driver quickly exits the video with hands in the air.

That's virtually the only point on which Sharp, of Lakeside, Montana, and authorities concur. While the occupiers said "America was fired upon by our government," the FBI released the video on Thursday, saying Finicum had reached at least twice for a pocket containing a handgun. The agency said it wanted to present "an honest and unfiltered view" of the confrontation.

Sharp said Thursday that as soon as the vehicle hit the snow bank, she heard shots hit the truck. It's not clear on the video whether any rounds were hitting the vehicle.

"He had his hands up," Sharp said. "He was shouting that if they were going to shoot, then just shoot him. I remember him saying that if they shoot him, it's an innocent man's blood on their hands."

As seen on the FBI video, Finicum reaches twice toward a jacket pocket. Officers fire. Finicum falls to the ground. The FBI said it recovered a loaded 9mm semiautomatic handgun in that left side pocket of his jacket.

Sharp said she heard three shots and saw Finicum fall. 

"He wasn't doing anything aggressive, anything," she insisted. "He was just walking with his hands up."

When asked whether Finicum reached for a weapon, Sharp said, "He was not showing any signs of aggression."

Sharp agreed to sit with CNN and view the FBI video.

CNN pointed out the first, then the second time on the video where viewers can see Finicum reach across his body toward that left-side pocket.

"You know, I can't say that he was reaching for a weapon or not," said Sharp.

She watched the video again.

"OK, he was running through snow and it does not look like he is reaching to me. He's trying to keep his balance. He's running, I remember it. He didn't reach for anything."

Sharp reviewed that moment several more times. Each time, CNN pointed out what looked like a reach toward that pocket.

"I'm saying that the video does not show that he's reaching for something," said Sharp. 

She said she was in the truck and knows what she saw.

The FBI had no further comment Friday on Sharp's contentions and referred calls to the Harney County Joint Information Center, which referred to an FBI statement issued Thursday. It does not contain any information about Sharp. Employees who answered CNN calls to the center said officials would not discuss anything about the truck's occupants.

Five people were arrested in the traffic stop and chase, including Ammon Bundy. CNN could not independently confirm Sharp's account, though the FBI statement said a woman in the truck was not arrested and would not be named.

Greg Bretzing, the FBI's special agent in charge in Oregon, said Thursday the video included the shooting of Finicum was released "in the interest of transparency."

"We know there are various versions of what occurred during this event: most inaccurate, some inflammatory," Bretzing said. "To that end, we want to do what we can to lay out an honest and unfiltered view of what happened and how it happened."  

Finicum drove away from law officers

Sharp said the caravan had left the wildlife refuge in the middle of the afternoon, headed for the town of John Day. Finicum's truck was ahead of Ammon Bundy's Jeep.

The teen said she was in the truck's back between passengers Ryan Bundy and Shawna Cox. Another occupier was in the front passenger seat.

While the Jeep stayed at the stop, a standoff was developing between Finicum -- who had driven a distance up the road -- and numerous officers.

Sharp had fallen asleep in Finicum's truck when she woke with a start. She was confused at first, then saw a number of police vehicles. Finicum didn't want to get out of the car, and was determined to try and drive to the local sheriff on his own, she said.

Sharp said the passenger in the front of the truck, Ryan Payne, stuck his head and hands out of the window. He then said, "They fired at me." Payne exited with his hands up and surrendered, officials said.

The FBI's statement does not mention any shot fired toward the truck this early in the standoff.

Sharp insisted she heard a shot and said that's why she didn't exit the vehicle immediately. For 3 minutes and 47 seconds, the FBI video shows the white truck idling in the road.

"LaVoy was talking to them. He was not aggressive in any way to them," said Sharp. "He said, 'We're going to talk to the sheriff. You need to leave us alone, back down.'"

The people in the truck were discussing what would happen if Finicum drove off, Sharp told CNN. The FBI said its agents and state troops gave verbal commands for the truck occupants to surrender.

LaVoy Finicum remained determined to try to see the sheriff on his own, said Sharp. "And then he said, 'Hey guys, I'm going to drive.'"

Shawna Cox told her to get down, Sharp said. 

"'They might shoot when he starts driving,'" she says Cox told her.

Minutes later, the truck encountered another roadblock and went into the snow bank.

'People lost their lives for our freedom'

In an emotional news conference after Tuesday's confrontation, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward placed the blame for Finicum's death squarely on the armed occupiers. But Victoria Sharp doesn't see it that way, deflecting all blame to the federal government for Finicum's death.

Sharp, who calls the Bundys family friends, said Finicum's death will inspire others to engage in future protests of the federal government.

"I'm more wiling now than before to expose what the federal government is doing because it's worth it. If I lose my life for the future of America it's worth it. People lost their lives for our freedom. And if I lose mine for the freedom of others, than it's worth it."

On Monday, nearly a week after the shooting, four people continued to occupy the refuge.

Supporters and opponents of the occupiers faced off Monday in front of the Harney County Courthouse for what amounted to dueling rallies, with both sides chanting and occasionally shouting profanity.

And the situation continued for another day.

What officials say happened

Related:

1. Oregon refuge protesters plead not guilty; more charges likely Reuters
2. Citizenship Exploited: Lessons from the Oregon Occupation Huffington Post
3. Judge: Oregon occupier can go home but can't contact husband Associated Press
4. Judge denies pretrial release for last Oregon refuge holdout Associated Press
5. Bundy, 18 others indicted in 2014 range standoff in Nevada Associated Press