© Free Thought Project
Late Tuesday evening, it was announced that an unnamed FBI agent involved in the killing of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum has been indicted. The agent is accused of lying about shooting at Finicum in 2016 when officers arrested the leaders of an occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon.
In March of 2016, it was announced that multiple FBI agents were under investigation for their role in the death of Finicum. For over a year, Finicum's family has waited for answers, and on Tuesday night, they received a glimpse into the corruption surrounding the death of their beloved father and husband.
An FBI agent now faces allegations of making false statements with the intent of obstructing justice. According to reports, he is to be named on Wednesday.
According to the Oregonian, investigators concluded that one agent fired at Finicum's truck, hitting it in the roof and missing on the second shot. A state trooper later described to investigators seeing two rifle casings in the area where the FBI agents were posted. But detectives called to investigate didn't find the casings, police reports indicated.
The Deschutes County sheriff alleged as Finicum left his truck, an FBI agent shot twice at Finicum, but none of the FBI hostage team members said they discharged their firearms. It appears that the agent attempted to hide the fact that they shot at him and now they are being called to task for it.
Federal law prohibits "knowingly and willfully" making any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation or concealing information — yet that is exactly what happened.
Since the shooting, which was captured on video from the FBI's birdseye view, there have been many theories surrounding the death of Finicum.
According to the official story, Lavoy Finicum was killed by officers because they had no other choice as he was reaching for a gun in his left pocket. Officials later found a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic handgun in that pocket.
It is evident from the video that Finicum never presented the handgun. However, we can clearly see him reaching for his left side.
In a photo of the autopsy report, taken by RT's Simone Del Rosario at the press conference last year, and the video from inside the truck, there is a now an alternative reason, outside of going for a gun, as to why Finicum was reaching toward his left side — he was shot there.
The video proves that officers or agents opened fire on the vehicle prior to Finicum exiting it.
The footage from inside the vehicle shows that Finicum could have been shot with his hands up as he was exiting the vehicle.
Seemingly, Finicum's intentions were to draw fire away from the truck — and that is exactly what he did. This cost him his life.
The last scene in the video shows a terrified little girl, Victoria Sharp, the 18-year-old gospel singer emerging from the SUV, her hands upraised, and her body painted by laser sights.
One targeted her head, the other the center of her chest.
Last year, all the police officers involved in the shooting of Finicum were found to be justified. Coincidentally, also last year, the standoff leaders were acquitted for the takeover of the refuge.
The group of men who seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, in rural Oregon were found not guilty last fall, vindicating brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy after the 41-day standoff that brought national focus to the long-running dispute over federal control of rural land in the Western United States.
According to a report in by the Oregonian:
Ammon Bundy, older brother Ryan Bundy and five other defendants were acquitted last fall of conspiracy and weapons charges. A second trial of four other occupiers resulted in split verdicts earlier this year, with defendants Jason Patrick and Darryl Thorn convicted of conspiracy and others convicted of damaging government property and misdemeanor charges, including trespass.Finicum's widow, Jeanette Finicum has announced plans earlier this year to sue both the Oregon State Police and the FBI for violating her late husband's civil rights.
The suit will allege that the FBI fired at Finicum
"when he's getting out of his car to surrender," Finicum's attorney Brian Claypool said. "What's critical is he's not even out of his door and there are gunshots blowing through his windows. That's excessive force 101."This indictment will most assuredly be used by her attorney in making their case.
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