What Witnesses Say About Malheur Occupation Arrests, Finicum's Death

LaVoy Finicum (in white hate) talking to the media at the
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 9, 2016

...In his video, McConnell said Ammon Bundy and Cavalier were in the vehicle he was driving to John Day for a community meeting.  He said Finicum was driving a pickup that carried Ryan Bundy, Payne, Cox and an 18-year-old woman.

He said as they traveled on U.S. 395 police vehicles pulled in behind them and stopped them.  McConnell said he was removed by police first, then Ammon Bundy, then Cavalier.

He said Finicum's pickup was stopped about 200 yards away, and one passenger already was on the ground in handcuffs.

McConnell said Payne and Cox later recounted how Payne and Finicum got into a "heated discussion" about what to do.

"LaVoy was passionate about this, about the movement," McConnell said.

McConnell said he noticed movement, and Finicum "took off" in the pickup with the remaining passengers.  He said Payne described encountering a police roadblock about a mile north on the highway and apparently tried to get around it, becoming stuck in the snow.

"When he exited the vehicle, the rear wheels were still spinning," McConnell said.  "He charged at law enforcement" and was shot.

McConnell disputed earlier accounts on social media that Finicum was shot while on his knees with his hands up.

McConnell said he and the 18-year-old, Victoria Sharp, were taken to Burns for questioning and later released.

His account couldn't be immediately confirmed, but several details matched accounts from law enforcement sources.

Ms. Sharp's account varies on some details:

...After they were stopped by police Payne was attempting to get her and (Shawna) Cox safely out of the car when police took their first shot.

"He put his hands out the window, he was trying to talk to them."...

..."Ryan (Payne) said, 'We have women in the car, let the women out,' she said...

...Sharp said that they began to realize that the police "meant business" and that Finicum, who was driving, yelled that he was going to continue driving so that he could "talk to the sheriff."

"He drove and we all got down on the floorboards and they just started firing at us.."...adding that Finicum reached the roadblock and his truck rammed into a snowbank.

With the car running, she said, Finicum "got out of the car and he had his hands in the air and he was like, 'Just shoot me then, just shoot me.'"

"And they did," she said.  "They shot him dead."

eye'm thynkin':  What a sad and stupid outcome.  Racing away from a police roadblock--what did they expect was going to happen?  Mr. Finicum showed no concern for anyone else in the vehicle he was driving.  

LaVoy Finicum expected to win; he expected to walk away a hero just like Clive Bundy did last year.  In the end, LaVoy Finicum made the vow he made on January 5  come true: "This is where I'm going to breathe my last breath, whether I'm 90, 95 or 55... I'm going to not spend my days in a cell."

He sure showed "them." 

Read more at Oregon Live