The Robert LaVoy Finicum Thread

Robert LaVoy Finicum. I have started this thread to explore who this man was with your help. I know there are already a bajillion threads about the standoff, but I had not yet seen one about the man who was shot by autorities during the roadside incident where the leaders of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation were arrested on highway US-395. I thought then that it might be a good idea to start a thread about who this man actually was. I've been trying to keep up with the story, and there seem to be a lot of opinions injected into the commentary here about who the members think he was.

Let's discuss this man, then. I ask that you please bring a link for reference to the information that has led you to form your opinion, or at the very least cite a source for the information that has led you to form your opinion. If you knew him or know people who did, that will be acceptable as a source, but please cite your source. Hopefully I have preceded the Lifetime Movie Network's film about the standoff, which I'm sure is undoubtedly in the works, though I have my doubts that it will be an accurate portrayal.

Wikipedia says:

Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, 54, was a neighbor of Cliven Bundy, though he lived in Arizona. Finicum was a rancher whose cattle grazed on BLM land, and he maintained that he owned grazing rights on that land through natural law. Finicum wrote a book entitled Only by Blood and Suffering: Regaining Lost Freedom. The Finicums are foster parents to a number of children, who have all been removed from their care due to their involvement in the standoff; Finicum complained that this took away his and his wife's main source of income. Finicum was dubbed "Tarp Man" by MSNBC for sitting outside at night in a rocking chair, covered completely in a blue tarp and a rifle underneath. When asked if he would rather be killed than arrested if the occupation turned violent, Finicum replied, "Absolutely ... I have no intention of spending any of my days in a concrete box." On January 26, Finicum was killed while resisting arrest at a roadblock on U.S. Route 395 in Grant County, Oregon, a day before his 55th birthday.

I personally liked this BBC article that seemed to offer a gentler view than we seem to have been treated to by the average msm piece.
Oregon stand-off: Robert 'LaVoy' Finicum, a militiaman apart
Some snippets:

Mr Finicum cut a distinct figure too, with a wide-brimmed hat, spectacles and ear muffs plus a green and brown camouflage jacket, which stood out somewhat on Oregon's icy plains.

There was more snow than sagebrush in the spot he had picked for his revolution.

One-on-one, the rancher from Mohave County, Arizona, listened carefully to my questions and replied with a smile. It was a pleasant change from conversing with some of his over-bearing, over-excited fellow militiamen.

"What's important for me is my family, my kids and individual Americans," he told me. "I want them to live freely. I want them to have access to their natural rights, their property rights."

Was it not right to do so through the law, rather than in an action like this?

"Well, it is the law. The constitution is the supreme law of the land and it's been violated. We have exhausted every avenue."

He was aware, he said, of how the occupation might end, although he insisted a raid by a SWAT team "would be a silly thing."

"The federal government has complete ability to come here in a moment and just wipe us all out," he said.

"Let's make no mistake about it. The federal government has great resources and great abilities. There is no illusions as who is most powerful. This is America. Our military force, our forces are top notch. We are just citizens, sir."

He will be now be called both a terrorist and a martyr. No doubt the circumstances of his death will be disputed for years to come.

Whatever the truth of his final moments, LaVoy Finicum leaves behind a large family, reportedly of 11 children. At one point during our conversations, I asked Mr Finicum how long it would be before he needed to get back to his ranch and his cattle.

"I have a 17-year-old daughter," he said. "Thank goodness she's a firecracker, I hope she can hold everything together. I'm a small producer. She'll be able to do it."

Rest in peace, Mr Finicum.

In every interview I've seen of the man he seemed calm and rational. Certainly not a hellbent out of control wacko as some seem to think. This vid in particular speaks to the man's convictions and where they come from. He explains where he acquired his grazing rights from, why he believes the BLM is in the wrong and an anecdotal story about his stance with the BLM.

When I watched this vid the other day after studying the video footage of his death for hours, I had that sinking feeling in my gut that comes from deep realization of a truth so horrible that your mind just shuts off for a moment and then you look for any reason at all to convince you that it couldn't possibly be true:

Overall, I think he was an honest and loving person who had great empathy for others who are being caught up in the same legal deception that he had been.

A couple Finicum references from this PBS article dated January 4th, 2016:

Protester LaVoy Finicum, an Arizona rancher, said they’re being careful not to damage buildings or property. He claimed the protesters accessed the buildings after they found a set of keys. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service disputed that claim.

Finicum said he plans to stay “until the constitution is upheld.”

What’s next for the armed militiamen in Oregon?

Oregon Public Broadcasting posted a piece to their website entitled LaVoy Finicum: Profile Of A Malheur Occupier. Their Think Out Loud radio show conducted a twenty four minute interview with Mr. Finicum, looks like it was on January 5th, 2016, which is also posted at this link.

At about the 4:14 mark in that interview, when the interviewer(Dave Miller) asks him if they are there to overthrow the county and federal governments as Sherrif Ward had claimed, Mr Finicum responds:

Let me be very clear, Dave. I believe in government, okay? We need government. I believe in the federal government. We need the federal government. Um. But, the federal government needs to adhere to their most important responsibilities, which are clearly outlined in the constitution. They need to protect our borders, defend our nation. The things of the state, need to be handled by the state government. The things of the county, need to be handled by the county government. So, uh, most definitely, I uphold governments, both federal, state, and county, and so, yeah I really, I really do believe in government, and I do want to uphold that, and so, please don't get me wrong.

At about the 22 minute mark, the interviewer asks Mr Finicum: "Are you willing to die for this cause?" To which Mr Finicum responds:

Oh I don't want to die! I have children and grandchildren! I want to go home! I want to ride, and take care of my cows, and spend time with my kids and my wife! I mean, hell that's not what I intend to do, but uh, I most certainly love freedom, and if freedom is not more valuable than life, then, do we really deserve it?

I have to say, that the more I learn about Mr. Finicum in writing this thread, the less inclined I am to believe that he was the suicidal nutjob that some here have been screaming that he was in the threads pertaining to the Oregon standoff on this board. He sounds like a man who loved his country, and the freedoms that our founding documents enumerated. Seems like he believed that we had been growing away from these freedoms, due to increasing federal overreach. (Kinda reminds me of me, in this regard.) Did he hold some strong beliefs? Well, yes. Some might even consider those beliefs to have been extreme. Suicidal nutjob, though? I can't get behind that.

I came across these videos in this thread: FREE THE HAMMONDS: We, the People, Upholding the U.S. Constitution vs. the BLM/USGOV page: 1. Authored by thorfourwinds. The videos were posted there by the thread's author.
This first video is a report on the desecration of Paiute artifacts by the Bureau of Land Management. Mr Finicum features prominently in it:


This next video is a recitation of the Finicum family's statement, released shortly after Mr. Finicum's death at the hands of the authorities:

Now we come to the infamous tarp interview. I think this is supposed to be the one where he's made all these grim statements about how he's gonna shoot the cops and would rather die than be put in a cell, etc., etc.



Well, whadaya know? There's a lot of the reporter putting words in his mouth, and numerous attempts are made to coax threatening statements from him, but nowhere during this interview does Mr. Finicum express a desire to shoot at government officials or die for this cause. He does state that he has no desire to spend his days in a concrete box, and he does say when the interviewer asks him about the authorities pointing their guns at him 'don't point that gun at me.' He also says when the interviewer asks him about authorities taking him away, that he thinks that that is unlikely as he is armed.

No actual threats, though. No clear expression of a willingness or wish to die, either. It seems, then, that some posters may have been taking a little creative license with their assertions that he had a serious deathwish. Perhaps there are other videos where he makes these sorts of statements of intent that I haven't come across yet. If so, then I think that time will tell. The reporter doing the interview is trying like hell to get Mr. Finicum to say something mean and nasty, but it doesn't happen, at least not in this interview. It is an MSNBC product. Have a look, if you've the intestinal fortitude for it.

This next video interview with Mr. Finicum was recorded on January 7th, 2016, the day after the infamous tarp interview. Mr. Finicum speaks with Dena Akruri of the AJ+ youtube channel.

Transcribing from the video, I'll begin at 7:15:

Me personally I want to leave as soon as possible but I will stay as long as necessary, to help these ranchers resolve their plight, just as a neighbor, one neighbor to another neighbor; so, as long as necessary, and as soon as possible.
Dena: And you're hoping not to fire your gun?
Finicum: No, we're not...No, no, no firing guns, nobody's gonna fire their guns. I want to keep everybody safe. You know, law enforcement's lives are precious, they have family members, they have loved ones just as we do, and so there's never any need of that.

This next video was posted to youtube by the Oregonian. It was recorded January 17th, 2016, and is entitled "Occupation leader Robert "LaVoy" Finicum speaks to supporters, protestors and the media".

During the video, Mr. Finicum emphatically states that they are not anti-government, though he does state his sentiments that the role of federal government should be more narrowly defined than it is today. He also reaches out to the Paiute tribe, requesting that they appoint a liaison to work with the occupiers. Mr. Finicum goes on to explain that he was raised on Navajo land from the time he was a child until after graduating high school, and so feels that he has personal experience to bring to the table in this regard. You may also notice the counter-protesters working their signage into the background of the shot.

In this next video Mr. Finicum is making another overture to the Paiute tribe.

These next two videos provide a little more backstory to Mr. Finicum's personal dealings with the Bureau of Land Management. It seems they had decided to play dirty with Mr. Finicum. Gives us a little more perspective to Mr. Finicum's involvement with the Oregon standoff. He did have a personal stake in this endeavor.

Hate this. Well, I guess no matter what happens, he stood up for what he believed and I think he's ok with that.

I just wonder what occured in those last moments. Was he really reaching for a gun? Why? Wnated to be a cop cshooter? Based on everything I see here, I have no reason to think he wnated to be. Surely he knew if he reached to suicide-by-cop, it'd be used against him? He shouldn't have carried, so reaching would not be construed as malevolent intent.

Ultimately, I'm just anothe random nobody and I can't chagne anything about this. I don't agree with everything Finicum says. This whole ordeal confuses me and makes me feel uneasy. Just hope good is served.

Feel the impulse to post something about the constitution. Only mean it in the sincerest and most genuine way:

Robert LaVoy Finicum is a hero... I like to see a bronze statue built of this man holding the constitution, and placed near federal property!

Here, ATS, for your consideration, is Mr. Finicum's last interview with The Oregonian, given on the day before his death. Guess that would be January 25th, 2016.

Many thanks to tweetie, who brought this video to my attention in this thread here.
Again, not the actions or speech of a man with a fatalistic point of view, in my opinion. You will not find any threats to LEO's or assertions that he'll never be taken alive in this interview.

a reply to: TheBadCabbie

This is another good vid that i posted in another thread just earlier,..

a reply to: TheBadCabbie

I thought this would be appropriate here:

Hundreds, including Cliven Bundy and militiamen, pay respects to Robert ‘LaVoy’ Finicum and the freedom they say he represented

[Arianna] Brown remembered her father for the family board games he would play until late in the night, and for never missing his children's basketball games, even if he might bring a book about the Founding Fathers.

Finicum was described as a tireless, faithful man with a glint in his eye and a fondness for pranks. A prolific singer of questionable pitch. A man who was a hero to his 11 children and his younger siblings — whose embrace they could count upon at any hour, and who yet had nobody to hold onto as he died in the snow along a desolate stretch of Highway 395.

"I said before they even killed him, anybody should walk 10 miles to shake his hand," he said.

Rest in Peace, Robert LaVoy Finicum 1961-2016

For my next contribution to this thread I thought I should post the initial press conference given by Citizens for Constitutional Freedom. Mr. Finicum takes over at about 15:20. Pretty good speaking, in my opinion. I think he was the most articulate speaker out of the folks heading up this occupation. Anyhow, here you go:

Citizens for Constitutional Freedom News Conference Oregon 1/4/16
You seem like a pretty cool guy LaVoy. Wish we'd gotten the chance to party together, or spend some time out on the range.

Found an interview on OPB's Think Out Loud from January 5 2016:
soundcloud.com...

Note what he says at 22:11 in response to "Are you willing to die for this cause?"

You can also find it on this list, as well as other sound bites tied to the occupation:
soundcloud.com...

a reply to: jonnywhite

Found an interview on OPB's Think Out Loud from January 5 2016: soundcloud.com...

At the very end to that interview there was a mention of new laws introduced into Oregon ... i wonder what they are exactly ?

Too right it is clear Finicum had no intention to die....