By Judi McLeod —— Bio and Archives June 29, 2017
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“A year-long investigation prompted charges of making a false statement with the intent to obstruct justice against the agent, the Oregonian reported.
“He was not immediately identified pending a federal court appearance Wednesday in Portland. “Oregon state troopers noted multiple gun rifle casings where the FBI agents had been standing during the Jan. 26, 2016, shooting. During a later probe, the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office determined one agent fired two shots at Finicum’s pickup truck after it crashed into a snowbank. The team of federal agents then covered up the shooting by removing the casings, the sheriff alleged. “The initial shots the agent fired failed to hit Finicum, 54. He was fatally shot moments later when troopers opened fire. “One bullet struck his heart. “Finicum was traveling in a convoy with militia leaders, the brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, to a community meeting. Finicum, a self-proclaimed spokesman for the armed group, helped seize the Malheur Wildlife Refuge for about a month in southeast Oregon.”
“After being shot down in cold blood—as he was clearly signalling to armed federal agents and Oregon state police that he posed no threat—his body was left to lay in the snow. The passengers traveling with him on the way to a meeting with Sheriff Palmer, left traumatized in shock in a vehicle authorities shot up like a scene out of a B-grade Hollywood movie, the authorities initially never even bothered to cover his body with a blanket.” “In life LaVoy Finicum—like many ranchers—was plagued by the ongoing harassment by the agents of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). LaVoy Finicum got about as much respect in death as one of his own cattle.
“In the media blackout that followed Finicum’s death, Canada Free Press (CFP) is grateful to Constitution Radio KMET 1490-AM radio host and TableTopNews publisher Douglas V. Gibbs, who today gives the rancher a well-deserved and long-coming eulogy. “In the face of the media blackout, this is one eulogy of which Finicum’s children and grandchildren can be proud, as it was written by a proud United States Navy veteran and one of the nation’s leading authorities on the U.S. Constitution; by a man who is current president of the Constitution Association. “With an investigation into the authorities responsible for LaVoy Finicum’s death now underway, we can only hope that Gibbs’ words: “What we saw in Oregon with the shooting of LaVoy Finicum was an execution, an assassination of a person who dared to question the federal government”, won’t be the last ones written. “With Finicum’s death we are also seeing the passing of yet another era, one that goes a long way in diminishing American integrity.
“Maybe some day, a song writer with heart will come along and mark his passing with ‘The Ballad of LaVoy Finicum’ to remind us all in song about the cold-blooded cruelty of governments who put power and one-upmanship ahead of the dignity of human life. “None of us should ever rest in peace while authorities get away with calling incidents where ranchers, with whom they have ongoing disputes, cut down in a blaze of bullets, “routine traffic stops”.Today the New York Daily Mail noted that “during one press conference, the cowboy hat-wearing militia mouthpiece vowed he would never go to prison. “I would rather die than be caged,” he said, according to the New York Times. Finicum was never caged and today the circumstances of his death have been let out of the cage of the lies of federal agents. Bravo to the the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and the Oregonian for helping release the truth from that cage.
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Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.