LeVoy Finicum
Robert LeVoy Finicum was a spokesman for a group in Oregon that occupied a building on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and defied orders to leave.
In 2014, armed citizens forced federal authorities, including the FBI, to back down at the the Clive Bundy ranch. In response to their loss AG Eric Holder vowed to revive “a domestic terrorism task force.”
In a letter to Barack Obama, Oregon fascist governor Kate Brown stressed her frustration and asked for help to bring a nearly three week long occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to a swift resolution.[1] “I conveyed the harm that is being done to the citizens of Harney County by the occupation, and the necessity that this unlawful occupation end peacefully and without further delay from federal law enforcement,” she wrote of an earlier conversation with director James Comey. “On behalf of all Oregonians, I appreciate your consideration of our desire to see this situation come to a close, and I thank you for your timely attention to this matter.” In a press conference Brown publicly aired her frustrations with how Obama handled the incident. There had been little action from federal officials, with peaceful protesters free to come and go as they please. “The residents of Harney County have been overlooked and underserved by federal officials’ response thus far,” Brown said at the press conference. “I have conveyed these very grave concerns directly to our leaders at the highest levels of our government.”
In a second letter to Comey and U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, Brown outlined those conversations and referred to the occupants led by Ammon and Ryan Bundy as “armed radicals.” Brown wrote, “As you are both aware for more than two weeks now, these radicals have been allowed to stay unlawfully in the refuge approximately 30 miles to the south of Burns, Oregon, in Harney County. While it is easy to assume that an occupation in such a remote location does not threaten public safety and does not harm any victims, that perception is far from accurate. What adds to the tensions felt by the community is the reality that multiple ‘supporters’ of these individuals have joined, staying in local motels in the City of Burns, and the criminals on the refuge are allowed to travel on and off the premises with little fear of law enforcement contact or interaction."
Brown argued to Lynch and Comey that because the alleged occupation is on federal land, it is the federal authorities’ responsibility to lead law enforcement’s response to the occupation. “For the citizens of Harney County and indeed all Oregonians, I must insist on a swift resolution to this matter. Efforts to negotiate have not been successful, and now it is unclear what steps, if any, federal authorities might take to bring this untenable situation to an end and restore normalcy to this community. Two years after the stand-off, LaVoy Finicum, was murdered by the FBI.[2]
