The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a footage of the traffic stop at the Oregon highway which ended with the death of an armed Oregon protesters who took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was killed in the incident after he attempted to reach to the gun in his pocket as the officers trained their guns on him.
The footage came after several and conflicting accounts of the shooting caused outrage and prompted the militia's leader to issue a call for its members to report to Burns. According to Oregon Live, Finicum acted as a spokesman for the anti-government protesters at the Refuge.
Finicum, along with the leader of the group, headed to John Day to spread message of anti-federal land control. According to BBC, the white pick-up truck that was carrying Finicum, the occupation's leader, Ammon Bundy and other members were initially stopped at the Oregon's Highway 395 where the leader, the driver, and another protester, Brian Cavalier stepped out of the vehicle and were arrested by the police.
After the arrest, other members of the occupation also went out but FInicum chose to remain inside the vehicle. The vehicle stayed in place for three minutes but eventually sped up with police seeking to pursue.
The vehicle crashed into a snow bank in an attempt to avoid roadblock. Finicum went out of the vehicle and raised his hands but he eventually attempted to reach to his pocket where his 9 mm semi-automatic handgun was kept. He was shot during his attempt.
Other occupants went out of the vehicle after the police fired tear-gas like substance to the vehicle. Finicum was given medical attention 10 minutes later. "I want to caution you that the video does show the shooting death of LaVoy Finicum", agent Greg Bretzing said.
"We realize that viewing that piece of the video will be upsetting to some people, but we feel that it is necessary to show the whole thing unedited in the interest of transparency.", Bretzing added as reported by USA Today.
The FBI stated that they found two other .223 caliber semi-automatic rifles and a .38 special revolver in the vehicle. A North American correspondent said that Finicum left behind a fairly huge family with 11 children.
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