Two weeks ago, LaVoy Finicum was part of a protest group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The spokesman for the group at the time, LaVoy was headed to meet with the local sheriff when he and the occupants of his truck were ambushed during an elaborate roadblock.
LaVoy, who quickly exited the vehicle after it plowed into a snow bank, was gunned down by police as his hands were in the air.
Authorities say he reached for a 9mm handgun that was in his coat pocket . . . although the gun was only found after the man was gunned down and dead.
The dedicated family man, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum and his wife, Jeanette were foster parents to over 50 boys at their ranch in Arizona.
During the standoff, four of the family’s foster children were removed from their home. The boys historically came from mental hospitals, drug rehabs and other group homes to establish stability and find love with the Finicum family.
Now with LaVoy dead, local police from Oregon’s Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation of Finicum’s death at the hands of the Oregon State Police, with FBI assistance.
It is exceedingly rare for investigations funded with government money to find wrongdoing of law enforcement officers.
A Cleveland cop who shot and killed an unarmed couple, Michael Brelo, was recently acquitted of murder.
Brelo stood on the hood of the victim’s vehicle and unloaded fifteen rounds through the windshield after the car backfired. The rounds shot “Rambo” style on the hood of the vehicle were part of the overall 49 rounds fired by Brelo.
After an investigation and trial, Brelo was found not guilty of manslaughter but he was eventually fired months later by the Cleveland Police Department.
The FBI has released their drone footage of the murder of LaVoy Finicum but the long-distance video, for the most part, does not show a threat existed before the man was shot in the face.
Investigators may release video from the dashboard cameras from the police vehicles at the scene.
Eyewitnesses of the shooting say that Finicum had his hands in the air and told police sarcastically to “Just shoot me.”
Law enforcement obliged.
