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Wednesday, January 18, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Widow of slain Oregon standoff leader carries on his mission
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
SALEM (AP) — Leaders
of an armed occupation of
a federal wildlife refuge in
rural Oregon were driving to
a public meeting a year ago
when police shot and killed
one of them at a roadblock.
Now, LaVoy Finicum’s
widow and their children are
planning to hold that meeting
later this month in the same
town, John Day. Speakers
are slated to talk about the
Constitution, property rights
and other issues.
“It is the anniversary of
my husband’s death. We
want to continue with his
mission,” Jeanette Finicum
told The Associated Press.
“The people within counties
and states should decide how
to use those properties, not
the federal government.”
LaVoy Finicum was the
spokesman for several dozen
occupiers during the 41-day
takeover of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge
and has become a martyr
for the movement to transfer
ownership of federal lands
to local entities. The U.S.
government owns nearly
half of all land in the West,
compared with 4 percent in
other states, according to the
Congressional Overview of
Federal Land Ownership.
Finicum’s cattle brand,
an L connected to a V with
a floating bar, adorns bum-
per stickers, black flags and
T-shirts seen at conservative
gatherings.
Jeanette Finicum has
become something of a cause
celebre in the year since her
husband’s death. She spoke
at a rally on the steps of
Utah’s capitol. The Tri-State
Livestock News, based in
South Dakota, recently ran
a story describing her dis-
pute with the Bureau of Land
Management over grazing
fees. The agency administers
245 million acres of public
lands and manages livestock
grazing on 155 million acres
of those lands.
“It’s been a horrific year,”
Jeanette Finicum said in a
phone interview from her
Cane Beds, Arizona, home.
“There’s been so much going
on that most people don’t
have to deal with when they
lose a loved one, like we
did.”
She met LaVoy at a barn
dance. He told her he was a
bad dancer.
“He was right. He had no
rhythm,” Jeanette Finicum
said with a laugh. They got
married 14 days later.
“There isn’t anyone like
him that I met in my lifetime,
and I don’t expect there will
be anyone else who will mea-
sure up,” she said, choking
up with emotion.
She was a stay-at-home
mom all 23 years they were
married.
“With him gone, all of the
responsibilities have fallen
to me,” she said. “I spent the
year rounding up, branding
and calving.”
Oregon State Police shot
LaVoy Finicum three times
on Jan. 26, 2016, after he
exited a vehicle at a police
roadblock in the snowy
Malheur National Forest,
held up his hands and then
reached toward his jacket.
Authorities concluded
the officers were justi-
fied because they thought
Finicum was going for
his pistol. But at least one
FBI Hostage Rescue Team
operator fired two shots at
Finicum’s vehicle — shots
that were not disclosed dur-
ing the investigation.
In March, the inspector
general of the U.S. Justice
Department began investi-
gating possible FBI miscon-
duct and whether there was
a cover-up. The inspector
general’s office declined to
discuss the investigation last
week. The U.S. attorney’s
office in Portland said it was
ongoing.
Jeanette Finicum insists
her husband was not a threat
and that he was murdered.
Her lawyer has said the fam-
ily plans a wrongful-death
lawsuit, and Finicum said she
will release more details dur-
ing the Jan. 28 meeting.
It’s being held at the fair-
grounds in Grant County,
which neighbors the county
containing the refuge.
Public lands make up 66
percent of Grant County’s
4,529 square miles. Jeanette
Finicum bristled when asked
if those attending the meet-
ing might be inspired to take
over federal sites.
“That’s a ridiculous ques-
tion,” she said. “We will
peacefully demonstrate,
peacefully teach and stand
for liberty.”
Fairgrounds manager
Mindy Winegar said local
logger Tad Haupt rented
a pavilion for the meeting
that seats up to 500 people.
Haupt, a vocal opponent of
U.S. Forest Service manage-
ment practices, is the one
who invited the occupation
leaders to speak in John Day,
a town of about 1,700, on
Jan. 26, 2016.
The FBI expressed no
concern about the upcoming
meeting.
“Everyone has a consti-
tutional right to assemble,
and to free speech,” spokes-
woman Beth Anne Steele
said.
Grant County Judge Scott
Myers granted permission
for the fairgrounds, a county
facility, to be used for the
event, saying rejecting the
request could have had more
repercussions than allowing
it to happen.
Myers said he doubts it
will pose a threat but then
added, “I have steadfastly
tried to convince myself
that over the past few
months.”
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