The FBI released video footage Thursday night that shows an officer-involved shooting of a man who had been part of a federal land occupy movement near Burns, Ore.
The video — shot from an FBI surveillance plane — catches Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, one of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge protesters, driving away from a traffic stop where Ammon Bundy was arrested Tuesday afternoon, according to FBI special agent in charge Greg Bretzing.
Finicum, an Arizona rancher who had acted as a spokesman, had sped away from police after seeing Bundy was in custody and crashed into a snow bank. He got out of his truck and appeared to reach for his pocket.
Since law enforcement officers knew most of the occupiers were carrying guns, they explained that police feared the rancher was reaching for a handgun and shot Finicum multiple times.
Witnesses gave conflicting accounts of the fatal shooting. One said Finicum charged the officers before he was shot, while another said the man did not provoke police.
The FBI said Thursday it chose to release the video to proactively answer any questions about the incident.
“We want to do what we can to lay out an honest and unfiltered view of what happened and how it happened,” Bretzing said at a press conference.
Most occupiers have since left the ranch after Bundy issued a statement through his lawyer Wednesday pleading with his followers to go home.
Nine people have left the refuge since then, six of whom were released and three were arrested at police checkpoints as they fled.
Four occupiers remain camped out on the federal property and have asked for assurances they will not be arrested if they leave.
