Court dismisses lawsuit filed over police killing of Malheur occupation leader

A sweeping lawsuit by the family over a slain leader of the occupation of Malheur National Wildlife in 2016 has been dismissed, essentially ending the last major legal chapter surrounding the historic event.

In an opinion filed on Monday, U.S. District Court judge Michael Mosman largely dismissed claims made by Jeanette Finicum, widow of Robert LaVoy Finicum, who was killed on January 26, 2016 by Oregon State Police while trying to escape a traffic stop . LaVoy Finicum, an Arizona rancher, took over the sanctuary for weeks along with Ammon Bundy and other armed anti-government activists.

An investigation in March 2016 by several local law enforcement agencies found the shooting justified and “necessary”. The video, captured by an FBI surveillance plane, shows Finicum fleeing a traffic control at over 70 mph before a police roadblock and crashing into a snowdrift. A video recorded by a passenger in the vehicle as well as recordings of the surveillance aircraft show how Finicum leaves his pickup with his arms raised. He told the police several times. “You will have to shoot me.” Investigators said Finicum had a loaded 9mm pistol in the inside left pocket of his jacket, which he grabbed three times before being shot by OSP soldiers.

Robert “LaVoy” Finicum holds up an FBI surveillance camera that the occupiers dismantled during their time at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Amelia Templeton / OPB

“Mr. Finicum has chosen to break the law,” said Greg Bretzig, the then FBI special agent in charge of responding to the occupation of shelters, at a March 2016 press conference.

At the time, Finicum’s family lamented the results of the investigation.

“I can hardly believe that a team of qualified lawyers can examine the facts in this case and say that no criminal laws have been violated,” said Jeanette Finicum in a statement after the shooting was deemed justified.

Finicum’s surviving family filed a lawsuit in 2018.

The complaint named federal agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management and the FBI, as well as law enforcement officers and elected officials such as Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and Governor Kate Brown. The far-reaching legal action was also directed against a nonprofit environmental organization, the Center for Biological Diversity, and 100 “John Does” as “agents of the United States or the state of Oregon, who acted according to the law and in the context of their employment. The lawsuit also named government agencies in Harney County, Oregon, and the United States.

“These defendants were spiritually inclined and obliged to use excessive lethal force to resolve a political dispute,” said Finicum’s lawsuit. “The result was haunting and tragic.”

Attorney Morgan Philpot represented Jeanette Finicum in the year-long lawsuit and did not return a request for comment.

In his 23-page decision, Mosman adopted most of the findings and recommendations presented to him by Judge Patricia Sullivan.

Jeanette Finicum, the widow of Robert LaVoy Finicum, filed a lawsuit on behalf of her family over the death of her husband in 2018.

Dave Blanchard / OPB

Mosman noted that many of the defendants have already been released from the lawsuit. He divided the remaining defendants into three categories, including federal, state and local defendants, before giving the reasons for each dismissal.

Mosman’s justification ranged from improper service on the defendants to claims outside the statute of limitations.

“In any event, the facts behind this lawsuit were more than five years ago, this case is over three years old, and the plaintiffs have already filed three complaints,” wrote Mosman as he dismissed the claims against the United States. “After all this time, plaintiffs have not identified any facts or theories that, if properly asserted, would support the finding that negligence or misconduct on behalf of the United States did not result in political judgments.”

Throughout the proceedings, Philpot routinely requested extensions from the court in order to produce basic facts to justify the lawsuit.

In defending the state governor, the Oregon Department of Justice did not provide any justification for dismissing a disapproval lawsuit against Brown, so the lawsuit remains active. Mosman gave prosecutors until September 15 to provide a brief explanation of why this lawsuit should also be dismissed.