Documents: OSP Moved Fatal Traffic Stop To Avoid Grant County Sheriff
By Amanda Peacher (OPB)
March 11, 2016 12:15 a.m.
Duane Ehmer patrols the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge complex with his horse Hell Boy during the occupation of the refuge in early 2016.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was the occupation's de facto spokesperson. After he was killed Jan. 26, Finicum became an even more critical figure in the splintered movement.
Amelia Templeton / OPB
More than 300 people gathered in Burns to march through town, across the packed snow, in protest of the Hammond’s five-year sentence on Jan. 2.
Amelia Templeton / OPB
Brandon Curtiss, president of 3% of Idaho, at the Harney County Committee of Safety meeting Friday, Jan. 8, in Burns.
Dave Blanchard / OPB
Those who wanted the armed militants to leave Eastern Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, kept ripping down a sign the occupiers put up, in January.
Kris Millgate / Tight Line Media
A new militant from Arkansas guards the entrance to the occupied refuge on Jan. 14.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Ryan Bundy told OPB that he and the other armed men occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters will leave if Harney County residents want them to. The self-proclaimed militiamen took over the buildings since Saturday, Jan. 2.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Ammon Bundy removes a fence separating the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge from ranching land.
Anna King / Northwest Network
One of the protesters, Dylan Anderson, who gave the name "Captain Moroni," guards the entrance to the refuge. "Moroni" said he was disappointed that more protesters did not arrive after a widespread call on social media.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
An armed man with a group called the Pacific Patriots Network. The network arrived in Harney County Saturday, Jan. 9, claiming to secure the scene of the occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Dave Blanchard / OPB
An FBI guard guides a truck out of the compound near the Burns Airport.
John Sepulvado / OPB
David Fry, a 27-year-old from Ohio, was one of the last remaining occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. He surrendered Feb. 11.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Hundreds of people rallied to call for armed-occupiers at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to leave.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
Harney County Judge Steve Grasty at a community meeting in Burns on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
A meeting in Burns grew tense on Tuesday, Jan. 19, as community members discussed the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that this road within the refuge complex is new construction.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Outdoor enthusiasts gather at The Narrows on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to protest its occupation by armed militants in January.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
FBI officials said any vehicles approaching the checkpoints outside the refuge would be stopped and searched, and all occupants of the vehicles were to present identification.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
Burns Paiute Tribal Chair Charlotte Roderique watches as the FBI releases video of the traffic stop, which led to the arrest of militant leaders and death of LaVoy Finicum.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
State police at a roadblock near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
State troopers monitoring a roadblock near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
FBI footage showing the joint FBI and Oregon State Police traffic stop and OSP officer-involved shooting of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum.
FBI
Riders on horseback wait to follow the hearse of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupier who was fatally shot by police at a road block on Jan. 26.
Amelia Templeton / OPB
Mourners wore ribbons, and some pinned squares cut from a blue tarp to their coats, a reference to a nickname some gave Finicum during the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Amelia Templeton / OPB
A law enforcement helicopter takes off from the Burns airport. The armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge ended Thursday, Feb. 11.
Dave Blanchard / OPB
A Washington County Sheriff's vehicle blocks the road leading to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The 41-day armed occupation of the refuge ended Thursday, Feb. 11.
Dave Blanchard / OPB
Law enforcement vehicles leave the Burns airport. The armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge ended Thursday, Feb. 11.
Dave Blanchard / OPB
B.J. Soper speaks into a megaphone. Protesters with the Pacific Patriots Network faced a counter protest of Harney County residents during the occupation in Burns in January 2016.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Harney County Sheriff David Ward expressed his thankfulness for the patience and persistence of law enforcement and the community of Burns. The occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge ended Thursday, Feb. 11.
Dave Blanchard / OPB
During an interview with investigators about the shooting death of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, an OSP officer said officials were originally considering a location in Grant County for the traffic stop operation,
Had the stop occurred in Grant County, then the group would have been closer to Sheriff Glenn Palmer, and the entire interaction would have taken place within Palmer’s jurisdiction.
And that’s exactly why law enforcement opted not to make the traffic stop within Grant County boundaries, said the OSP officer, identified in the documents as “Officer No. 1.”
Law enforcement designed the Jan. 26 stop to arrest leaders of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation.
"I knew going into it that there was a sheriff in Grant County that was supporting the movement or the ideology behind what [the occupiers] were pushing," Officer No. 1 told investigators.
"I knew that there was a large amount of community members in Grant County that supported their beliefs … for a very simple way to put it it, they were not friendly to law enforcement conducting any enforcement actions, and mainly the Federal Bureau of Investigation and federal agencies," the officer said.
The change of plan, which was coordinated by the FBI and OSP, is noteworthy because the militant group was reportedly planning to meet with Palmer.
In video released this week, Finicum can be heard yelling out the window of his parked truck to OSP officers.
"I’m going over to meet with the Sheriff in Grant County," Finicum shouted. "You can come along with us and talk with us over there.”
ldquo;That day there was discussions about a location which was actually in Grant County,” Officer No. 1 told investigators. “It was a large canyon that had tactically beneficial areas, and through the planning process, as you now know, we moved the location where we were going to conduct this traffic stop and arrest to — into Harney County.”
The arrest of the militant leaders, including Ammon Bundy, and the shooting of Finicum did eventually take place in Harney County along Highway 395.
Sheriff Palmer has said that he met with some of the occupiers prior to the Jan. 26 incident but has denied that he was planning to meet with the militants that night.
The state agency that licenses law enforcement officers has recommended the state Department of Justice investigate Palmer's conduct. That's after the agency received several formal complaints about Palmer's communication with the occupiers. The DOJ has not yet announced whether it will pursue an investigation into Sheriff Palmer.
The 360-page report from the Central Oregon Major Incident Team is only part of the investigation. The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office said more documents would be made available as redactions are complete.
Investigators said at a Tuesday press conference that eight shots were fired that day — six from the OSP and two by members of the FBI hostage rescue team. The two shots fired by FBI officials will be the subject of another investigation, because the agents did not initially disclose firing at Finicum.
The interviews of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team are not included in Thursday's release because they're part of the ongoing investigation by the Federal Inspector General's Office.
