I’m not certain whether this is the last video of LaVoy Finicum. But it’s a video published Tuesday by The Oregonian in which Finicum appears to discuss the meeting in John Day, Oregon that the militant ringleaders were en route to when they were apprehended and Finicum himself was killed. In the video, he explains that sympathizers in Grant County had invited his group to come and speak to them with the aim of joining their cause.
It is a testament to the sense of invulnerability into which the FBI lulled the group that Bundy, Finicum and others thought they could travel roughly one hundred miles on isolated rounds to what was a publicized meeting with impunity.
Video after the jump …
We’ve had unconfirmed reports for the last couple hours that the militants killed during tonight’s arrest and exchange of gunfire was Robert “LaVoy” Finicum. That now appears to be confirmed. Finicum’s daughter tells the Oregonian that authorities confirmed Finicum’s death to her mother.
Aside from ringleader Ammon Bundy, Finicum was one of the most high profile members of the Oregon militants, giving colorful interviews and telling reporters he rather die than be arrested and sent to prison.
We are basically in a holding pattern as we wait for more details on just how tonight’s rapid and violent end of the Oregon militia stand off unfolded and the identity of the person who died in the exchange of gunfire between the militants and federal law enforcement. For details up to the moment, see our current feature story. There are many unconfirmed reports; none solid enough to go on as yet. Here’s the official statement from the FBI.
A lot of conflicting, preliminary, and unconfirmed reports coming in on what exactly happened this evening in the Oregon standoff. No official confirmation from law enforcement yet of arrests or casualties. Follow the latest here.
Late Update: The FBI is confirming one person was killed during the arrest.
The Trump-Fox News feud has taken a new turn, with Donald Trump and his campaign declaring that he will not participate in Thursday’s Fox News debate, where Trump foil Megyn Kelly will be a moderator. In case you missed it, here’s the Fox statement earlier in the day that apparently precipitated Trump’s withdrawal.
Tierney Sneed gives us the run-down on the case against those anti-abortion activists who had the tables turned on them and now face multiple indictments.
Let’s face it. Nothing is ever a certainty in politics before it’s done. But not since 2000 and probably not since long before that has there been more evidence that the GOP frontrunner would end up being the nominee. For months people were comparing Donald Trump’s poll dominance to various one-month wonder ‘frontrunners’ back in 2012. But the reality is that not in any race since 2000 – and again, probably not since well before – has any frontrunner so consistently held a lead in so many different states and nationwide.
Here are some key data points from today that drive the point home.
Despite the elegance and intuitiveness of the theory, a good deal of fairly rigorous analysis has shown over the last two decades that the so-called “broken windows” theory didn’t turn out to be valid, at least not in terms of reducing the most serious crimes by taking a more vigilant approach toward enforcing laws against petty crimes. (For keeping your dorm room livable, it’s probably fair to say the theory has been infinitely validated.) But the ‘stand off’ at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon is turning out to be a validating case study: the reluctance of federal authorities to enforce the law has triggered a slow but measurable growth of law breaking which was likely latent in the white rural male culture of violence but held somewhat in check by law enforcement.
The vast difference between NYC and DC responses to big winter storms doesn’t come down to per capital spending on snowfall removal, it turns out. Per capita is about the same, at $9, according to the AP. The big difference is in dollars spent per “lane mile:”
The District has 4,400 lane miles to clear, budgeting $1,400 per mile. New York has to clear 19,000 lane miles and budgets $4,000 per mile, almost three times as much.
So there you have it.