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| -Land of the Free |
| Max Velocity: Bundy Arrest / Finicum Killing |
| 2016-01-30 |
| 1) I do not know why, nor can I see a specific reason, why the white truck took off like it did from the initial traffic stop, at the 8:15 mark. 2) The roadblock was sited on a curve, whether by design or incompetence, obscured by the snowbanks. It appears that the white truck did not see the roadblock until too late, and took action to swerve into the snowbank to avoid it. Whether they were trying to get around it, or simply avoid a crash, I do not know from the video. 3) At the 9:16 mark, as the truck crashes into the snowbank to the left, an officer steps out of the roadblock into the path of the truck, into the snow. I do not know what he was thinking – perhaps he thought that the truck was going around the roadblock. It appears that he fired two or three rounds (from statements and from seeing the impacts on the windshield as the helicopter circles). Of course, it is authorized to fire at a vehicle that is being used as a weapon against you – but it is debatable if by deliberately putting yourself into the path of that vehicle the same logic applies. My assessment is that the truck is deliberately trying to not hit both the roadblock and the officer on foot. Either way, this will be used by LE to justify the initial shoot into the windshield. The officer narrowly avoids being run over, and you can see him scoot off to the side and then make his way back to the roadblock vehicle. 4) In all the discussion about the actions of Finicum as he exited the vehicle, has anyone considered that 1) He has already been fired upon as he crashed the vehicle into the snowbank and 2) could he have in fact been injured in some way by one of those shots? 5) The next thing that happens is the killing of Finicum. My video is not that clear and I cannot see some of things that others have reported. It appears to me that he is shot by the officer on the right, who is advancing from the roadblock with a handgun presented. Finicum initially has his hands up, he is in the snow, he looks confused, his hands drop and then he is not sure what to do with them. It has been speculated that he may have been going for a handgun that may or may have not been there. He may have been grabbing at where he was shot. We have no audio and no real clear video – we do not know what small arms fire was present or verbal orders were being given at this time. He was trying to surrender after crashing and rounds impacting his windshield. If the cops were shooting at him after he tried to surrender, it makes sense that he would either grab the wound, or perhaps grab for a gun that was or was not there – given that he saw the elephant at that point, and knew what they were going to do / were doing i.e. killing him. 6) The officer who appears from the left appears to have a taser, in the left hand. It seems to be the taser that puts Finicum down, because he is still standing from receiving handgun rounds. Once he is put down, he is clearly wounded, and no attempt is made to further either assist or restrain him – he is bleeding out at that point. I see a red laser on his head at various points but I do not know if he was fired at again after he was put down. It does however appear that if he was shot before he was tasered, he had his hands up and basically was given no quarter. The only justification for the shoot from the LEO perspective would probably be (in a situation they created), as a continuation of the initial near miss on the officer in the snow, and as a result of Finicum’s action to exit the vehicle, which is not usually tolerated at ‘normal’ traffic stops. 7) At 9:49 Finicum is down and dying and we switch our focus to the vehicle as the helicopter circles. I would like to take more time and focus on the actions of all the LEOs at the roadblock, something I have not had time to do so far, having only played this several times, the focus being on the action at the white truck. That would be a worthwhile Intel effort. Anyway, as the helicopter circles, and is obscured at times by trees, we see non-lethal ‘flashbangs’ impacting on and near to the vehicle. It is hard to tell if any lethal rounds are fired initially, as the vehicle sits there. These flashbangs, as designed, would have been terrifying to an inexperienced person such as Victoria, huddled low in the vehicle. There is what looks like snow kicked up in the area of the passenger side window, either from non-lethal or lethal rounds. When I first watched this on my phone, it looked like rounds impacting the side window. It may also be non-lethal kicking up snow. 8) At 10:22 I am not sure what is impacting the passenger side of the vehicle, whether non-lethal, shotgun or rifle rounds. If it is bangers, there is no accompanying flash at this time. At 10:47 there are more of these impacts, which look to me like the vehicle is being stuck by rounds (lethal or non-lethal), not kicked up snow. Whatever is being used, are they trying to suppress and dominate the passengers remaining in the vehicle, who are huddled on the floorboards at this time, as per their statements? 9) At 11:30 you have a group of officers moving out to the back of the vehicle to cover its left side. Bear that in mind as the helicopter circles. 10) At 12:13, through the gap in the tress, you see what look like multiple impacts onto the window of the camper shell of the truck. Is this hitting at an angle from the guys to the rear left of the truck? Go to point 13 for a revision on this – it may well be tree shadow instead. At 12:20 you see impacts on, through or inside the windshield, which I initially thought may be a result of through-and-through rounds coming through the camper shell, through the cab, and out the windshield. On further viewing (coming back from point 13), I think the ‘impacts’ on the camper shell window are shadow, and what can be seen on/inside the windshield may well be non-lethal gas clouds being shot into the cab through the side windows, and impacting inside. I would also consider that some of these impacts could be from non-lethal rounds, such as pepper / CS rounds, which Victoria says were used (she said gas was used). At 13:20 there is a red dot playing on the left side of the truck, and then what look like white impacts into the driver side window, on the console. Is this SAF, or perhaps gas/pepper rounds? Have these side windows been shot out? 11) At 13:42 you see the red laser playing on Finicum’s head. 12) At 14:08 we are now back around with the helicopter and you see what looks like shattered safety glass in the passenger window which was not like that on the first pass around. Shot out? At around 15:00 the agents are milling around behind their vehicle, with individuals popping out to either take shots or at least aim their rifles at the truck. Are they now giving orders to the occupants to surrender and exit the vehicle? 15:06 the left side truck door appears to be open. Someone gets out with hands raised and tosses something to the ground, probably a handgun. There is a red laser playing around on him. From this point onward, the occupants are getting out and being taken into custody. 13) 15:43: OK, go back and see point 10: I see the same effect on the left window of the camper shell. I don’t see why there would be any shooting at this time – on further inspection, it may be a play of the shadow of the trees on the window? There is however smoke drifting at 16:00 – CS gas? To conclude: there are some things that can obviously be seen in the video, and much that cannot, or is open to speculation. More information is required. I do not see this video discounting Victoria’s statement, if you take into account her likely altered perception. The truck and the occupants were subject to a large amount of chaos and violence. I do not know to what extent small arms fire was directed at the truck once it had come to rest in the snow. I simply cannot see. I can see a number of flashbangs and other impacts, some of which may be lethal, or non-lethal, and there appears to have been some sort of ‘gas’ used on the interior of the vehicle. To the occupants, including Victoria, this would have appeared noisy, violent and terrifying. I cannot see any justification for Finicums death. I will reiterate that none of this needed to happen, at the macro level. You can say that this was bad decision making, in your perfect Constitutional make-believe world, or you can say it was great decision making, from the point of view of power and tyranny asserting itself. On the micro level, if professionals with judgement were conducting the ‘ambush,’ Finicum did not need to die. But what happened was par for the course in the way law enforcement operates in this country. The situation was created and it went down accordingly. Basically, Finicum tried to run over an officer, he got out of the vehicle, he made furtive movements, he failed to obey lawful orders instantly, therefore he was killed. That’s how they roll. More at the link |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #9 Reads like a good video breakdown. Plenty of ABBA awards to go around. Can't count the number of times my hand left the chess piece and went immediately to my forehead. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2016-01-30 15:29 |
| #8 FOAD Can't resist if you're dead... |
| Posted by: badanov 2016-01-30 13:16 |
| #7 I get pissed off at all the arm chair self rightious surrender monkeys. Americans are under attack as individuals, their means of income being stripped of them by any means possible by hostile agencies of this government. And the usual response by blow hard internet pale faces is bend over and take it. FOAD |
| Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 2016-01-30 12:39 |
| #6 I repeat the old Native American axiom: "When Paleface racks automatic thunder-stick, time to talk peace." The individuals in the white truck needed to surrender peacefully, and the opportunity to do so came at the initial stop. Whatever your grievance is with the government, you can't pursue it if you're dead. Surrender, go into custody and put your lawyer to work. Once the white truck bolts the initial stop the die is cast. However one criticizes the location of the roadblock or the initial behavior of the officers there, once the white truck attempts to evade / crash into officers, no one in that truck is going to live. That's just the way it is. I'm not going to get into the mindset of Finicum and his pals -- I don't have that much time, and I'm comfortably certain their grievances aren't worth dying over. I'm not all that happy with the present federal administration (nor the last one) but I'm not out there taking over federal buildings and making an ass of myself, either. When Paleface officers tell you to drop the rod and get yer mitts in da air, that's what you'd better do. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2016-01-30 11:18 |
| #5 none of this needed to happen Good summary. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-01-30 10:56 |
| #4 Mofo LEO's Feds and Locals need a thumpin'! |
| Posted by: Zebulon Check7490 2016-01-30 06:08 |
| #3 Very detailed analysis. Thanks for posting. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2016-01-30 04:15 |
| #2 Secondly, the assasins knew he was not going to surrender. Therefore when they set the ambush they were ready to kill him. He left the vehicle immediately so that if they decided to cut him down, the passengers would be out of the line of fire. |
| Posted by: Ho Chi Crinens5363 2016-01-30 01:26 |
| #1 At no time did the cowboy have a weapon in either hand. While at the same time there were many weapons trained on him. That is because he would never shot a fellow American. The same reason he hit the ditch. He avoided impacting the road block. If you know how a patriot thinks, you know what happened. The tyrant in the Whitehouse is gleeful. He has paid assassins who don't think like Americans. They are murderers for the Chicago Mob. Period. |
| Posted by: Ho Chi Crinens5363 2016-01-30 01:21 |