Remaining Oregon occupiers release videos mocking FBI
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The last four occupiers of an Oregon wildlife refuge have posted a series of defiant videos in which one of them calls FBI agents losers, shows defensive barricades they have erected and takes a joyride in a government vehicle.
The videos were posted Sunday on a YouTube channel called Defend Your Base, which the armed group has been using to give live updates. The holdouts are among 16 people charged with conspiracy to interfere with federal workers.
David Fry says the FBI told him in negotiations that he was facing charges for setting up the barricades at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
In a video, he defends building them, then drives around in a government vehicle. He mockingly says the ride would give the FBI fodder for more charges.
Warning: the video below uses graphic language that some people may find offensive.
The group began occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon on Jan. 2 to protest federal land use policies.
Sympathizers of the Oregon armed standoff rolled into this desert town Friday in pickup trucks flying American flags, ready to mourn an Arizona rancher and occupation spokesman who was killed in a confrontation with authorities two weeks ago.
The trucks filled the parking lot of a Mormon church where a viewing ceremony preceded the funeral for Robert "LaVoy" Finicum. One vehicle had a flyer with a picture of Finicum and the words, "Murdered by the FBI," while another was scrawled with one of the rancher's favorite sayings: "By dang, I'm mad."
His death has become a symbol for those decrying federal oversight, on public lands in the West and elsewhere, and has led to protests of what they call an unjustified use of force by the FBI and Oregon State Police. But authorities say the 54-year-old was reaching for a gun during a confrontation on a remote road.
The FBI released video of the Jan. 26 shooting during a traffic stop that showed Finicum's hand reaching into his jacket, but supporters dispute he was going for a weapon.
"He's a hero to me, honest. His heart is for everybody," said former occupier Ben Matthews of Port Huron, Michigan, who came to Kanab to pay his respects.
Finicum's daughter Thara Tenney and her brother stood outside the church before the funeral. She said she wasn't sure what lies ahead.
"I know he was where he needed to be," Tenney said. "He was doing what he needed to do. Knowing he was a God-fearing man, and his heart was where it needed to be, I feel peace." Finicum's brother, Guy Finicum, recalled the rancher as full of life.
"Bravest person I ever knew," he said. The day's events in this town just north of the Arizona border were billed as "LaVoy Finicum's Stand for Freedom."