LaVoy Finicum Shooting Justified; FBI Conduct Under Investigation
At a press conference earlier today, prosecutors said that the actions of Oregon State Police in the shooting of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum were justified under the circumstances.
However, five FBI agents are now under investigation by the Department of Justice for covering up shots one of them fired at Finicum's truck during the incident, according to Oregonian reporter Les Zaitz.
An FBI agent is suspected of lying about firing twice at Robert "LaVoy" Finicium and may have gotten help from four other FBI agents in covering up afterward, authorities revealed Tuesday.
The bullets didn't hit Finicum and didn't contribute to his death, but now all five unnamed agents, part of an elite national unit, are under criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. Inspector General Michael Horowitz is leading the independent inquiry.
When investigators examined Finicum's truck, they found one bullet hole that didn't square with the others. Upon closer scrutiny, they were able to trace the bullet back to the FBI team, despite the fact that the agent denied firing his weapon and apparently got others on the team to back him up.
With regard to the actual shooting, the evidence disproves nearly every eyewitness account that came from the militants in the vehicles, Zaitz writes.