Oregon Suspects Won’t Be Released While Standoff Continues

Tensions in the standoff remained high four days after Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, 54, a spokesman for the group that seized buildings at the refuge on January 2, was killed by police during the arrests of occupation leader Ammon Bundy and several other protesters as they traveled on a highway.

Bretzing said two vehicles left the refuge, one carrying the occupation leader Ammon Bundy and another driven by Finicum.

A video posted by the holdouts occupying an OR wildlife refuge says the remaining five members of the armed group will leave if none of them face arrest.

The FBI and local law enforcement have set up checkpoints near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in northeast OR and are working “around the clock to empty the refuge of the armed occupiers in the safest way possible”, a statement said.

Sharp said in an interview with Reuters that Finicum was shot with his gun in his holster and his hands in the air, shouting and walking toward police. Warning: the video contains graphic content.

As the protesters passed the courthouse, they yelled “murderer” and “FBI go home”.

Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Greg Bretzing rebutted the notion of a free passage out of town down during a press conference Thursday night in Burns, saying the Federal Bureau of Investigation would never make such a promise.

The last holdouts in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff say they now want pardons for everyone involved before they’ll leave the headquarters where they’re holed up behind police roadblocks.

“The success of this mission depends fully on the number of people that will come to PEACEFULLY stand and demand the items above be initiated”, the group said in its “Call to Action”.

Play video “What Do The Oregon Militia Want?”

The FBI on Thursday released a video showing Finicum’s death, to counter claims he did nothing to provoke his killing. Again Finicum sped away, up a narrow forest road towards a barricade of law enforcement vehicles, then swerved into a snowbank where the truck almost collided with an officer. The FBI said the man had a loaded 9-millimeter pistol in his pocket.

“We must choose the path of liberty, which comes with the freedom of choice”.

The stop led to Finicum’s fatal shooting and the arrest of Bundy along with four others. Bundy and four others were arrested during the encounter, and more followers were taken into custody by the next day. He gets out of his truck and has his hands up at first, then reaches toward his jacket pocket at least twice.

Police apprehended the three men who remained in the pickup truck, which also contained two loaded.223-caliber semi-automatic rifles and a. 38 special revolver.

“There are no conditions I could impose that would guarantee the safety of the community or that he (Ammon Bundy) would come back to the district of Oregon for trial”, Beckerman said, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Finicum wasn’t given medical assistance for about 10 minutes after the shooting – “as soon as the agents and troopers were confident that they had addressed any further threats”.