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You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Roadkill

Roadkill

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Like the Trump supporters described in Zandar’s post below, some of us have been angry to see “a segment of the population ‘getting away’ with breaking the law.” Well, the feds scooped up several of the lawbreakers last night in Oregon and shot one of them, LaVoy Finicum, who was semi-famous for making a living off foster child labor and giving interviews from under a blue tarp:

tarp dude

In a macabre echo of a #BLM (as in “Black Lives Matter,” not the “Bureau of Land Management”) rallying cry, Finicum’s supporters are claiming FBI agents murdered him in cold blood while he had his hands in the air. I suspect that claim will be convincingly debunked.

Unlike the unarmed black men killed while engaged in non-confrontational activities such as selling loose cigarettes, Finicum had been waving guns around while yammering about dying in defense of his right to mooch off the federal teat for weeks. He got his wish when he exited a vehicle at an FBI road block last night “brandishing” a fire arm and was shot dead.

In addition to being a tarp dweller, foster child exploiter and now militia kook martyr, Finicum was also the author of a “post-apocalyptic cowboy thriller” whose protagonist was also a middle-aged white rancher with a hate-on for the feds. This excerpt describes the scene after the novel’s hero confronts evil government agents:

“The bodies of my enemies lay before me, not a twitch coming from them. Holding the old revolver in my hand, I could not help but spin it around my finger once before sliding it back into the holster.”

Another fool learns too late that life – and death — ain’t like the movies.

Reader Interactions

121Comments

  3. 3.

    sigaba

    Now that he’s dead perhaps his literary oeuvre will be reevaluated and he will attain the critical and commercial success that eluded him.

  4. 4.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Finicum was also the author of a “post-apocalyptic cowboy thriller”

    That proves my own experience: writing fiction makes you crazy. Or perhaps it’s the other way around.

    A militia guy who was at the scene last night says Tarp Man charged the cops.

  5. 5.

    Sufferin' Succotash

    Somewhat reminiscent of the kidnap victim’s father in Fargo, living in a John Wayne fantasy world until it’s too late.

  6. 6.

    Jerzy Russian

    I don’t watch the news, as I don’t have a TV. Why was Mr. Finicum under a blue tarp? Was normal shelter unavailable? Is there any significance to the color of the tarp, or was the blue one simply within reach when he needed a tarp?

  8. 8.

    low-tech cyclist

    All I can say is, it’s about freakin’ time the Feds moved in. I’m sorry Finicum is dead, rather than on his way to life without parole in a private prison somewhere, but he probably didn’t give the Feds much choice.

    The main issue here is sovereignty (same as with the original Cliven Bundy non-confrontation). Is the Federal government sovereign over this land, or isn’t it? Because if people can flagrantly disobey the law and threaten armed resistance to being brought to justice, either the government must go and arrest them anyway (or kill them if the armed resistance turns out to be real), or it must effectively yield sovereignty over some of its territory to the resisters.

    So I’m glad to see that the Feds are reasserting their sovereignty over this wildlife refuge; better late than never. Now they need to do the same over the BLM lands where Cliven Bundy grazes his cattle.

  10. 10.

    Keith P

    The driver of the other vehicle posted what happened to FB. Finicum got stopped, argued with Payne over what to do, decided to drive off and around a roadblock. The truck got stuck in the snow, so he got out and charged LEO.

  11. 11.

    low-tech cyclist

    @MattF:

    So, he’s a guy who never got over building fortresses out of couch pillows.

    Neither have I (which is coming in handy as the parent of an 8 year old), but fortunately I don’t have any illusions about the power of such fortresses to stop live bullets.

  18. 18.

    PhoenixRising

    His 18 year old grown ass adult woman passenger was questioned and released. Her name is not being revealed.

    It’s nice to be white. Renisha McBride should have thought of it. Sandra Bland too.

  22. 22.

    singfoom

    Well, it’s sad that he’s dead. Completely disagree with his actions/worldview, but still feel empathy for his family. Hopefully it’s very clear what happened and he’s not turned into a martyr, though I suspect some will turn him into a martyr even though his death was his own fault.

    I would imagine with the arrests of the others that this will wind up peacefully. Not wise to point a gun at federal agents. So pointless.

  24. 24.

    bystander

    The only thing I feel is sorry for the LEOs and their families who have to deal with these gunnuts. Well, the innocent people who actually live there and have had their community turned into a battle ground by a handful of extremist kooks have my sympathy, too.

  26. 26.

    The Red Pen

    According to the World According to Wingnuts, Michael Brown did not have his hands up when he was murdered — I mean killed totally legitimately.

    I actually saw a Freeper urge caution over invoking the “hands up, don’t shoot” rhetoric in this case because “we won’t want to have a Michael Brown” situation (i.e. where they end up looking foolish). I say that shipped sailed years ago, but I don’t live in their universe.

  27. 27.

    Germy

    So in 75 years are we going to have a “Finicum Society” (like our “John Birch Society” today) marching around and demanding …?

  28. 28.

    dr. bloor

    @MattF:

    I count six consecutive-and-ultimately-fatal errors there on Finicum’s part.

    Which still makes him a better renegade than writer.

  34. 34.

    feebog

    @singfoom:

    I find it very difficult to feel any sympathy for any of these muttonheads. They have an ugly and twisted world view. They think of themselves as macho heroes, but are really just entitled jerks who never grew up.

  35. 35.

    Miss Bianca

    @maya:

    Oh, my…I didn’t think anything related to this story could make me laugh. Well, the sight of a huddled mound under a blue tarp that apparently gave interviews…that’s like something out of Monty Python. “Over to you, Janice…what are the tarp’s demands?”

    The answer is yes…tho’ how much fun anyone will have at it is an open question.

  36. 36.

    lgerard

    The maximum sentence for what these witless fools have been arrested for is only six years

    Moar charges please!

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    At some point, the feds might want to move on Ammon Bundy’s old man as well. Any sign of that yet?

  42. 42.

    Belafon

    @lgerard: I’m pretty sure what they’ve been initially charged with is so they can keep them arrested, because you can’t just hold someone for a long time for no reason. More charges will come, I’m sure.

  43. 43.

    sigaba

    @Amir Khalid: The Feds are probably (rightly) concerned that Cliven Bundy is one of those “I got nothing else to live for and I’m gonna die fighting this” types, like his buddy LaVoy. If Cliven is killed during an arrest every threeper in the country will be convening “grand juries” and “indicting” judges, FBI agents and their mothers.

  45. 45.

    Soylent Green

    I am in my office about 50 yards from where the Malheur perps are being held. Maybe I can get an interview with Ammon and find out what really went down. Wolverines!

  47. 47.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @OzarkHillbilly: And there’s actually a reason for that: blue colored tarps are less prone to breakdown from exposure to ultraviolet light/sunlight. I’m not sure why that’s the case but I used to work at an outdoor outfitter and the company rep said that’s why Sierra Designs tents all have blue tarps. Apparently they or someone else tested the effects of color on light exposure and found that blue was more durable.

  49. 49.

    Betty Cracker

    @schrodinger’s cat: Sorry it bugs you, but I think it works metaphorically on a couple of levels: He was killed on the road, and, like many a hapless animal, he was crushed by something big that he didn’t have the capacity to fully understand because he just wasn’t very bright. I don’t typically rejoice in anyone’s death (well, I’ll probably make an exception for Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh, should I outlive them), and I’m not glad this guy’s dead either. But he was an extremist asshole who courted his own doom through stupidity. I’ll reserve my pity for the innocent people who will die in gun violence in the US today.

  57. 57.

    singfoom

    @feebog: I don’t feel any sympathy for Mr. Fincum. I feel sympathy for his wife and kids. He was an idiot and got himself killed for NOTHING. Now they have to make their way through life without him. I have nothing but contempt for him…

    Even if he was a stupid idiot with ridiculous ideas about the government, now his family doesn’t have him. That’s tough. He brought this on himself, but his family is blameless.

  59. 59.

    TG Chicago

    Wow. This statement from Finicum on Monday shows some serious oblivious irony:

    “We used to be able to walk up to the FBI agents and talk to them in a friendly manner and stuff,” he explained. “But the tenor has changed, they have become more hardened. And when they step out of their vehicles now, they step out with their rifles. And they’re not willing to engage in just friendly dialog.”

    “Why the rattling of the sabre?” he asked. “Why when we’re so far away from anybody, why are you ramping it up? Why do you fly your planes over us non-stop and why do you have your drones. Because they do, they’re droning us now.”

    “All the things show that they want to take some kinetic action against us. And we’re saying, why be so unfriendly? Why be so threatening? Why are you threatening lethal force when we’re so far away?”

    Finicum added that all of the FBI’s behavior was “in preparation of a campaign of some sort.”

    “And whether it’s just a sabre rattling to try to intimidate or whether they actually mean it, we don’t know,” he said. “That’s why you’re seeing the uptick in the sabre rattling from the feds because they do not want to let go of this.”

    “They do not intend on losing here. And we do not intend to give it back to them.”

  61. 61.

    peach flavored shampoo

    @lgerard: Real Q — how does one replace a dead VP, should he/she kick during a term? Does the Pres pick a new one without any need to consult anyone, or must he/she be voted on (by public and/or Congress)? Or does the term end with no VP?

  63. 63.

    Felonius Monk

    @singfoom:

    but his family is blameless.

    I disagree. His family was just as much involved as he was and supportive. His wife had just left the refuge several hours before and was on her way back home when he was killed. One of his daughters is all over FB with crap about how he died defending their freedom. Hardly blameless in my book.

  64. 64.

    WarMunchkin

    I suspect that claim will be convincingly debunked.

    You can say this with a straight face after all these years knowing our neighborhood friendly right-wing? No, this will not be debunked for the people inclined to believe it. This will just be absorbed into the mythology and collective memory of the American right-wing.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    I was one of the complainers so I’m glad they arrested and processed. I just think not arresting goes to credibility of the whole system, it’s literally “not fair” to people who are arrested for the same offenses.

    I’m sorry the man was shot by police but, again, people often get really upset and go off when they are arrested and that isn’t a reason to not do it. It can’t be. The threat of violence can’t be a reason not to enforce laws, or you have to apply that to everyone. They can’t go too far down that road or all bets are off.

  68. 68.

    singfoom

    @Felonius Monk: Well I consider myself corrected then. I didn’t know his wife was there. I assumed his wife and kids were back at the ranch many hundreds of miles away.

    So his wife and (I assume adult age) daughter are not blameless. The children are blameless.

  71. 71.

    Davebo

    @singfoom: I’m pretty sure the only “children” in the household were the foster kids that CPS/Catholic Charities removed. AKA, the little gravy trains.

  74. 74.

    singfoom

    @Davebo: Maybe. If I remember right, I read they had 11 kids, 6 of which were foster children. Regardless, I feel sorry for his family. Maybe they aren’t blameless, but he’s still gone, even if it was his own doing.

    Regardless of the idiocy of his actions, he’s still a human being and loss is loss. YMMV.

  76. 76.

    scav

    What a photo I missed by ignoring TV: Tarping Points. And then the title: 55-Year-Old Protestor Under Tarp With Gun Preparing For Altercation! A) So that’s what the 55-year-olds are calling it now and B) so, he didn’t even expect his own gun to put out without putting up a fight.

  77. 77.

    burnspbesq

    @Belafon:

    More charges will come, I’m sure.

    In about 90 minutes. U.S. Attorney/FBI presser at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time in Portland.

  80. 80.

    Keith G

    So if what I read last night and this morning is reasonably accurate, sounds as if the top tier of leadership of this hole in the wall gang all went to town to have a meeting (a few were already there). How convenient for law enforcement. This militia or whatever they are have some time and time again how tactically inept they are.

    I am glad that the FBI took their time and was able to make this leadership decapitation strike away from the “compound” thus avoiding unnecessary bloodshed.

  82. 82.

    Matt McIrvin

    @hkedi: It’s remarkable that the Vice-Presidency was just vacant if the VP became President (or if something else happened to him) all the way up until 1967. And the change actually became relevant for the first time just a few years after the amendment was passed, when Agnew and Nixon resigned in successive scandals. Under the old system, the Democratic House Speaker Carl Albert would have become President, instead of Gerald Ford.

  85. 85.

    NonyNony

    @Origuy: srv never posts links to their sources for blockquotes in general and linked it with an “if only” comment. So I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and suggest that they knew it was a hoax website.

  86. 86.

    catclub

    @srv: “

    A Donald Trump-Joe Arpaio ticket is like if Hitler came back to life, merged bodies with Satan and then chose evil incarnate as his Vice Presidential running mate,” Bradley said. “As someone who lives in Phoenix, and deals with the homeless problem there on a daily basis, I can say without a doubt; everyone would be much better without Sheriff Joe Arpaio.”

    Someone has not noticed the misrule of Dick Cheney.

  88. 88.

    Betty Cracker

    @JustRuss: After the Hurricane Summer here in FL in 2004, I saw blue tarps on roofs for at least a couple of years. They seemed to hold up reasonably well.

  89. 89.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Keith G: Can’t help wondering how many people at the refuge or in last night’s caravan get their paycheck from the Federal gov’t.

  91. 91.

    ThresherK

    @srv: That name sounds sorta…Spanishy, doesn’t it?

    I mean, I believe him if he says Arpaioe (sp? all those foreign names are funny) is an American, but I’m afraid we can’t stop the groundswell of people who are already wondering.

    I wish the media had the power to act as gatekeepers about the issue which we need to examine in thorough and minute detail, but it’s out there.

  95. 95.

    Soylent Green

    This is from one of my managers today, here in Portland’s Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt federal building.

    Here at EGWW, the media has already made their presence known in front of the building. Bundy and the other individuals arrested last night are currently being held in the Hatfield building. Even though we do not anticipate any issues here at EGWW, there are some things that we can do. It would be advisable for employees to refrain from wearing anything with a Forest Service or BLM logo. Just be more situationally aware of your surroundings as you enter and exit EGWW.

    The Justice Center (Hatfield building) is right next door. The militia guys like to strut their stuff out in the boonies, so we don’t really expect them to show up here.

  96. 96.

    Cermet

    Sorry someone died – when Black Panthers were killed in the 70’s for just trying to get notice for the conditions children were being raised in it was terrible so many were murdered. These people don’t get it – the police state they have voted to make way stronger and far more deadly and non-responsive to citizens is the enemy – their right-wing hate fueling the very police state that IS the danger to all of us. That voting to make tougher laws, deadlier police, and support of zero tolerance is what they need to correct; the Gov is mostly powerless without a police state ready to enforce with ever increasing levels of violence using far more massive military equipment and SWAT for everything. Stupid they are and stupid they die. Tragic.

  98. 98.

    bystander

    Finicum’s Wake makes me think of a group of grieving people costumed by Kim Davis gathered around a cadaver draped in a blue tarp.

  101. 101.

    SFAW

    @lgerard:

    bring snacks

    Well, it’s not as if Soylent can pop into the local 7-11 for a bag of salted dicks before visiting them. That was their snack of choice, if I recall.

    Or at least, what people were going to send them, back when they were begging/mooching

  103. 103.

    Patricia Kayden

    Finicum got what he wanted and what he deserved. Of course, he’s now a Martyr for Rightwing idiots but who cares? They wanted a fight with Federal officials and they lost.

    Brings to mind that great song, “I Fought the Law (and the Law Won)” by The Clash.

  104. 104.

    Robert Sneddon

    @PIGL: Tarpaulins are used a lot on farms and the bright blue colour means that if they get ripped up or shredded the fragments can be seen in produce, grain and the like before they get into the human food chain. It’s the same in food processing plants where band-aids, protective gear etc. are coloured the same. The technical term for the colour is “non-food blue”.

    It’s easier to make all tarpaulins blue than to have a specific type just for farmers to use and different colours for other uses.

  105. 105.

    WereBear

    So a marginal hobby rancher (he admitted he made more off the foster kids stipends than he did the ranch itself) gets wind of a new scam (all was quiet with him until Cliven Bundy) that would let him not pay his bills, and viola! a new RW “hero.”

  106. 106.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @JustRuss: I doubt that you need to worry much about sunlight damage in the middle of winter in Oregon.

  107. 107.

    The Republic, Blah Blah Blah...

    @FlipYrWhig: Uselysses is pretty damned good too…

    There are only two first lines from novels I’ve ever remembered permanently…

    “Mr. Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls.”

    And the other is…

    “We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.”

  110. 110.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Soylent Green: I suppose the donuts are as good as rumored, but their mention brings to mind the worst beer-drinking experience of my (long) life: Rogue Brewing’s Voodoo maple-bacon-donut beer. Truly as awful as a beverage can be.

  111. 111.

    chopper

    “The bodies of my enemies lay before me, not a twitch coming from them. Holding the old revolver in my hand, I could not help but spin it around my finger once before sliding it back into the holster.”

    jesus, that’s just terrible.

  112. 112.

    The Republic, Blah Blah Blah...

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Good choice…

    Ever read Eric Ambler? Generally credited w/ creating the modern spy novel… very good writer…

    His best first line, IMHO:

    “The warning message arrived on Monday, the bomb itself on Wednesday.”

    Sure got my attention immediately…

    And off we go!

  113. 113.

    cckids

    @Betty Cracker:

    After the Hurricane Summer here in FL in 2004, I saw blue tarps on roofs for at least a couple of years

    A few years ago, Bellevue/Seattle passed a code that specified if you had a tarp covering your boat/whatever, and it was visible from the street, the tarp had to be blue. Supposedly for the visual aesthetics, I guess.

    People called it the Home Depot Act.

  114. 114.

    henqiguai

    @Robert Sneddon (#106):

    It’s easier to make all tarpaulins blue than to have a specific type just for farmers to use and different colours for other uses.

    There are different colors. I like to use the brown ones to cover my wood stacks in the back yard; so much less eye catching than the blue.

  115. 115.

    Soylent Green

    Correction: we now think the militias are on their way to Portland to demonstrate at my workplace. As this is an open-carry state, they will likely be brandishing.

    This morning, a Mount Hood National Forest was assaulted by an anti-government yahoo. Details when I get them.

    As of yesterday, my colleagues on the Malheur National Forest have been ordered not to come to work.

  116. 116.

    Calouste

    @Matt McIrvin: The VP succession was relevant a number of times before 1967, but the solution before that time was that there was no replacement for the VP for the remainder of the term, so the Speaker of the House was the next in line to the Presidency. In fact, there was an instance just a few years before when LBJ succeeded Kennedy and completed the term without a VP. I think there are at least 6 instances, including at least two where the VP died.

  118. 118.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Calouste: I should have said: relevant to the Presidency. I think Agnew and Nixon’s resignation was the first case of that in US history, in which the President actually ended his term prematurely after the Vice-President had also done so, so the 25th Amendment actually affected who ended up as President.

  119. 119.

    Matt McIrvin

    (By the way, I think the presence of the House Speaker and president pro tempore of the Senate in the presidential succession line is a terrible idea, and ought to be gotten rid of, because it raises the possibility of a power transfer between parties by assassination. All the people in line for the presidency after the VP ought to be presidential appointees.)

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