He has his hands up. Someone is behind him and then he appears to go to his jacket and is instantly shot.
That’s the ‘he was going for his fun’ move. If that weren’t there, we wouldn’t be seeing this video that fast.
But was the first shot fired BEFORE he went for the gun? Wish we had audio.
Pretty obvious he drew something long and thin, consistent with a long barreled handgun.
Appears he was shot at least once from the LEO near the highway, then Finicum appears flinch, hold his hand where he had just been shot, and is again shot from the LEO on the left, from the woods.
I’ve replayed that video about 20 times, full screen and paused repeatedly and here’s what I think:
1) Mark McConnell (the driver of the other vehicle) is a liar. He posted a Facebook video claiming about Finicum: “He charged at law enforcement”. How convenient that he would put that out there so fast, especially considering he was about a MILE AWAY when Finicum was shot. I’m not suggesting he was in cahoots with the FBI, but it sure seems like the Feds tried hard to gain control of the narrative before other witnesses (like the 18-yr old girl) put out their version of events...
2) This was not a good shoot. The FBI spokesman tried to make it sound like proper protocol was followed for using lethal force by pointing out that Finicum nearly hit an agent or officer when he went off the road and that they had reports that the occupants were armed. He even mentioned that they found two .223 semiautomatic rifles and a handgun in the truck, and Finicum was found to have a loaded 9mm handgun in the left pocket of his jacket that he appeared to reach toward with his right hand a couple of times. But the fact that the gun was IN HIS POCKET — and not in his hand — proves that nobody was in imminent danger of being shot by Finicum at the time he was killed. And if you listened closely to the spokesman, he was always referring to the State guys — NOT the FBI — with respect to who did the shooting while he gave lip service to the standard justifications. He wasn’t enthusiastic in the defense of the behavior of the State guys: it was more like he was giving typical cop court testimony — careful to use the correct weasel words that might leave you with a certain impression if you’re not paying attention, but without any outright falsification of the facts.
3) The very first report of this in the media referred to the operation as a “traffic stop”. Sure, the initial stop with the vehicles behind could be called that, but what Finicum encountered up the road was a ROADBLOCK and an ambush. The guy that shot him came out of the trees on the left. And the person who was nearly hit (and he nearly was — you can see him climbing back to his feet after diving into the snow) very obviously jumped in front of the truck and looked to be aiming a weapon at it.
4) If you watch very carefully, just before Finicum “takes off” from the initial stop, you can see two separate light flashes in the picture. I can’t say what they are, but the girl said that they took off after someone shot at them and missed. I think I might believe that part of her story.
5) Finicum is driving about 60 mph or more, I would guess, from the fact that he is taking the corners almost in the center of the road. You can see him hit the brakes about 4 seconds before he runs off the road — which looks like he was trying to avoid hitting the roadblock which he couldn’t see until then because they set it up after a BLIND CURVE. Hmmm... a roadblock set up a mile away from a “traffic stop” (with gunshots?) after a blind curve, and with guys in the road and in the woods with guns pointed at him. How convenient.
I think the FBI put this out there because of the instant blowback from the 18-yr old’s recounting of events. I’m sure they don’t like being called murderers (they certainly deserved it after Waco and Ruby Ridge) but they appear to be going out of their way to look professional here. I also think that they played the basic “Oh, look — guy with a gun — oh, no! Scary!” meme that gets lots of coverage by the idiot, panty-waist media and helps distract from the important issues. But most of all, I think they were quick to release this so that anyone could see that the Oregon State guy, and not the FBI was the trigger-happy instigator in this case.
I would hope that a County, State or Federal official would immediately demand the arrest of the shooter on a manslaughter charge (and leave open the possibility for additional charges as the official investigation proceeds). From what I can see, there is no rational reason for letting someone walk free just because they were wearing a uniform at the time of the killing.
“But was the first shot fired BEFORE he went for the gun?”
If he put his hand down in reaction to being shot, then they indeed shot him in cold blood.
Which cop shot first, the one behind him?