Services for LaVoy Finicum, the rancher and foster parent killed by Oregon State Police last week during his attempt to escape a roadblock, are reportedly taking place at this hour.

Utah’s ABC4 reports that up to 1,000 people are expected to attend the funeral, which is being held in the small town of Kanab.

Ahead of the funeral, the Bureau of Land Management has closed the Kanab field office Thursday and Friday.

In a statement, the agency said, “…given the events scheduled over the next few days in Southern Utah, BLM decided to exercise an abundance of caution and temporarily close our offices in Kanab.”

The Kane County School District has also closed early today.

Oregon TV station KPTV says that a countrywide call has gone out for those aligned with the so-called ‘patriot’ militia movement to attend en masse.

The day’s events, billed as “LaVoy Finicum’s Stand for Freedom,” include a visitation and funeral, followed by a memorial horse ride to a local middle school for a benefit concert.

The events could draw up to 1,000 people, including many from Kanab and the nearby towns of Fredonia and Cane Beds, Arizona, where Finicum lived, said Sgt. Alan Alldredge of the Kane County Sheriff’s Office. Others are expected to come from Nevada and elsewhere in Arizona.

Kanab resident Shawna Cox, one of sixteen people that a grand jury charged this week with conspiracy to impede federal officials by force, intimidation, or threats, is expected to attend. She was released from custody on condition that she wear an ankle monitor.

Ringleaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy remain in jail after a federal judge ruled they were too dangerous to be set free while awaiting trial.

Amelia Templeton, a reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting, is tweeting images of the event.

Mourners arrive for Finicum's funeral service
Mourners arrive for Finicum’s funeral service
A flyer behind an attendee's windshield
A flyer behind an attendee’s windshield

Meanwhile, armed and paranoid sympathizers of the Bundy cult continue to pump out delusional propaganda, including this bizarre claim that federal officials in Oregon are actually foreigners.

Via @Patztense
Via @Patztense

Reflecting the bizarre mythology of ‘Jade Helm’ and other Alex Jones-inspired madness, such rumors are a psychological rationalization of the urge to commit acts of violence against fellow Americans in retaliation for Finicum’s death.

Although he declared his intention to die before being taken into custody more than once, and video of the shooting clearly shows Finicum reaching for a weapon, angry ‘patriots’ continue to deny that his shooting was a case of ‘suicide by cop.’

Finicum was a beloved figure in the ‘Sagebrush Rebellion’ that sprang up around Cliven Bundy during his confrontation with the Bureau of Land Management in 2014.

14 thoughts on “Finicum’s Wake: Funeral Underway For Malheur Militant”
  1. POETIC JUSTICE or perfect irony, you pick. The Bundy Boys will be charged with the death will have years added to their time in prison. If all the mourners want to do something to help Finicum’s family, they desperately need it. He left them with nothing, not a dime.

    1. Know what? LaVoy was the one who didn’t shoot back. He carried a Colt .45 revolver in a holster on his right hip/leg, when he was armed. Hands in the air, grabbing at his side and midsection immediately after each officer pointed (and apparently shot) guns at him, lead me to conclude that he was not a threat.

  2. Interesting take on the shooting. The author doesn’t mention the shots fired at Finicum’s truck at the first stop, nor the nine bullets in his body. He was a cowboy, well versed in the use of firearms. If he’d intended to draw a gun on the officers, he’d have had the thing in his hand when he got out of the truck.

      1. Articulateness, thy name be not Osbornelink. Do you have something to say, or do just really, REALLY like that band?

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