Jan 26, 2016
MSNBC National Reporter Tony Dokoupil speaks with LaVoy Finicum — the Oregon militant who gained fame for conducting a television interview from beneath a blue tarp — has reportedly been shot and killed by law enforcement officers.

The Arizona rancher, who was caring for 11 foster children with his wife, vowed at the start of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Preserve that he was willing to die for his interpretation of the United States Constitution.

“I have been raised in the country all my life,” Finicum said in a widely viewed television interview with a rifle on his lap. “I love dearly to feel the wind on my face. To see the sun rise, to see the moon. I have no intention of spending any of my days in a concrete box.”

He was reportedly shot Tuesday evening during a shootout when law enforcement officers stopped a group of militants on their way to establish a shadow government in nearby Grant County.

State Representative Michele Fiore (R), who is close to the Bundy family and other militants, has identified Finicum as the militant who has been reportedly killed.

At 8:30 PM (PST) the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s Phoenix Division made a probable cause arrest of Jon Eric Ritzheimer, age 32, on a federal charge related to the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. Ritzheimer turned himself into the Peoria Police Department in Arizona. The arrest was without incident.

Ritzheimer faces one federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 372.

The FBI made the Arizona arrest in conjunction with a series of other arrests made by FBI and Oregon State Police in Harney County, Oregon, earlier in the evening. The following individuals also face the same charge:

* Ammon Edward Bundy, age 40, of Emmett, Idaho
* Ryan C. Bundy, age 43, of Bunkerville, Nevada
* Brian Cavalier, age 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada
* Shawna Cox, age 59, Kanab, Utah
* Ryan Waylen Payne, age 32, of Anaconda, Montana
* Joseph Donald O'Shaughnessy, age 45, of Cottonwood, Arizona
* Peter Santilli, age 50, of Cincinnati, Ohio

These probable cause arrests occurred along Highway 395.

In a separate event in Burns, Oregon, at approximately 5:50 PM, Oregon State Police arrested the following individual:

* Joseph Donald O'Shaughnessy, age 45, Cottonwood, Arizona

All of the named defendants face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 372.

Reports indicate that one other person might have been wounded in the gunfire.