I like this list and think it is close to what I consider a good approach
for topics of discussion where information is incomplete and
interpretations vary. The approach is to state simple, short facts, one at
a time. A "fact" can be the occurrence or non-occurrence of something. It
must be supported by all the information revealed to date. The list can be
modified as more information is revealed.
I would add another observation that I only heard mentioned once, shortly
after Jan. 26, by a gun expert analyzing the first video released. He said
that when Finicum decided to make a run for it, he didn't know there was a
2nd road block (fact, I think). He said Finicum was driving in the middle
of the highway, very fast (fact, I think). He also said there was a car
traveling the other way, toward Finicum, with 2 passengers (fact?). If
there had NOT been a 2nd road block, there would likely have been a
collision. Having driven this stretch of Highway 395 many times in
conditions just like the night of Jan. 26, this really "resonated" with
me. I wish there had been more said about this aspect of Finicum's
actions. There is a reason police try to avoid high speed chases.
Innocent people can die.
Pam
On Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 6:15 PM, Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
At the risk of further self-indulgence (Lars is right about that), here
are my observations after watching the video with sound:
#1: For supposedly "rural Westerner" type people, Finicum and his
passengers were surprisingly clueless about the possibility of poor cell
phone reception in Grant County.
#2: Not one of his passengers ever said the most obvious thing that comes
to mind, "Running from this many cops seems crazy, what in the heck are you
doing?"
#3: After Finicum made the decision to drive away from the initial stop at
high speed, he asked his passengers, "Where are the guns?" To paraphrase
Chekhov, you don't ask about guns unless you plan to use one.
#4: When Finicum saw the roadblock, he maintained speed and kept steering
deliberately, apparently hoping to blast around it.
#5: It's still astonishing that Finicum didn't manage to kill the OSP
officer who wound up practically on his front bumper, when his truck was
halted & high-centered by the snow.
#6: Finicum jumped out of the truck faster than Shawna Cox could even
recover from the impact and resume the video.
#7: Finicum had at least one hand down by his waist right after he emerged
from the truck, with his head in view above the roof.
#8: Finicum did then begin to bring his left arm up over his head, but it
had only swung up to shoulder-height by the time when a projectile strikes
the window.
#9: Les Zaitz's description of this sequence was misleading, by saying
that Finicums hands were "at least at shoulder level" as he emerged from
the vehicle.
#8: Finicum shouted "Go ahead and shoot me" as he was exiting the truck,
then continued to shout, "You're gonna have to shoot me!" all the way up
until the OSP officers finally did.
#11: Overall, Finicum gave a very bad example of "How to surrender to law
enforcement."
#12: Ryan Bundy provided a much better example of the basic principle that
should be familiar to anyone who ever watched an old John Wayne western or
any cop show on TV: Come out slowly, keep your hands in full view, and make
no sudden moves.
As Lars suggests, this is probably already giving this incident more
scrutiny than it deserves, when you stack it up alongside the ongoing
carnage and displacement in Syria. Wannabe cowboy makes good on his death
wish.
There is one more thing that I read in one of the statements by an OSP
officer who was on the scene, as he reached the end of his interview and
the interviewer asked him if there was anything else. The OSP officer
commented that, after Shawna Cox and Ryan Bundy were in custody, he walked
by them and made some remark to ask how they were doing. Shawna Cox
demanded of him, "Do you believe in the Constitution?" and Ryan Bundy gave
him a threatening glare.
The OSP officer commented on how odd this was, in relation to his
experience in other situations where there had been a fatality. In his
previous experience everyone present at a fatality -- whether they knew the
deceased or not -- remained focused on the fact of the fatality. That would
be the normal human thing to do.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
