page_title: LaVoy Finicum
section_title: Participation in the occupation
hierarchical_section_title: LaVoy Finicum / Refuge occupation and death / Participation in the occupation
caption_attribution_description: English: LaVoy Finicum in Creative Commons YouTube video posted by Blaine Cooper, January 22, 2016, four days before his shooting.
context_page_description: Robert LaVoy Finicum was an American spokesman for the militia group Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, who seized and occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the State of Oregon, United States, on January 2, 2016.
  On January 26, 2016, law enforcement officers attempted to arrest Finicum and other occupation leaders while they were traveling on a remote highway away from the occupation site. After fleeing the officers, Finicum was stopped by a roadblock, after leaving the roadway into snow, he made two motions to his jacket and yelled for police to shoot him. After he was subsequently shot, the officers later found a loaded weapon in his pocket.
  Prior to the occupation, Finicum lived in Arizona where he made a living as a foster parent and operated a no-income cattle ranch.
context_section_description: Finicum served as a spokesman for the armed militants who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in early 2016. He was dubbed "Tarp Man" by MSNBC for sitting outside at night in a rocking chair, holding a rifle on his lap, and sometimes covering himself completely with a blue tarp for additional protection against the elements. When asked on January 6 if he would rather be killed than arrested if the occupation turned violent, Finicum replied, "I have no intention of spending any of my days in a concrete box."
caption: LaVoy Finicum speaking in a video posted to YouTube, during the occupation
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