Harney County officials on Tuesday rejected a resignation call from the
Pacific Patriots Network and also said they have no authority to detain
FBI officials or agents involving in the fatal shooting of LaVoy Finicum
or to kick out the FBI, as also demanded by the group.
Here's the full text of the Harney County news release:
The
Harney County Court is aware of a “Letter of Intent” issued by the
Pacific Patriots Network (PPN). That letter demands a response, but it
is unclear from whom the response is requested and to whom the response
should be provided.
The County Court issues the following statement.
The
PPN grieves “Immediate detention by investigating agency of the FBI
special agent in charge along with all agents and LEO involved in the
shooting death of Lavoy Finicum. A first hand eyewitness account in
conjunction with the FBI released video presents reasonable probably
cause for arrest while the investigation take place.”
SB 111 was
passed by the 2007 Oregon Legislature. It has been codified as Oregon
Revised Statues 181A.775 to 181A.815. These statutes require that any
use of deadly physical force by a police officer which causes the death
of a person be investigated.
The Deschutes County Major Incident
Team is investigating the circumstances of the incident. The Deschutes
County Sheriff's Office is the lead agency on this investigation
assisted by detectives from the Bend Police Department, Redmond Police
Department and Oregon State Police.
Due to the importance and
complexity of such investigations, we anticipate the investigation will
continue for several days to weeks. Harney County District Attorney Tim
Colahan has transferred review of the investigation to Malheur County
District Attorney stating that, "In the interest of transparency and to
prevent any perceived conflict of interest, it is appropriate to have a
district attorney with no prior involvement review the investigation. I
have requested Malheur County District Attorney, Dan Norris, review the
investigation and make a decision regarding the appropriate use of
deadly physical force."
PPN’s second grievance “Immediate removal
of all militarized FBI personnel and equipment from Harney County. All
State and County Law Enforcement officers are not included and requested
to stay and assist in the process to keep the peace. We are requesting
that the remaining occupants at the National Wildlife Refuge be dealt
with by local and State law enforcement with the assistance of federal
negotiators.”
Neither the Harney County Court nor the Harney
County Sheriff has the authority to remove the FBI from activity on
federal lands within Harney County, particularly in light of the
continuing occupation of a federal facility. The recommendation of use
of a federal negotiator is being followed.
PPN’s third grievance
is “Immediate resignation of Judge Steve Grasty, Sheriff David Ward,
County commissioner Pete Runnels, and County commissioner Dan Nichols.”
All four individuals decline this request.
---
Earlier story:
While
Ammon Bundy, a leader of the monthlong takeover of the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge, has urged from jail that the last four occupiers
leave, his father, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, is claiming "possession"
of the refuge "on behalf of Harney County and U.S. citizens."
In a
notarized notice sent Monday by certified mail to Harney County Sheriff
David Ward (with the governor and president copied in), Cliven Bundy,
whose 2014 standoff with the federal government over grazing fees drew
national attention, claims he is speaking on behalf of "the People of
Harney County and also We the People of the citizens of the United
States."
Bundy said they "give notice that we will retain
possession of the Harney County Resource Center (Malhaur National
Wildlife Refuge)," a misspelling of Malheur.
"Remove all federal and state policing agents out of Harney County," Bundy advised -- but he also had a request of the sheriff.
"Place
a Harney County sheriff guard post at the entrance road of the Harney
County Resource Center stopping all from entering or exiting, for a
time," he added.
Las Vegas TV station KLAS tried to talk to Cliven
Bundy by phone on Monday night but was told he's only taking calls from
militia members. The woman who answered also didn't know if he would be
going to Oregon to take part in the occupation...more
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment