Indicted FBI agent pleads not guilty to cover-up of fatal shooting of Oregon militia's LaVoy Finicum

An indicted FBI agent pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from two gunshots fired at LaVoy Finicum, a spokesman of the militia that took over a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon. Finicum was fatally shot by other agents after a vehicle chase. FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday to five counts of lying and obstruction regarding shots that Astarita made in an attempt to hit Finicum during an arrest attempt in January 2016. US Magistrate Judge Janice M. Stewart presided over the arraignment. The shots in question have nothing to do with the subsequent shots that killed Finicum during the same altercation, the Los Angeles Times reported. Judge Stewart gave the order that Astarita, a member of the FBI’s elite hostage team, remain free until his trial, the Los Angeles Times reported. An Oregon state trooper reported seeing two rifle casings on the ground near where an FBI standoff with Finicum happened on January 26, 2016. During a probe at a later date, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon came to the conclusion that one agent had shot twice at Finicum’s pickup truck after it had crashed into a snowbank during the altercation. They claim that the FBI agents removed the rifle casings in order to cover it up, the Daily News reported...more