[quote]
An FBI agent accused of lying about firing two shots at Oregon standoff spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum faces a five-count indictment, charging him with three counts of making a false statement and two counts of obstruction of justice.
W. Joseph Astarita, 40, dressed in a dark pinstriped suit, white dress shirt and red-and-blue striped tie, made his first appearance on the indictment Wednesday in a packed federal courtroom, with heightened security inside and in the corridors of the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse.
A lawyer standing beside Astarita entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to all charges. Astarita will remain out of custody pending trial.
Astarita is accused of firing twice at Finicum but missing him as Finicum emerged from his white truck after swerving into a snowbank to avoid a law enforcement roadblock on U.S. 395 in Harney County.
Finicum had sped away from a state police and FBI stop moments earlier as authorities tried to arrest leaders of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation on Jan. 26, 2016. As he crashed in the snow, Finicum's truck nearly struck another FBI agent, police said.
The indictment says Astarita, who served as a member of the elite FBI Hostage Rescue Team, "falsely stated he had not fired his weapon during the attempted arrest of Robert LaVoy Finicum, when he knew then and there that he had fired his weapon.''
Astarita is accused of lying to three supervisory FBI agents, concealing from Oregon investigators that he fired his weapon and failing to alert the FBI's Shooting Incident Response Team about his shooting as required.
"Defendant acted with the intent to hinder, delay and prevent the communication of information from the Oregon State Police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation relating to the possible commission of a federal offense,'' the indictment says.[/quote]
[URL="http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2017/06/fbi_agent_indicted_in_connecti.html"]The Oregonian[/URL]
:v:
I'm not sure I understand why this person would have lied about shooting in the first place.
[QUOTE]The FBI agent's bullets didn't hit Finicum, 54, an Arizona rancher who was one of the leaders of the Jan. 2 takeover of the federal bird sanctuary near Burns.
Moments later, state troopers shot Finicum three times after he emerged from his white truck at the roadblock and reached for his inner jacket pocket, where police said he had a loaded 9mm handgun. Bullets struck him in the back and one pierced his heart, an autopsy found.[/QUOTE]
Just to clarify. Title makes it sound like he shot him. Not the case. Both sides still agree shooting of suspect was justified.
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