On February 3, 2017 Sylvia Allen held a meeting at the Arizona State Captial to discuss the case of LaVoy Finicum, the Arizona rancher who was shot and killed by Federal agents in Oregon last year. I was glad to have the opportunity to attend the meeting regarding Finicum’s death and the challenges western ranchers have faced while dealing with the federal bureaucracy.
The previous administration clearly did not understand the situation and in fact, due to the shifting political winds over the last decade, many ranchers have been unfairly persecuted and some still sit in jail as a direct result of this. The Bundy Family, the Hammond Family nor the Finicum’s have ever fired a shot or damaged property yet they have been treated worse than the thugs who have rioted, burned cars and threatened violence.
I was proud of Senator Allen for taking a stand against the corruption as she was elected to do. She plans to put pressure on at the federal level to require a formal Congressional Hearing which should be good news for all Americans. The right to free speech, the right to peacefully assemble and to be able to “redress” our grievances peacefully with our government, the right to keep and bear arms and the protection against unlawful searches. So many of our basic Constitutional Rights have been violated in the case of these patriots, it has been a serious concern to any of us who were paying attention.
As Senator Borrelli stated, “This was not a routine traffic stop – this was a planned execution.” He has the experience of over 20 years in the Marines so he should know what a planned ambush looks like. We cannot let behavior like this become the new normal, it could be you or your neighbor next who finds themselves in the cross hairs.
