LaVoy Finicum’s Family Questions Shooting Despite FBI Video

By Jason Sickles. The FBI’s aggressive move to release video evidence which they say shows anti-government protester LaVoy Finicum reaching for a gun before being shot and killed by police apparently did little to persuade the dead man’s family.

“LaVoy was not ‘charging’ anyone,’” his survivors said Friday afternoon in a statement released through their attorney. “He appears to have been shot in the back, with his hands in the air.”

Their comments, first reported by Reuters, come a day after the FBI took the unusual step of making a 26-minute surveillance video public two days after Finicum was killed. The aerial video, which the bureau published to its YouTube page, had more than 1.5 million views in less than 24 hours.

A state trooper shot Finicum, 54, Tuesday when a team of law enforcement officers set up a traffic stop to arrest several leaders of the month-long protest over federal control of ranch lands. (Read more from “LaVoy Finicum’s Family Questions Shooting Despite FBI Video” HERE)

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FBI Releases Video Footage of LaVoy Finicum Shooting

By Kelly House. As state troopers trained their guns on Robert “LaVoy” Finicum along a secluded eastern Oregon highway, he reached twice for a pocket that police say contained a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.

That’s when they fatally shot Finicum, a video released Thursday by the FBI appears to show.

(Editor’s note: As you watch the video, keep in mind that LaVoy Finicum wore his pistol on his right hip, as depicted here)

The federal agency played the video in an attempt to dispel rumors about the circumstances of Finicum’s death two days earlier as he and other leaders of the armed standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge were driving to a meeting.

Conflicting accounts of his shooting fueled outrage among supporters of the refuge occupiers and prompted the leader of a Northwest militia group to issue a call for members to report to Burns.

Greg Bretzing, a special agent with the FBI, said the footage provides an “honest and unfiltered view” of what happened. (Read more from “FBI Releases Video Footage of LaVoy Finicum Shooting” HERE)

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According to Trump, This Is the Only Way He’ll Debate Cruz

Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski announced that Trump would be happy to debate Senator Ted Cruz — once Cruz is determined to be eligible for the presidency by a federal judge.

“Once you’ve gotten that ruling from the federal judge and you’re the last man standing in this presidential contest next to Donald Trump, we’ll be happy to have a debate with you one-on-one, anywhere you want, because that’s the way the system works,” Lewandowski said. “But, as it stands right now, we don’t even know if Ted Cruz is legally eligible to run for president of the United States” . . .

Cruz had challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate after Trump refused to participate in the Fox News debate on Thursday night. Trump wanted the network to remove host Megyn Kelly as a moderator for the event. (Read more from “According to Trump, This Is the Only Way He’ll Debate Cruz” HERE)

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Sessions: Choose Carefully America, 2016 Is ‘the LAST CHANCE’

By Paul Bedard. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a leading voice on trade, immigration and executive powers, is urging Americans to choose their next president carefully because 2016 “is the last chance for the American people to take back control of their government.”

In a sober interview with Secrets, the Republican warned that liberal special interests, Wall Street moguls, and international media conglomerates are fast turning the United States into just another member of the European Union and that the effort is being led by a Democratic president eager to go his own way with executive orders.

“This election is different because we have pall-mall erosion of law, the constitutional order, where President Obama has pushed an agenda that eviscerates the immigration legal system, and pushed this trade agreement that will commence decades of transferring American economic power to an ever-expanding international commission. It’s just not going to stop” unless voters take action, he warned . . .

Highlighting immigration and trade, Sessions urged voters to choose a candidate who will commit to killing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with nearly a dozen Asian nations which is slated to cost 448,000 U.S. jobs, and finally make good on 30 years of promises to put an end to illegal immigration, which is costing the nation billions in welfare and undermining U.S. wages. (Read more from “Sessions: Choose Carefully America, 2016 Is ‘the LAST CHANCE'” HERE)

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America 2016: We’re Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore

By Lesley Clark, Anita Kumar and Maria Recio. Craig Ziemke has voted for Democrats all his life, including twice for President Barack Obama. Not this year.

“The whole country is going to hell,” the 66-year-old retired factory worker said, standing against the bleachers at a high school gymnasium while waiting for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to arrive. Ziemke’s fury is deep: Roads and bridges in the U.S. are falling apart, jobs are scarce and the U.S. border is wide open, he says.

“We’re letting all these people into the country. No one even knows who the hell they are,” he said. “We don’t need any more Arabs. The United States, anymore, is just a dumping ground for everyone.”

Ziemke plans to caucus for a Republican on Monday – and likely for Trump, “the only one with brains,” he said.

If Obama’s 2008 campaign in Iowa and beyond defined the election as one of “hope and change,” this year may well be described as the politics of rage. (Read more from “America 2016: We’re Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore” HERE)

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Who Won the Ratings Race: Fox News or Donald Trump?

By Brian Stelter. Donald Trump’s counter-programming stunt succeeded in stealing viewers from Fox News’ Republican presidential debate.

Thursday night marked the second lowest rated GOP debate of the season. And Trump was the most-talked-about candidate without even being there.

Trump, who had refused to attend the debate, showed off his ratings magnetism by depriving Fox of it . . .

But Trump’s rivals, like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, still reached a big audience by debating, which suggests that there are some limits to Trump’s power.

Practically speaking, there is no way Trump’s event could have out-rated the debate. But ratings experts said Trump did appear to take a chunk out of Fox’s audience. (Read more from “Who Won the Ratings Race: Fox News or Donald Trump?” HERE)

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Debate Without Trump Gets Better Ratings Than Last Debate With Trump

By John McCormack. Donald Trump’s campaign manager predicted that Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate on Fox News would only get “about 2 million” viewers because Trump refused to show up. In fact, “Fox News likely had 11 million to 13 million viewers for the debate,” CNN’s Brian Stelter reports.

Thursday’s debate ended up getting higher ratings than the the last debate in which Trump participated. “Fox’s Trump-less debate had an 8.4 household rating, according to early Nielsen data from so-called metered markets,” reports CNN’s Stelter. (Read more from “Debate Without Trump Gets Better Ratings Than Last Debate With Trump” HERE)

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Is a Secret Sniper Killing off ISIS’s High Command in Libya?

As befits all the best practitioners of his shadowy trade, no-one is quite sure whether he is one man or many, or even simply an urban legend.

But after a string of assassinations of its local henchmen, the Islamic State’s new “Caliphate” in the Libyan city of Sirte is abuzz with talk that an anti-Isil sniper is at work.

In recent weeks, no fewer than three Isil commanders in Sirte have been shot dead from long range, according to local media.

The killings – reported to be the work of a sniper who honed his skills in Libya’s uprising against Colonel Gaddafi – are said to have sowed panic among Isil’s forces in the city, who have carried a string of arrests and executions in a bid to track down the culprit.

The Sirte assassin’s most recent casualty, according to social media reports from Sirte, was Abdullah Hamad Al-Ansari, an Isil commander from southern Libyan city of Obari, who was shot dead on January 23 as he left a city centre mosque. (Read more from “Is a Secret Sniper Killing off ISIS’s High Command in Libya?” HERE)

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Washington State May Abolish Rule Forcing Businesses to Let Men Into Women’s Bathrooms

A Republican-led Senate committee narrowly passed a bill that would repeal Washington State’s new law requiring public buildings and most businesses to let people with gender dysphoria use the restroom, locker room, and other facilities of their choice.

On Wednesday, the Senate’s Commerce and Labor Committee heard from 300 people on both sides of the issue. While transgender activists said the law prevents discrimination, parents and others said they were concerned about the potential of sexual assaults. Some noted that the Human Rights Commission, which approved the so-called “non-discrimination” law, is not a legislative body.

One business owner, Thrive Community Fitness’s Paul MacLurg, told legislators that “now I have no good choices” when it comes to protecting women from men who would harass them. He has assigned a private restroom and locker room for transgender people.

Bill sponsor Senator Doug Ericksen described the measure as a “compromise” effort that would allow local jurisdictions to handle the issue on a case-by-case basis. “The state shouldn’t have a mandate on men using the women’s locker room,” he said.

Ramona Calquhoun told The Associated Press that, in addition to opening possibilities for sexual predators, “[e]ven mentioning anything puts you in a legally bad position to get sued.” (Read more from “Washington State May Abolish Rule Forcing Businesses to Let Men Into Women’s Bathrooms” HERE)

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Facebook Bans Firearms Sales

Facebook says it’s cracking down on online gun sales, announcing Friday a new policy barring private individuals from advertising or selling firearms on the world’s largest social network.

The new policy applies also to Facebook’s photo-sharing service Instagram. It comes after gun control groups have long complained that Facebook and other online sites are frequently used by unlicensed sellers and buyers not legally eligible to buy firearms.

Facebook “was unfortunately and unwittingly serving as an online platform for dangerous people to get guns,” said Shannon Watts of Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that launched a public campaign to convince the social network to change its policies two years ago. (Read more from “Facebook Announces Stricter Policy on Firearms Sales” HERE)

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Panic on SECOND American Airlines Flight as Mystery Fainting Illness Hits Passengers and Crew

Unnerved passengers feared for their lives after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing when passengers and crew passed out mid-flight.

The American Airlines flight, which was flying from Brazil to the United States, was travelling at a height of more than 30,000ft when three members of staff became ill.

This is the second time this week that the US airline has been forced to ground a plane as a result of a mystery illness on board .

According to reports, Flight 904 which left Rio de Janeiro for Miami around 11pm yesterday, but was forced to change direction and land in Brasilia, Brazil.

Four people complained of lightheadedness sparking fears there could be contaminated air on board. (Read more from “Panic on SECOND American Airlines Flight as Mystery Fainting Illness Hits Passengers and Crew” HERE)

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MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD? Was LaVoy Finicum Reacting to First Shot or Reaching for Gun?

The FBI, over a day after the shooting of LaVoy Finicum, finally released aerial footage – but no video from the ground – of what the agency says happened in Oregon (see the enhanced video below). Assuming that the video is legit, does it look like Finicum reached for a gun or was reacting to being shot? Why did the agent on the right run toward the vehicle as it plowed into the snow bank? What was the agent on the left dragging in the snow with his left arm after apparently shooting LaVoy Finicum? Please comment below.

See the enhanced video HERE.
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Watch: The Last-Standing Oregon Militia Men Say They Are ‘Willing to Die’ If the FBI Won’t Give in to Their Demands

By Daily Mail Online Reporter. Four militiamen are still refusing to leave the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve where they have been locked in a 27-day stand-off with police, which has left one dead; 11 arrested and has brought widespread condemnation from the local community.

In a live video broadcast from the Oregon ranch this week, one of the last-standing members, said he believes the FBI is ‘going to kill them’, but refused to leave unless the authorities would meet their demands.

Another militiaman added he is ‘willing’ to die in a final bloody siege with the authorities if negotiations fail. Their comments come after the last leader of the occupation voluntarily handed himself in at a police checkpoint.

However, the group’s number is continuing to dwindle rapidly. The five remaining members quickly dropped to four on Thursday morning. (Read more from “The Last-Standing Oregon Militia Men Say They Are ‘Willing to Die’ If the FBI Won’t Give in to Their Demands” HERE)
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Where Was the FBI During the Armed Standoff in Oregon? Out of Sight, but Listening and Watching

By Nigel Duara. As the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon dragged on for most of January, local law enforcement was spread thin and federal agents were nowhere to be seen.

Behind the quiet facade, however, the FBI was running surveillance on the occupation and recording the activists’ public statements, mostly drawn from media reports and the activists’ use of social media, while FBI agents encouraged locals to report their experiences with the new strangers in town.

According to the allegations in an indictment and supporting affidavit, the FBI was collecting information that confirmed the occupiers were armed, angry and willing to die.

The court documents detail how a source told a Harney County sheriff’s officer that the protesters “had explosives, night vision goggles, and weapons and that if they didn’t get the fight they wanted out there they would bring the fight to town.” The documents show that authorities grew concerned as the occupiers used increasingly heated rhetoric when discussing their plans and the occupation. (Read more from “Where Was the FBI During the Armed Standoff in Oregon? Out of Sight, but Listening and Watching” HERE)
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UPDATE: Over 24 hours after the incident in question, and after repeated demands by websites like Restoring Liberty, the FBI finally released a video of what allegedly happened during the LaVoy Finicum killing. However, neither audio nor video from the numerous officers on the ground was released. Here’s an enhanced video – from the FBI’s aerial recording – of the shooting:

As you watch the video, keep in mind that LaVoy Finicum wore his pistol on his right hip, as depicted here:

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Donald Trump Just Announced Something Amazing About His Event for Veterans

By Maeve Reston. If Donald Trump had any second thoughts about skipping the GOP debate, he certainly didn’t show it as he took the stage before a raucous crowd at Drake University on Thursday night to say that he had raised nearly $6 million for veterans in one day.

For several days now, the pundits have pontificated about the damage that Trump’s decision could inflict on his campaign. But, comparing his crowd and the number of cameras to the Academy Awards, Trump waved off the notion that Iowans would see him as a sore loser.

“We love our vets,” Trump said.

“When you’re treated badly you have to stick up for your rights,” Trump added, alluding to his relationship with Fox. “And that’s what our country has to do.”

“We have to stick up for our country when we’re being mistreated.” (Read more from “Donald Trump Just Announced Something Amazing About His Event for Veterans” HERE)

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Donald Trump: Fox News ‘Apologized’ Over Debate Statement

By Jeremy Diamond and Brian Stelter. Donald Trump said Thursday in an interview with CNN that Fox News “apologized” to him for a mocking statement the television network issued two days before the GOP debate.

Trump said that while the network “could not have been nicer” as it tried to woo him back into attending the debate, he would stick to his plan of holding an event aimed at raising funds for veterans’ organizations.

“I was treated very unfairly by Fox. Since then they’ve been excellent, they’ve been very nice, but it’s too late,” Trump told CNN’s Brianna Keilar in an interview Thursday night aboard Trump’s private plane. (Read more from “Donald Trump: Fox News ‘Apologized’ Over Debate Statement” HERE)

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