Arizona county renames road after rancher killed in Oregon standoff
Nov 10, 2017, 4:41 AM | Updated: 12:07 pm
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2016 file photo, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, left, a rancher from Arizona, talks to reporters at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore. FBI Special Agent W. Joseph Astarita has been indicted in Portland Ore., Wednesday, June 28, 2017, on accusations that he lied about firing at Finicum when officers arrested leaders of an armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
PHOENIX — An Arizona county has reportedly renamed a road after a man who was killed by federal agents during a standoff at a ranch in Oregon.
The Havasu News reported that two miles of Yellowstone Road in Cane Beds will be called LaVoy Finicum Road.
The switch to the name was approved with a narrow 3-2 vote by the Mohave County Board of Supervisors on Monday.
Finicum was killed early last year after a group of men occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge’s headquarters in protest over public lands.
Finicum and two other Arizonans were pulled over by police. The traffic stop ended in gunfire.
Arianna Finicum Brown told the Oregonian shortly after his death that her father, “… would never ever want to hurt somebody, but he does believe in defending freedom and he knew the risks involved.”
Mohave County Supervisor Hildy Angius and she was proud to introduce the name change at the request of a person in Cane Beds, where Finicum lived.
“I believe LaVoy Finicum died defending the Constitution in a manner of his own choosing,” she told the Havasu News.
Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson, who voted against the name change, felt Finicum brought his death upon himself.
Johnson was worried the new road name could have consequences.
“You also have to look at the long-term effect of the image Mohave County wants to project,” he told the newspaper. “I think this is a black eye on Mohave County and sets a tone when we are trying to stimulate economic development. This could really hurt that goal.”
