re: FBI releases video of chase, shooting that killed Oregon refugee occupier

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I agree that once the hand reached in the coat he sealed his fate. I guess I am more baffled about the overall hasty energy and seriousness the government is putting into this situation with some redneck farmers in the middle of nowhere. Road blocks, heavy weapons. I realize the rednecks are armed but I am very surprised at how quickly the government is wanting to move on this, no hostages or critical building being taken over. That is all. Just my two cents. The guy was doing about 60 mph at the road block and reached in his coat, he's going to be shot.

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You're surprised by how quickly the government moved? Are you joking? This has been going on for a month, and the occupiers are armed and are saying extremely inflammatory things about killing government agents and going down fighting.

The FBI has been watching them and noticed that the occupiers were becoming very comfortable with coming and going to and from the government compound. Some people were going home on the weekends.

The FBI learned that all the leaders of the occupation were leaving at the same time to go to a meeting somewhere else, and that's when they decided to intercept them on the highway away from any populated area. They intentionally inderdicted them in a way that reduced the risk of violence--on the highway, where there was no cover, and where the government would have absolute control over the circumstances of the confrontation.

The FBI did a great job and they may not have gotten a better opportunity to end this in a relatively peaceful way. They can't help it if one idiot decides to commit suicide by cop, especially if that idiot had already said in recorded interviews that he'd never be taken alive.

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I am guessing you can't see the forest past the trees here.

Do you think what happened was a win for LE? If anything it made their job more dangerous as now they'll have to worry about retaliation, if not here then somewhere down the road.

A peaceful solution would have made everyone's jobs a lot safer.

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Killing the one nut who said he'd never be taken alive after he reached for his waistband is probably as peaceful a solution as the government was going to find in this case, short of completely undermining their authority by caving to the occupiers, which was never going to happen because the occupiers were simply wrong. Letting this go on any longer would actually just embolden future efforts by right wing extremists to undermine the authority of the government.