He met with armed militants and insurrectionists who were holding the federal facility and called them "patriots".
A short way before the county line Finicum encountered a roadblock, where he was shot in the back and killed by the Oregon State Police.
It is assumed he did not know about the roadblock just south of the Grant County line because the FBI, and Oregon State Police considered Palmer to be a security leak.
It is assumed that the roadblock was intentionally set in next door Harney County in order that Palmer would be kept in the dark about the operation.
[3][5] As of August 2016, Palmer was being investigated by the Oregon Department of Justice for tampering with public records.