On January 26, 2016, law enforcement officers attempted to arrest Finicum and other occupation leaders while they were traveling on a remote highway to meet with supporters in the next county.

When Finicum's truck was finally stopped by a roadblock, he exited the vehicle into deep snow and was fired upon, but the officers missed.

In January 2016, the state removed all of Finicum's foster children because of his involvement with the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

"[3] In August 2015, Finicum decided to cease complying with the terms of his grazing permit with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

In the first complaint filed with the court, the government alleged Finicum had accompanied Keebler on a "reconnaissance" of the cabin in October 2015.

[11] He was dubbed "Tarp Man" by MSNBC for sitting outside at night in a rocking chair, holding a rifle on his lap, and sometimes covering himself completely with a blue tarpaulin for additional protection against the elements.

[17] When asked on January 6 if he would rather be killed than arrested if the occupation turned violent, Finicum replied, "I have no intention of spending any of my days in a concrete box.

[19][20][21] State and federal authorities used the opportunity to intercept them with a two-phase operation involving a traffic stop and a roadblock about two miles further along the highway.

[20] The driver of the Jeep, Mark McConnell, who was a government informant and the only occupant of the vehicle with a firearm, was not arrested or charged.

[19][32] When Finicum's truck became stuck in the snow, he immediately left the vehicle, with his hands raised shouting "go ahead and shoot me"[1], just as two shots were fired by an FBI agent.

[32] Meanwhile, Finicum moved about in the snow, alternating between holding his hands above his head and seemingly reaching into his jacket, where officers later found a loaded semi-automatic weapon.

They later determined that an FBI Hostage Rescue Team member fired twice at Finicum, missed him but injured a second militant in the process.

[40][41] During initial processing of the scene, the rifle cartridge casings purportedly fired by the FBI agent were reported not present.

Law enforcement officials began the investigation into the gunshots after watching the full surveillance video and suspecting something was amiss.

Two FBI pickup trucks were searched for casings, but none were found, while at least three OSP officers were interrogated about their initial processing of the scene.

[54] About another 100 people led by the 3 Percenters rallied at the Idaho State Capitol in the afternoon in honor of Finicum, who they believed was unarmed at the time of his death.

[55] On March 4, a group of about a dozen armed protesters surrounded a federal courthouse in Tucson, Arizona, demanding the state troopers who shot Finicum be indicted and fired.

[56] Another rally, led by Finicum's widow, was held at the Utah State Capitol on March 5 with 200–300 people in attendance.

[58] On May 12, more than a dozen Arizona politicians wrote a letter to Oregon Governor Kate Brown, in which they asked her to conduct another, more transparent investigation into Finicum's death.

[59] On August 27, 2016, Finicum's widow, Jeanette, announced her plans to sue the OSP and the FBI for civil rights violations relating to his death.

[60] On January 26, 2018, Finicum's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the United States district court in Pendleton, Oregon.

Named as defendants were the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oregon State Police, the Bureau of Land Management, the Oregon governor Kate Brown, Greg Bretzing, former FBI special agent in charge in Portland, acquitted FBI agent Astarita, U.S.

[61] Kieran Suckling, the executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, called the suit a "bizarre, incoherent, yet nonetheless dangerous, attack on free speech".

[62] On July 24, 2020, federal Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan dismissed claims against all defendants except the Oregon State Police.