UNANSWERED SHOTS ☆ THE ASTARITA TRIAL AND THE QUEST FOR ACCOUNTABILITY

The trial of FBI Hostage Rescue Team agent W. Joseph Astarita stands out as one of the most controversial legal battles stemming from the 2016 Malheur Wildlife Refuge Occupation.

Jury selection began in Portland federal court on July 24, 2018, marking a pivotal moment in the fight for accountability following the shooting death of Arizona rancher Robert "LaVoy" Finicum.

​The controversy centered on five unaccounted-for or missing shell casings and two rifle shots fired as Finicum’s truck swerved into a snowbank to avoid a deadman's roadblock.

State investigators later determined eight total shots were fired during the encounter, but while Oregon State Police SWAT team members immediately reported firing their weapons, members of the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team denied firing a single round.

​When investigators processed the crime scene, they discovered a bullet hole in the roof of Finicum’s truck. Using ballistic trajectory rods, forensic teams traced the angle of the shot back to the position where Astarita had been standing.

Further suspicion arose when FBI aerial infrared video footage revealed HRT operators scouring the dark roadway in the hours immediately after the shooting, bending over and searching near vehicles.

Federal prosecutors argued that HRT agents had picked up spent shell casings from the scene to conceal the unreported shots, while defense attorneys insisted the team was merely conducting a routine "sensitive items check" for lost gear and flash-bang remnants.

​Federal prosecutors indicted Astarita on charges of making false statements and obstruction of justice, alleging he knowingly lied to investigators when he claimed he never pulled the trigger.

Throughout the three-week trial, Astarita took the witness stand, wearing ear protection headsets during his testimony to demonstrate how he was allegedly "glassed out" by glare in his scope and maintained three separate times under oath that he never fired his weapon.

​Observing the proceedings every step of the way from the gallery was LaVoy’s widow, Jeanette Finicum, alongside friend, and fellow truck passenger Shawna Cox.

For Jeanette and supporters of the Finicum family, the trial was a raw confrontation with institutional secrecy and a system they believed was protecting its own.

On August 24, 2018, the jury delivered an acquittal on all counts, leaving the identity of who fired those two contentious rounds officially unresolved in the public record.

Ultimately, the verdict marked a painful chapter for the Finicum family and many observers who viewed the trial as a crucial test of government transparency.

While the court proceedings officially reached a legal conclusion, the unanswered questions surrounding those unaccounted shots continue to resonate as a powerful symbol of the deep-seated rift between citizens and federal authority.

— Vincent Easley II

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