Mourners fill pews for LaVoy Finicum funeral

Soft music played as hundreds of people from across the country crowded into a Mormon church in a small Utah town for Friday’s funeral for the spokesman for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge armed standoff.

“I’m just really proud of him. I’m heartbroken; but I’m proud of him,” said LaVoy Fincium’s daughter Brittney Beck.

Pictures of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum and his family were displayed at the church’s entrance Friday, along with a saddle and a painting of a cowboy next to his horse.

“He believes in the proper role of government and in the Constitution and he would give everything to protect those things,” said Fincum’s daughter Arianna Brown. “And he did.”

Mourners filled the main pews, gymnasium and several overflow rooms in Kanab, near the Arizona line. Others stood against the walls. Some small children held American flags.

“He was fun, he was a trickster, he loved God, he loved his family and he loved liberty,” Beck said.

The FBI said Oregon State Police troopers shot and killed the Arizona rancher during a Jan. 26 traffic stop north of Burns after they say he reached for a gun. His supporters called it an ambush.

The Kane County Sheriff’s Office said the event could draw up to 1,000 people.

“We told officers to be extra careful today, more than usual,” said the chief deputy with the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Alan Alldredge.

Alldredge said officers from other counties have been called in for support.

Hundreds attended the viewing for Finicum at a Mormon church and pickup trucks flying American flags filled the church parking lot.

Ben Matthews of Port Huron, Michigan, says he went to Oregon during the occupation and called Finicum “a hero to me.”

Shawna Cox, the only woman arrested in the armed standoff, will attend the funeral.

Judge Anna Brown has allowed Cox to attend after previously denying permission. Brown warned Cox by telephone not to discuss the standoff or publicly comment while attending the event.

The funeral will be followed by a benefit concert.

There will be two vigils on Saturday afternoon, in Prineville and at the location where Finicum was shot outside of Burns.