By: José Niño
The ATF recently showed its true tyrannical colors yet again after conducting a SWAT-style raid of a Pushmataha County, Oklahoma resident’s home.
In response to this shocking development, Pushmataha County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the ATF for its raid on Russell Fincher. PCSO Undersheriff Dustin Bray announced this development on September 5, 2023.
The undersheriff revealed that no ATF functionaries informed the sheriff’s office beforehand that heavily armed federal agents would be carrying out the SWAT raid.
“We weren’t apprised of anything,” Bray said. “We are a Second Amendment County and we are going to protect our citizens here. We are not going to enforce any gun law or rule that violates the Constitution.”
With respect to this investigation leading to criminal or constitutional charges against ATF agents, Bray added, “That’s a good one for the Attorney General. The thing I’m looking at are more constitutional issues than criminal, such as civil rights violations.”
Bray said that the PCSO started a probe into the ATF’s behavior in this case. However, this investigation was delayed due to a double homicide that occurred in the county, in addition to two other shootings involving police officers.
“We are going to look at this and take it as far as we can,” Bray stated. “We are going to look at it – definitely.”
Undersheriff Bray was particularly worried about the ATF’s alleged violation of standard deconfliction protocols, which state, county, and local law enforcement agencies abide by.
According to the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, confliction is “the process of determining when law enforcement personnel are conducting an event in close proximity to one another at the same time. Events include law enforcement actions such as raids, undercover operations, surveillance, or executing search warrants.”
Simply put, deconfliction prevents two groups of law enforcement officials from arriving at the same location at the same time and getting into a potentially armed standoff.
“They (ATF) didn’t do any deconfliction with Pushmataha County,” Bray stated. “We had no idea they were coming. We didn’t hear anything about it until weeks had passed. Nothing ever got reported to us. I’m not a fan of that. The Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of the county.”
According to a story published on September 5, 2023, Oklahoma State Representative Justin Humphrey sent out a letter to the state’s governor, attorney general, and other law enforcement officials calling for an investigation into the ATF’s raid of Fincher’s home. Fincher is a constituent of Humphrey’s, whose district is in Oklahoma’s 19th House District.
Per a press release, Humphrey claimed that Fincher contacted him following an incident where a dozen ATF SWAT team members brandishing “automatic weapons” conducted a raid on Fincher’s home, subsequently putting him in handcuffs on his porch in front of his 13-year-old son. From there, the ATF agents used coercive tactics that resulted in Fincher giving up his Federal Firearm License.
“If this report is true, and I have every reason to believe it is, then it would appear the ATF’s actions constitute a gross misuse and abuse of their federal police powers,” Humphrey declared in the press release.
In his letter, Humphrey argued that Fincher “is a distinguished figure in our community, serving both as pastor and schoolteacher in the small community of Clayton, Oklahoma. He is known as a respected member of the community, and I have every reason to believe his account. If proven true, the actions of the ATF agents could be seen as a severe misuse and abuse of their federal law enforcement authority.”
So far, a GiveSendGo account was established to assist Fincher with his legal fees.
The case Fincher is going through illustrates the pernicious nature of the ATF. It functions as a secret police force for the anti-gun administrative state. Through its subversion of the legislative process, the ATF is able to tyrannize gun owners and gun vendors without any legislative accountability.
It cannot be stressed enough that the ATF poses an existential threat to gun rights in the US. For that reason, it must be defunded and eventually abolished.
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.