JOHN DAY – Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter disputes the local sheriff's claim the men were put in danger when dispatchers withheld information during the refuge standoff.
Carpenter volunteered to join Sheriff Glenn Palmer as he headed for a state police roadblock set up after the fatal shooting of armed militant Robert "LaVoy" Finicum. The roadblock was in Grant County at the town of Seneca, about 27 miles north of the shooting scene. The scene was in Harney County. Finicum was one of the leaders of the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Palmer has said he intends to sue John Day city officials because dispatchers didn't tell him all they knew about the situation as he headed towards the road block.
"The actions of the city of John Day's dispatchers knowingly and recklessly put Palmer and District Attorney Carpenter's lives in danger," said the tort claim, issued March 31 by the sheriff's personal attorneys. The claim doesn't provide any details of what risk the men faced.
Carpenter reacted to the claim in a late-night statement Tuesday.
"At no time did I perceive that I was in danger at the roadblock on Jan. 26," Carpenter said.
He said state troopers were "alert and cautious" as he approached.
"Once I was identified, I was able to walk among them, ask questions, share information and talk freely with them. A few of them were from my local outpost and are my friends and associates. Others I had met through various cases we had worked together. I was never uncomfortable or threatened," Carpenter said.
He said the only tense moment was when journalists from The Oregonian/OregonLive arrived soon after at the roadblock, with one carrying a camera tripod. Palmer unracked his shotgun as the pair approached but returned the weapon once they were identified. The resulting photos of Palmer have been published repeatedly.
"When Oregonian reporters approached, everyone, including the sheriff (hence the photos of him with his gun), went on high alert and remained that way until the reporters were identified (at that point I may have been concerned as I seemed to be the only one in a bright white shirt and was without a gun or body armor; I stepped behind a snow plow and an OSP Trooper joined me while identification of the visitors was taking place; whether true or not I believed that Trooper to be actively protecting me should there be any real threat)," Carpenter wrote.
He said Palmer didn't consult him about the tort claim "nor will I be a part of it with regard to questions about my personal safety. I do not have requisite information to comment on the remainder of the Sheriff's claims."
Carpenter addressed the claim by a John Day official that dispatchers feared Palmer had an armed militant with him when he headed for the roadblock. Palmer had been at a community meeting in John Day at the time, preparing to join occupation leaders in speaking to local residents.
"To be fair, at no time while I was with the sheriff did I think we were headed to meet with any militia, nor did he make any statements in my presence in support of them," Carpenter said. "When he radioed that we were going to the roadblock he indicated he was in route 'with one.' I agree he could have been more specific by identifying me by my name or my position, but I did not sense that he was trying to be evasive," Carpenter said.
-- Les Zaitz
@leszaitz