That’s the noble goal of Oklahoma State Rep. Justin “JJ” Humphrey. A law enforcement officer for over three decades, the lawmaker prepared a probable cause affidavit that he presented to the state attorney general.
It called for a probe which could lead to the arrests of several ATF agents.
As Humphrey noted, “The Oklahoma attorney general referred it to the U.S. attorney general, but we want to get it to a state grand jury. We don’t want the feds investigating the feds. Let’s get it before an Oklahoma grand jury.”
The startling incident unfolded on June 16 when over a dozen ATF SWAT team members converged on the Oklahoma home of Russell Fincher. A pillar of the community, Fincher is a Baptist pastor who teaches high school in Tuskahoma and at the time was a federal firearm licensee.
He also coaches Little League.
No matter, as the agents handcuffed him on his front porch in front of his 13-year-old son despite him offering no resistance.
Fincher’s crime? Being a licensed gun dealer who conducts the extremely common practice of selling his wares from gun shows and occasionally his home. What the industry calls a “kitchen table FFL,” and major profits are not a part of his business. Most of his sales are through popular gun shows.
“Living in Southeast Oklahoma,” he explained, “if you don’t have a gun under $400, people ain’t buying it. Rarely do people come to my house to buy a gun.”
He received a call two months earlier from the agency saying they wanted to do an inspection. Fincher welcomed them and they came a few days later. They found a few guns with traces on them, which he said concerned him also.
The agents also expressed “concerns” over his penmanship and found an error on one form. The firearm’s model number was switched with its serial number. Not exactly a capital offense.
They left before returning in the infamous June 16 raid in which they roared into his rural driveway with seven vehicles.
ATF Special Agent Theodore Mongell told Fincher while he was being held, “You tell all your FFL buddies we are coming for them.” Humphrey considers this a terroristic threat, which is a felony in his state. Mongell’s colleagues disabled the homeowner’s security cameras and then seized over 50 firearms.
The estimated value of their haul was over $60,000, but they offered to compensate him with $10 per weapon. No charges to this day have been filed, and Humphrey believes the victim was wrongly targeted by an overzealous federal agency.
The veteran officer and current lawmaker does not go after the ATF lightly. “I struggle with seeking charges against fellow police officers. However, it appears [the] ATF is abusing their police powers and violating their oaths of office. I believe the ATF has committed crimes and violated Fincher’s civil rights and due process of law,” he stated in the affidavit.
Humphrey cited his 30 years of law enforcement experience when he asked the ATF for a copy of the search warrant. The agency refused. The lawmaker said they were supposed to leave a copy of the warrant with Fincher to show exactly what they were authorized to search for.
He noted the arrogance of the ATF supervisors who he contacted over the case. “They were just cocky. They told me I don’t understand the federal system. I told them I do understand it. Y’all can’t break the law.”
Humphrey believes agents are guilty of, among other infractions, extortion or attempted extortion, obtaining a signature by extortion, extortion under color of official right and terroristic threats.
The legislator believes the ATF violated his constituent’s Second, Fourth, Fifth and Tenth Amendment rights, plus possibly committed theft. “How do you seize his guns and then maybe charge him later, and then offer him $10 per gun? Talk about extortion.”
