Robert Anglen

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX — Two militia members playing key roles in the siege of an Oregon wildlife refuge say Arizona officials took children out of their homes as part of a campaign to pressure them into surrender.

Arizonans Robert “LaVoy” Finicum and Blaine Cooper, who are two of the more outspoken members of the anti-government occupation, said federal authorities pressured child-welfare officials to retaliate against them days after the siege began.

Interviews and research by The Arizona Republic indicate a court case was filed against Finicum. Court and Arizona Department of Child Safety officials, however, would not provide details of any such case, saying the law prevents disclosure of information.

"Any decision regarding a child in care is made solely on the basis of what is in the child's best interest and is always done in consultation with the Attorney General's Office and the courts," DCS spokesman Doug Nick said. "Confidentiality would prevent me from saying more."

In Oregon, a new-age militia holds its ground

The standoff at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is about to enter its third week. Armed militia members led by Phoenix businessman Ammon Bundy took over the federal facility Jan. 2 to protest the incarceration of two ranchers. They have vowed to stay until the ranchers are released and until the government relinquishes control of federal land and gives it to local authorities.

Non-profit tax records show that before joining the standoff, Finicum collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in state subsidies caring for foster children at his former ranch in Paulden and his new one near Colorado City.

On social media accounts and in multiple interviews, Finicum and Cooper accused the state of kidnapping children at the behest of the federal government.

Neither Finicum nor Cooper could be reached for comment.

Finicum, 55, blamed Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, telling Oregon Public Broadcasting that Arizona officials took four foster boys from his care and that federal authorities "must have gotten to the governor, who told the state to get them out of there.”

A spokesman for the governor's office said Friday the accusation was ridiculous.

"That is completely false. The governor is not involved in individual foster-care placement," Daniel Scarpinato said, adding that "some court proceedings led to this."

Records show Finicum and his wife, Jeanette, have contracted for years with Catholic Charities Community Services in Arizona to serve as therapeutic foster parents to children with special needs. Catholic Charities reported in tax returns that it paid the Finicums more than $115,000 in 2009 alone.

That was the last year the charity detailed disbursements to individual families. But Finicum said in interviews his primary source of income comes from fostering children for the state.

Catholic Charities contracts with Health Choice Integrated Care, the state's low-income behavioral health services provider, to recruit, train and monitor foster parents. It also distributes state funds to foster parents.

Catholic Charities officials confirmed the Finicums were licensed foster parents, but declined comment on their status or if they were facing investigation. Officials said decisions to remove children would be made by other agencies, including the DCS, and the courts.

Because the Finicums were assigned to foster children with severe emotional disabilities, they were required to follow a rigid set of rules that don't apply to regular foster parents, Catholic Charities spokeswoman Renee Targos said.

Targos said children were placed with therapeutic foster-care parents for a limited time, usually between 12 and 18 months.

"It is designed to be intensive ... and focused on addressing the child’s behavioral health treatment goals and permanency needs," she said.

Finicum serves as spokesman for Bundy's occupying force, which has christened itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom. He told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he and his wife had a successful track record working with at-risk boys. He said authorities arrived at his ranch once the siege started and removed the children, one by one, from his wife's care.

Cooper, who posts regular updates about the siege on Facebook and Twitter, said DCS case workers came to his Humboldt home and took custody of his two daughters from his wife.

Burns, Oregon residents' message to militia: 'Go away'

“FBI and CPS kidnaps Blaine Cooper's kids! Can you help?" Cooper wrote in a Jan. 16 post on Facebook. In an accompanying video from the refuge, he said authorities were retaliating by targeting his kids.

DCS was formerly known as Child Protective Services.

"CPS, believe it or not, because of what's going on here, went and kidnapped my kids," he said. "CPS is threatening to take my kids from me because of the stand we are making here."

Cooper, 36, told the Daily Courier in Prescott that the girls were planning on visiting him in Oregon before they were taken. The newspaper reported that authorities placed the girls with relatives and that Cooper's wife later removed them with the help of militia members and took them to live with family in Missouri.

Records show Cooper, who also has used the name Blaine Hicks, has been arrested several times and pleaded guilty in 2008 for disorderly conducted after being charged with criminal damage, disorderly conduct and disturbance.

Cooper's company, Third Watch Productions, creates videos, podcasts and posts about what it describes as government injustices, and encourages other like-minded people to get involved.

In another Jan. 16 video post, Cooper urged viewers not to focus on individual militia members.

"This is about the corruption of the (Bureau of Land Management) that has been rampant through the western half of the United States and it needs to be stopped," he said, adding: "The FBI is trying to draw us out now by taking our children from us and use fear tactics and use the media to demonize us and to destroy our lives. And it's not about us. It's about an injustice that was done."