Ruby Ridge
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Ruby Ridge is a remote mountainous area in the northern Idaho Panhandle, known for a confrontation in August 1992 between a family living there and agents of the US federal government. The actions of the government forces were later widely criticized by the US Senate and others; the government later settled for $3.1 million.
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Background
Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) were trying to infiltrate the Aryan Nations, a group of white supremacists based at nearby Hayden Lake. It remains hotly debated whether Randy Weaver, a local farmer, was a sympathizer, but he had visited the Aryan Nation church on more than one occasion and he did decorate his property with signs proclaiming "White Power is Supreme" and "Bow Down to Yahweh." [1]
He seemed well placed to act as an infiltrator, but refused to do so when asked. Perhaps intending to elicit his cooperation, the ATF used a confidential informant who solicited Weaver to saw off the barrels of two shotguns. It is disputed between the ATF and Weaver as to who exactly shortened the barrels to below the minimum legal length of 18 inches. He failed to appear in court to answer the charges, due to being told an incorrect date for the hearing. It is not known why Weaver was given the wrong court date, and it has been explained away as a typographical error. Even though they were both made aware of the date 'mix-up', Judge Harold Ryan agreed with US Attorney Ron Howen, and issued an arrest warrant for Weaver. However, the US Marshals Service delayed executing that warrant while, according to official accounts, attempting to negotiate Weaver's surrender for more than a year, by sending messages through Weaver friend Alan Jeppeson. Convinced it was a government conspiracy against them, Weaver sent a letter to the Boundary County Sheriff stating that he refused to leave his property. Vicki Weaver sent letters to various government agencies also stating they refused to leave their property, and making threatening statements such as, "The tyrant's blood shall flow" and "Whether we live or die we will not obey you…war is upon our land." [2]
Events
After 16 months of surveillance of the Weaver property in preparation for an arrest, A Deputy Director of the Special Operations Group of the Marshals Service recommended against a tactical assault on the Weaver compound and his recommendation that the indictment be dismissed and then refiled later under seal, so Weaver would be unaware of the new indictment. This was in hope that it would cause Weaver to drop his guard. His recommendation was not passed on, and on August 21, 1992, several well-armed US Marshals went to the Weaver property to clandestinely survey it. The group had strict orders that they were to avoid all contact with the Weaver family. According to a Department of Justice report on the incident, the Marshals were detected by the Weavers' dogs and began to retreat. Randy Weaver, his 14-year-old son Sam and his house guest, family friend Kevin Harris, left the house to investigate, all carrying firearms. The DOJ report corroborates this with a statement dictated by Randy Weaver to his daughter, in which he says that "Approximately 11:30 Friday morning....the dogs started barking like they always do when strangers walk up the driveway. Randy, Kevin, and Sam ran out to the rock with their weapons." Eventually the Marshals stopped retreating and took up defensive positions in the woods.
The sequence of events during the ensuing shootout is disputed, with Weaver and Harris saying that the Marshals fired first and did not identify themselves. The Marshals' version of events is they were fired on first after identifying themselves. In the ensuing exchange of gunfire, Sam was fatally shot in the back and Harris shot and killed a U.S. Marshal by the name of William Degan.
The next day, an FBI sniper named Lon Horiuchi shot and wounded Weaver while Weaver, Harris, and Weaver's 16-year-old daughter were outside, attempting to visit the dead body of Sam Weaver, which was placed in a shed after being recovered the previous day. As the three people ran back to the house, Horiuchi fired again in an attempt to shoot Kevin Harris, but the shot went through the open door of the cabin killing Weaver's wife Vicki, and only wounding Harris. Vicki Weaver was holding a baby in her hands when shot. Much controversy was later generated by the fact that, after the first day's events, the FBI had changed the rules of engagement. Specifically, that "deadly force could be used against any armed adult male if the shot could be taken without a child being injured." [3]
A stand-off ensued for ten days as several hundred federal agents surrounded the house, in which Weaver and his three surviving children remained with Harris and the dead body of Vicki Weaver. The FBI engaged in psychological warfare, saying over a bullhorn such things as “Good morning Mrs. Weaver,” “We had pancakes this morning. And what did you have for breakfast? Why don't you send your children out for some pancakes, Mrs. Weaver?”. The FBI later maintained that they were unaware that Vicki Weaver lay on the floor of the cabin, dead.
The area was surrounded by protesters angered at the heavy-handed nature of the authorities' actions. James "Bo" Gritz, then a third-party presidential candidate who had formerly been Weaver's commanding officer during the Vietnam War, served as a mediator between Weaver and the government. Eventually, Weaver elected to abandon the stand-off and trust his case to the judicial system.
Outcomes
At his trial in 1993, Weaver faced an array of charges, including the original weapons violations as well as murder. He was represented by noted trial lawyer Gerry Spence. Spence successfully argued that Weaver acted in self-defense, winning Weaver's acquittal on all charges except missing his original court date, for which he was sentenced to 18 months and fined $10,000. He was credited with time served and spent an additional 3 months in prison. Harris was acquitted of all charges. At one point in the trial, the judge admonished the FBI for withholding name-clearing evidence.
Later investigations criticized the federal agents. The United States Department of Justice's report recommended criminal prosecution of federal agents, though nothing has come of this. The surviving members of the Weaver family received a $3.1 million settlement.
The US Senate in September 1995 held hearings on the Ruby Ridge incident and, in December, released a report criticizing the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.
Idaho state authorities indicted Horiuchi for involuntary manslaughter, but the indictment was removed to federal jurisdiction based on the Supremacy Clause. The indictment was dismissed first by the Federal District Court, and the dismissal was affirmed on appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit Court stated in their ruling in State of Idaho v. Horiuchi (98-30149), "Horiuchi reasonably believed that shooting Harris was necessary and proper under the circumstances. Given the circumstances at the time, Horiuchi made an objectively reasonable decision," and "Horiuchi's testimony that he never saw Vicki Weaver and did not know she was behind the door was not disputed."[4]
Weaver himself wrote a 1998 paperback book, The Federal Siege At Ruby Ridge, about the incident. Years later, he was still selling it at occasional appearances on the gun show circuit as far away as the east coast.
Music
The punk band Propagandhi mentions Ruby Ridge in the song "Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes" - "The tangled webs they weave span from Pine to Ruby Ridge, way back from Shay's defeat on up to Gustafsen."
The Bluegrass artist Peter Rowan wrote a song about this incident for his 1996 album, Bluegrass Boys, titled "Ruby Ridge". It is track number 8 on the album. - "They killed a good dog, they killed a boy/ my only son, my pride and joy/ they shot my wife, dead on the floor/ holding our baby in the cabin door/ Don't shoot me down. Don't shoot me down. Got a wife and kids on Ruby Ridge, please don't shoot me down." ... "So if your movin' to Idaho where the land is free/ Don't sell no shotgun to no deputy."