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For 11 days in August 1992 the country stood in amazement as they watched non-stop
coverage of federal government agencies the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms,
U.S Marshals Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation with local
law enforcement surround a small cabin in a standoff in the mountains of Idaho.
When it was over three people would be dead and the government-fed media spin machine went into
hyper-drive to try and make sense of what had happened at a place called Ruby Ridge.
Who was Randy Weaver? Why was he targeted by the federal government and the Justice Department?
wWhat really happened at Ruby Ridge? Why was the federal bovernment held liable for its actions?
Hello I'm Colin Heaton a veteran of the United States Army and Marine
Corps former history professor book author and welcome to this episode of Forgotten History.
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Randy Weaver was one of four children born to Clarence and Wilma Weaver a farming couple in
Villisca, Iowa on January 3 1948. The family grew up as devout Christians and had some
difficulty finding a denomination that matched their views so they often moved around amongst
Evangelical Presbyterian and Baptist churches. After graduating from Jefferson High School in
1966 Weaver attended Iowa Central Community College for two years. In 1968 he dropped out
to enlist in the United States Army during the height of the Vietnam War. He was stationed at
Fort Bragg in North Carolina where he attended the demolitions combat engineer course conducted by
the Special Forces and he was discharged in 1971 having never served in Vietnam or seen combat.
Randy Weaver and Vicki Jordison married in a ceremony at the First Congregationalist
Church in Fort Dodge Iowa in November 1971. Weaver dropped out after one semester while
attending the University of Northern Iowa after he landed a well-paying job at the nearby John
Deere tractor factory. His wife Vicki worked first as a secretary and then as a homemaker.
Vicki Weaver was a firm believer in the apocalypse factor and wanted the family to move away from
main society so they purchased a 20-acre property in remote Boundary County Idaho for $5,000 in
1983 and built a cabin. They also believed that interracial marriages were an afront and held
strong Christian identity beliefs believing that Jews were imposters and white Protestants are the
true descendants of Israel. Weaver also sought a life of solitude and he became a self-proclaimed
separatist from the federal government. Weaver testified about his racial beliefs before a U.S.
Senate Judiciary Committee in 1995 saying; "I am not a hateful racist as most people understand
it but I believe in the separation of races. We wanted to be separate from the rest of the world
to live in a remote area to give our children a good place to grow up." Weaver became friends
with many members of the Aryan Nations although he never joined the group he was often a visitor
at their compound in Hayden Lake Idaho in the late 1980s. Aryan Nations were already on the federal
government's watch list much like the Ku Klux Klan before it was destroyed in courts and by lawsuits.
In 1988 Weaver decided to run for county sheriff using the slogan "Get out of jail free" and he was
a believer that Americans should not pay federal taxes. Weaver then had a property dispute with a
neighbor who went to the Boundary County sheriff and gave a statement saying that Weaver had made
verbal violent threats against President Ronald Reagan and the governor of Idaho among others.
This eventually led to the Secret Service interviewing Weaver something he was very
unhappy about and made him even more reclusive and angry at the government.
In 1989 Weaver met undercover ATF agent Kenneth Fadeley who used the Alias "Gus Magisano" at a
meeting of the white supremacist group Aryan Nations. According to the government after a
friendship of three years Weaver agreed to sell Fadeley two sawed-off shotguns and was recorded
on tape saying he could supply Fadeley with four or five illegal shotguns a week. It was a trap.
In December 1990 Weaver received felony weapons charges in connection with the 1989 transaction.
During this period the Weaver family relocated from a house they were renting into another cabin
near Ruby Ridge Idaho in the Selkirk mountains. In January 1991 three federal agents posed as
stranded motorists near Weaver's home and with the county sheriff arrested him and brought him
in for arraignment when he approached to offer assistance. Weaver's court date was set for
February 19 1991 and he was released on bond. The court date would later be rescheduled for February
20th 1991 instead. However a letter sent to Weaver by a probation officer mistakenly listed the date
as March 20 1991 which meant that Weaver never received the accurate court date. The feds then
told Weaver that the gun charges would go away if he became an informant against the Aryan Nations.
Already distrusting of the government Weaver refused the deal and informed the Aryan Nations.
Vicki Weaver was incensed and wrote to U.S. Attorney Maurice O. Ellsworth
addressing him as "Servant of the Queen of Babylon" and she wrote "The stink of your
lawless government has reached Heaven the Abode of Yahweh our Yahshua," and
"Whether we live or whether we die we will not bow to your evil commandments."
She also wrote letters to law enforcement and any government agencies threatening "violence
if they trespassed on their property or take any action against the family." She was particularly
concerned about the authority figures who might come and try to take her children. Weaver had
made it clear that he had a 300 yard radius kill zone around his property and anyone within sight
ignoring the no trespassing signs around his home without his permission would be fired upon.
While he never actually attacked anyone like this he was very open about it and apparently serious.
Not long afterward on August 21st 1992 deputies of the United States Marshals service arrived to
rest Weaver under a bench warrant for failure to appear on the firearms charge thus beginning the
11-day standoff. A key point was that Weaver was never asked to surrender. He stayed inside the
cabin with his family and friend Kevin Harris. Due to the suspicion that there could be persons
held hostage inside the cabin Federal Bureau of Investigation Hostage Rescue Team was brought in.
At the time of the Ruby Ridge siege the Weaver's had four children Sarah 16 Samuel 14 Rachel 10 and
Elisheba 10 months old. Vicki home schooled the children. The situation grew even more
tense as the national then worldwide media became aware of the situation and the Attorney General
was under pressure to conclude the situation quickly. While doing a reconnaissance of the
property six of the marshals encountered Harris and young Sam Weaver in the woods near the cabin.
A shootout then took place and as to who fired first became a great controversy
The marshals shot and Art Roderick killed the Weaver's dog Striker then shot again and there was
confusion on who shot young Sam Weaver in the back as he ran away killing him. During the fire fight
Harris returned fire and shot Deputy U.S. Marshal William Francis Degan in the chest killing him.
Then on August 22 1992 FBI sniper observers with the Hostage Rescue Team arrived at Ruby Ridge.
They were issued with their special Rules of Engagement allowing them to shoot any armed adult
male exiting the cabin. That day FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi was concealed 200 yards from the cabin.
Horiuchi fired when he believed Weaver and Harris were preparing to shoot at an FBI helicopter.
The first shot hit Randy Weaver in the arm. Horiuchi fired a second shot meant for Harris
as the men ran back into the cabin. The bullet struck 43-year-old Vicki Weaver in the face
while she held her infant daughter behind the front door of the cabin and also injured Harris.
Vicki Weaver died soon after but her body remained in the cabin for 11 days. Horiuchi later claimed
that he never knew she was there but a sketch he doodled on hotel stationery the day after the
shooting appeared to show that he was aware there was another person near the door. The next day
the HRT unaware that they had killed Vicki Weaver the previous day asked via megaphone on the third
morning what "she" meaning Vicki "and the kids had for breakfast" in a way that came up as completely
ghoulish to the Weaver family who thought the HRT knew what they had done. The FBI and Marshals
brought in Green Beret war hero Bo Gritz as a negotiator. His efforts convinced Weaver to allow
Harris to receive medical attention and he was subsequently arrested on August 30th. Gritz also
convinced Randy Weaver and his three daughters to surrender also which they did the next day.
Weaver was charged with 10 major crimes including murder for the death of the Deputy U.S. Marshal
Degan; conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to violate federal firearms laws, assault,
etc. A total of 10 counts.
Famed Cowboy Attorney Jerry Spence was Weaver's defense attorney and he successfully argued that
Weaver's actions were justifiable as self-defense. Spence did not call any witnesses for the defense
rather focusing on attacking the credibility of FBI agents and forensic technicians.
The judge in the case later dismissed two counts after hearing prosecution witness testimony which
was conflicting on the events as well as the fact that it came to light that Weaver had
been approached by ATF Agent Kenneth Fadeley who asked Weaver to supply the shotguns. That
was entrapment and the charges associated with that event the judge had set aside. Critics said
that the very strict rules of engagement were altered during the Ruby Ridge siege relaxed to
the point to force FBI snipers to shoot unarmed adults. Larry Potts demoted from the Bureau's
number two position and four other FBI officials were suspended pending a criminal investigation
into whether they covered up evidence that the deadly force rules were changed during the siege.
Weaver was found guilty of the one count "failure to appear" for which he was fined $10,000 and
sentenced to 18 months in prison but he was credited with time served having awaited trial for
14 months in jail plus an additional three months and he was then released. His friend Kevin Harris
was acquitted of all criminal charges. The legal fallout from public pressure was like an avalanche
mainly because it was an election year. An inquiry by the Justice Department criticized the FBI for
failing to gather sufficient intelligence and for not ordering the residents of the
cabin to surrender before engaging them in a firefight. It also concluded the Horiuchi's
second shot was unconstitutional because Harris and Weaver were running for cover and could not
be considered imminent threats and both men were unarmed at the time. The inquiry further alleged
that Horiuchi unnecessarily endangered others by firing at the door of the cabin but the U.S
attorney general decided that there would be no criminal charges against Horiuchi.
However local prosecutors in Boundary County Idaho charged Horiuchi with involuntary manslaughter.
The case was moved to a federal district court which dismissed the charges against Horiuchi on
the grounds that he was immune from prosecution because he was acting in his official capacity.
An appeals court affirmed the district court's ruling but a second "enbank" or
"fuller complement" of judges panel reversed that decision and required that Horiuchi stand trial.
Before a third larger en bank panel could be convened to consider that decision the state of
Idaho announced that it was dropping charges and all three earlier rulings were vacated.
These events also led to some demotions and suspensions of various people in the
FBI including HRT Commander Richard Rogers who was also in command to Waco but no charges were
filed against anyone in the government except Lon Horiuchi for manslaughter
and those charges were eventually dropped after several years of legal wrangling back and forth.
The event at Ruby Ridge became a global news story and a clarion called to millions who believed that
the federal government was exercising too much power without enough constitutional oversight
especially where the second amendment was concerned. Weaver was interviewed by New
York Times Reporter Ken Fuson in 1995 where he expressed his regret about not appearing in court
for his 1991 gun charge saying "I'm not totally without fault in this." In August 1995 the U.S.
government in order to avoid a highly publicized trial on the civil lawsuit filed by the Weavers
settled out of court and awarding the three surviving daughters $1,000,000 each and Randy
Weaver $100,000 over the deaths of Sammy and Vicki Weaver. His family eventually received
a total of $3.1 million in compensation for the killing of his wife and son by federal agents.
In 1998 Weaver published his own book titled "The Federal Siege at Ruby Ridge: In Our Own Words"
where he toured gun shows and sold autographed books. In 1999 he married legal secretary Linda
Gross in Jefferson Iowa. Apparently the event at Ruby Ridge at altered Weaver's outlook on many
things. On June 18 2007 Weaver participated in a press conference with tax protesters Edward and
Elaine Brown on the front porch of their home in Plainfield New Hampshire. He told the assembled
group quote; "I ain't afraid of dying no more. I'm curious about the afterlife and I'm an atheist."
The story became a major part of the anti-government political landscape
and popular entertainment. A CBS miniseries about the Ruby Ridge
incident titled "Ruby Ridge an American Tragedy" aired on May 19th and 21 1996.
It was based on the book "Every Knee Shall Bow" by journalist Jess Walter. It starred Laura Dern
as Vicki, Kirsten Dunst as Sara and Randy Quaid as Randy Weaver and to Bull Gunton as Bo Gritz.
Later that year the television series was adapted into a full-length TV movie "The Siege at Ruby
Ridge." The documentary Ruby Ridge was released by Reality Productions Group for The Learning
Channel television in 2000. The documentary includes interviews with Randy and Rachel Weaver,
FBI site Commander Eugene Glenn, Hostage Rescue Team negotiator Fred Leslie, civilian negotiators
Bo Gritz and Jackie Brown. Randy Weaver died on May 11 2022 aged 74 after a month-long illness
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