Ruby Ridge

Ruby Ridge standoff
	Vicki Weaver as seen from a USMS surveillance position on August 21, 1992
Date	August 21–31, 1992
Location	Near Naples, Idaho, U.S.; 48°37′14″N 116°25′59″W
Caused by	Resistance to USMS actions taken pursuant to a bench warrant for Randy Weaver; FBI actions taken following shooting death of a U.S. Marshal, statements by Weaver, and shots allegedly fired at a news helicopter
Resulted in	Deaths of Deputy U.S. Marshal W.F. Degan, Samuel Weaver (juvenile), and Vicki Weaver; prosecution of Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris (later acquitted); civil suits against the US
Parties to the civil conflict
Randy Weaver, members of his immediate family, and friend Kevin Harris	U.S. government U.S. Marshals; FBI; ATF;
Casualties and losses
2 killed ; 2 wounded ; 1 canine killed	1 U.S. Marshal killed
	Ruby Ridge Location within the United States Ruby Ridge Ruby Ridge (Idaho)

Ruby Ridge was the site of an 11-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench warrant after his failure to appear on firearms charges. Weaver refused to surrender, and members of his immediate family, and family friend Kevin Harris, resisted as well. The Hostage Rescue Team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI HRT) became involved as the siege developed.

During the Marshals Service reconnoiter of the Weaver property, six U.S. Marshals encountered Harris and Sammy Weaver, Randy's 14-year-old son, in woods near the family cabin. A shootout took place. Deputy U.S. Marshal William Francis Degan, Sammy Weaver, and the Weavers' dog, Striker, all died as a result. In the subsequent siege of the Weaver residence, led by the FBI, Weaver's wife Vicki was killed by FBI sniper fire. All casualties occurred in the first two days of the operation. The siege and standoff were ultimately resolved by civilian negotiators. Harris surrendered and was arrested on August 30, while Weaver and his three daughters surrendered the next day.

Weaver and Harris were subsequently arraigned on a variety of federal criminal charges, including first-degree murder for the death of Degan. Harris was acquitted of all charges, and Weaver was acquitted of all charges except for the original bail condition violation for the arms charges and for having missed his original court date. He was fined $10,000 and sentenced to 18 months in prison, credited with time served plus an additional three months, and released after 16 months.[1][2]

During the federal criminal trial of Weaver and Harris, Weaver's attorney Gerry Spence made accusations of "criminal wrongdoing" against the agencies involved in the incident, in particular the FBI, the USMS, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), and the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for Idaho. At the trial's end, the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility formed the Ruby Ridge Task Force (RRTF) to investigate Spence's charges. A redacted HTML version of the RRTF report, publicly released by Lexis Counsel Connect, raised questions about all the participating agencies' conduct and policies. The Justice Department later posted a more complete PDF version of the report.[3][4]

Both the Weaver family and Harris brought civil suits against the government over the firefight and siege. The Weavers won a combined out-of-court settlement in August 1995 of $3.1 million. After numerous appeals, Harris was awarded a $380,000 settlement in September 2000.

To answer public questions about Ruby Ridge, the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government Information held hearings between September 6 and October 19, 1995, and subsequently issued a report calling for reforms in federal law enforcement to prevent a repeat of the losses of life at Ruby Ridge and restore public confidence in federal law enforcement.[5] It was noted that the Ruby Ridge incident and the 1993 Waco siege involved many of the same agencies (the FBI HRT and the ATF) and some of the same personnel (the FBI HRT commander). The GAO also conducted a review of federal policies about use of deadly force, publishing it in 1995.

The Boundary County prosecutor indicted FBI HRT sniper Lon Horiuchi for manslaughter in 1997 before the statute of limitations for the charge could expire; the case, Idaho v. Horiuchi, was moved to federal court, which has jurisdiction over federal agents.[6] It was dismissed because of the supremacy clause. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in 2001 that Horiuchi could be tried on state charges. However, a new county prosecutor, Brett Benson, had been elected in 2000 and dismissed the case, saying it was unlikely the state would be able to prove the criminal charges. His decision was controversial.[7][8]

Geography

Ruby Ridge is the southernmost of four ridges that extend east from the Bottleneck/Roman Nose mountain range toward the Kootenai River.[9] Caribou Ridge lies north of it,[10] and the area between them drains into the Ruby Creek. Some local maps have identified Ruby Ridge as an extension of Caribou Ridge, but press reporting on the Weaver standoff used the federally recognized name.[11] It is approximately thirty miles (50 km) south of the border with Canada (British Columbia).

Development

Randy Weaver, a former Iowa factory worker and U.S. Army Green Beret,[12] moved with his wife and four children to northern Idaho during the 1980s so they could "home-school his children and escape what he and his wife Vicki saw as a corrupted world."[13][14] In 1978, Vicki, the religious leader of the family,[15] began to have recurrent dreams of living on a mountaintop and believed that the apocalypse was imminent.[16] After the birth of their son, Samuel, the Weavers began selling their belongings[17] and learning to live without electricity.[15] They bought twenty acres (8 ha) of land on Ruby Ridge in 1983 and began building a cabin;[18] the property was in Boundary County on a hillside on Ruby Creek opposite Caribou Ridge, northwest of nearby Naples, Idaho.[11]

In 1984, Randy Weaver and his neighbor Terry Kinnison had a dispute over a $3,000 land deal. Kinnison lost the ensuing lawsuit and was ordered to pay Weaver an additional $2,100 in court costs and damages. Kinnison wrote letters to the FBI, Secret Service, and county sheriff alleging Weaver had threatened to kill Pope John Paul II, President Ronald Reagan, and Idaho Governor John V. Evans.[19]

In January 1985, the FBI and Secret Service began an investigation of allegations that Weaver had made threats against Reagan and other government and law enforcement officials.[20] On February 12, Randy and Vicki Weaver were interviewed by two FBI agents, two Secret Service agents, and the Boundary County sheriff and his chief investigator.[21] The Secret Service had been told that Weaver was a member of the white supremacist group Aryan Nations and that he had a large weapons cache at his residence. Weaver denied these allegations, and the government filed no charges. [20]

The investigation noted that Weaver associated with Frank Kumnick, who was known to associate with members of Aryan Nations. Weaver told the investigators that neither he nor Kumnick was a member of Aryan Nations and described Kumnick as "associated with The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord."[22] On February 28, Randy and Vicki Weaver filed an affidavit with the county courthouse alleging that their personal enemies were plotting to provoke the FBI into attacking and killing the Weaver family.[21] On May 6, Randy and Vicki Weaver sent Reagan a letter claiming that Weaver's enemies may have sent Reagan a threatening letter under a forged signature. No evidence of such a letter surfaced, but the 1985 letter was cited by the prosecutor in 1992 as Overt Act 7 of the Weaver family conspiracy against the federal government.[23][24]

ATF involvement

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms first became aware of Weaver in July 1986, when he was introduced to a confidential ATF informant at a meeting at the World Aryan Congress.[20] The informant portrayed himself as a weapons dealer.[22] Weaver had been invited to the meeting by Frank Kumnick, the original target of the ATF investigation. It was Weaver's first time at this Congress. Over the next three years, Weaver and the informant met several times.[20] In July 1989, Weaver invited the informant to his home to discuss forming a group to fight the "Zionist Organized Government", referring to the U.S. government.[20]

In October 1989, the ATF claimed that Weaver sold the informant two sawed-off shotguns, with the overall length of the guns shorter than the limit set by federal law. In November 1989, Weaver accused the ATF informant of being a spy for the police; Weaver later wrote he had been warned by "Rico V."[25] The informant's handler, Herb Byerly, ordered him to have no further contact with Weaver. Eventually, FBI informant Rico Valentino outed the ATF informant to Aryan Nations security.[26]

In June 1990, Byerly attempted to use the sawed-off shotgun charge as leverage to get Weaver to act as an informant for his investigation into Aryan Nations.[20] Weaver refused to become "a snitch," and the ATF filed the gun charges in June 1990. It claimed that Weaver was a bank robber with criminal convictions.[27] (Those claims were false: at that time Weaver had no criminal record. The 1995 Senate investigation found: "Weaver was not a suspect in any bank robberies.")[28] A federal grand jury indicted Weaver in December 1990 for making and possessing, but not for selling, illegal weapons in October 1989.[29]

The ATF concluded it would be too dangerous for agents to arrest Weaver at his property.[20] In January 1991, ATF agents posed as broken-down motorists and arrested Weaver when he and Vicki stopped to assist.[20] Weaver was told of the charges against him, released on bail, and told that his trial would begin on February 19, 1991. On January 22, the judge in the case notified the attorney Everett Hofmeister that Hofmeister would be Weaver's attorney.[30] The same day, Weaver called the U.S. probation officer Karl Richins and told him that he had been instructed to contact Richins on that date. Richins did not have the case file at that time, so he asked Weaver to leave his contact information and said he would contact him when he received the paperwork. According to Richins, Weaver did not give him a telephone number.[30] Hofmeister sent Weaver letters on January 19, January 31, and February 5, asking Weaver to contact him to work on his defense within the federal court system.[30]

On February 5, the trial date was changed from February 19 to 20 to give participants more travel time following a federal holiday. The court clerk sent the parties a letter informing them of the date change, but the notice was not sent directly to Weaver, only to Hofmeister. On February 7, the probation officer sent Weaver a letter indicating that he had the case file and needed to talk with Weaver. This letter erroneously said that Weaver's trial date was March 20.[30][31] On February 8, Hofmeister again attempted to contact Weaver by letter informing him that the trial was to begin on February 20 and that Weaver needed to contact him immediately. Hofmeister also made several calls to individuals who knew Weaver, asking them to have Weaver call him. Hofmeister told U.S. District Court Judge Harold Lyman Ryan that he had been unable to reach Weaver before the scheduled court date.[32]

When Weaver did not appear in court on February 20, Ryan issued a bench warrant for failure to appear in court.[31][33] On February 26, Ken Keller, a reporter for the Kootenai Valley Times, telephoned the U.S. Probation Office and asked whether Weaver did not show in court on February 20 because the letter Richins sent him had an incorrect date.[34] Upon finding a copy of the letter, the Chief Probation Officer, Terrence Hummel, contacted Ryan's clerk and informed them of the incorrect date in the letter. Hummel also contacted the U.S. Marshals Service and Weaver's attorney, informing them both of the error. The judge, however, refused to withdraw the bench warrant.[34]

The U.S. Marshals Service agreed to put off executing the warrant until after March 20 in order to see whether Weaver would show up in court on that day. If he were to show up on March 20, the DOJ claimed that all indications are that the warrant would have been dropped.[34] But instead, the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) called a grand jury on March 14. The USAO did not inform the grand jury of Richins's letter and the grand jury issued an indictment for failure to appear.[34]

U.S. Marshals Service involvement

When the Weaver case passed from the ATF to the Marshals Service, no one informed the marshals that ATF had attempted to solicit Weaver as an informant.[35]

As the law enforcement arm of the federal court, the U.S. Marshals were responsible to arrest and bring in Weaver, now considered a fugitive.[36] Weaver simply stayed in his remote home, threatening to resist any attempt to take him by force.[37][38]

Weaver was known to have an intense distrust of government. The erroneous Richins letter is believed to have increased this feeling and may have contributed to his reluctance to appear for trial. Weaver was suspicious of what he thought were inconsistent messages from the government and his lawyer; he began to think there was a conspiracy against him.[34] Weaver came to believe that he would not receive a fair trial if he were to appear in court. His distrust grew when Hofmeister erroneously told him that if he lost the trial, he would lose his land, essentially leaving Vicki homeless, and that the government would take away his children.[39]

U.S. Marshals Service officers made a series of attempts to have Weaver surrender peacefully, but Weaver refused to leave his cabin. Weaver negotiated with U.S. Marshals Ron Evans, W. Warren Mays, and David Hunt through third parties from March 5 to October 12, 1991, when Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Howen directed that the negotiations cease.[40] The U.S. Attorney directed that all negotiations go through Hofmeister, but Weaver refused to talk with him. Marshals began preparing plans to capture Weaver to stand trial on the weapons charges and his failure to appear at the correct trial date.[41]

Although marshals stopped the negotiations as ordered, they made other contact. On March 4, 1992, U.S. Marshals Ron Evans and Jack Cluff drove to the Weaver property and spoke with Weaver, posing as real-estate prospects.[41] At a March 27, 1992, USMS HQ meeting, Art Roderick code-named the operation "Northern Exposure".[42] Surveillance teams were dispatched and cameras set up to record activity at Weaver's residence. Marshals observed that Weaver and his family responded to vehicles and other visitors by taking up armed positions around the cabin until the visitors were recognized.[41]

Threat source profile

Beginning in February 1991, U.S. Marshals developed a Threat Source Profile on Weaver. Agents' failure to integrate new information into that profile was criticized in a 1995 report by a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

The Subcommittee is ... concerned that, as Marshals investigating the Weaver case learned facts that contradicted information they previously had been provided, they did not adequately integrate their updated knowledge into their overall assessment of who Randy Weaver was or what threat he might pose. If the Marshals made any attempt to assess the credibility of the various people who gave them information about Weaver, they never recorded their assessments. Thus, rather than maintaining the Threat Source Profile as a living document, the Marshals added new reports to an ever-expanding file, and their overall assessment never really changed. These problems rendered it difficult for other law enforcement officials to assess the Weaver case accurately without the benefit of first-hand briefings from persons who had continuing involvement with him.[43]

Many of the people the marshals used as third party go-betweens on the Weaver case—Bill and Judy Grider, Alan Jeppeson, and Richard Butler—were assessed by the marshals as more radical than the Weavers. When Deputy U.S. Marshal (DUSM) Dave Hunt asked Bill Grider, "Why shouldn't I just go up there ... and talk to him?", Grider replied, "Let me put it to you this way. If I was sitting on my property and somebody with a gun comes to do me harm, then I'll probably shoot him."[44]

The Subcommitte said that the profile included "a brief psychological profile completed by a person who had conducted no firsthand interviews and was so unfamiliar with the case that he referred to Weaver as 'Mr. Randall' throughout".[45] A later memo circulated within the DOJ opined that:

The assumptions of federal and some state and local law enforcement personnel about Weaver—that he was a Green Beret, that he would shoot on sight anyone who attempted to arrest him, that he had collected certain types of arms, that he had "booby-trapped" and tunneled his property—exaggerated the threat he posed.[46]

Rivera helicopter incident

Following a flyover by a hired helicopter for Geraldo Rivera's Now It Can Be Told television show on April 18, 1992, U.S. Marshal Service HQ received media reports that Weaver had shot at the helicopter.[47][48] That day in Idaho, U.S. Marshals were installing surveillance cameras overlooking the Weaver property.[49] The field report for April 18, 1992, filed by Marshal W. Warren Mays, reported seeing a helicopter near the Weaver property, but not that any shots were heard.[50] In an interview with a local paper, Weaver denied that anyone had fired at the helicopter.[50] When interviewed by the FBI, the helicopter pilot Richard Weiss said that Weaver had not fired on his helicopter. The Report of the RRTF to the OPR (1994) said, when the "indictment [of Weaver] was presented to the grand jury, the prosecution had evidence that no shots had been fired at the helicopter."[51][52]

Media reports that Weaver had fired on the Rivera helicopter became part of the justification later cited by USMS Wayne "Duke" Smith and FBI HRT Commander Richard Rogers in drawing up the Ruby Ridge Rules of Engagement on August 21–22, 1992. Also, in spite of Weiss's repeated denials that shots had been fired at his helicopter, Howen charged that, as Overt Act 32 of the Weaver's Conspiracy Against the Federal Government, Randy, Vicki, and Harris fired two shots at the Rivera helicopter.[23]

Operation "Northern Exposure" was suspended for three months due to the confirmation hearings for United States Marshals Service Director Henry E. Hudson.[53]

Encounter near Weavers' cabin

On Friday, August 21, 1992, six marshals were sent to scout the area to determine suitable places away from the cabin to apprehend and arrest Weaver.[54][55][56] The marshals, dressed in military camouflage, were equipped with night-vision goggles and M16 rifles.[13][57] Deputy U.S. Marshals (DUSMs) Art Roderick, Larry Cooper, and Bill Degan formed the reconnaissance team, while DUSMs David Hunt, Joseph Thomas, and Frank Norris formed an observation post (OP) team on the ridge north of the cabin.[58]

At one point, Roderick threw two rocks at the Weaver cabin to test the reaction of the dogs.[59] The action provoked the dogs; Weaver's friend Kevin Harris and Weaver's 14-year-old son Samuel (Sammy) emerged and followed the dog Striker to investigate.[13] Harris and the younger Weaver said that they were hoping that the dog had noticed a game animal since the cabin was out of meat.[60] The Recon team marshals (Roderick, Cooper, and Degan) initially retreated through the woods in radio contact with the OP team, but later took up hidden defensive positions.[61]

Later, OP team marshals and the Weavers both claimed the Weaver dogs were alerted to the Recon team marshals in the woods after neighbors at the foot of the mountain started their pickup truck.[61] The Recon team marshals retreated through the woods to the "Y" junction in the trails 500 yards (460 m) west of the cabin, out of sight of the cabin. Sammy Weaver and Kevin Harris followed the dog Striker on foot through the woods while Randy Weaver, also on foot, took a separate logging trail; Vicki, Sara, Rachel, and baby Elisheba remained at the cabin. The OP team thought they were anxious at first, then relaxed.[61] Randy encountered the marshals at the "Y"; Roderick claimed to have yelled, "Back off! U.S. Marshal!" upon sighting Weaver, and Cooper said he had shouted, "Stop! U.S. Marshal!".[36] By their account, the dog and the boy came out of the woods about a minute later, and a firefight erupted between the marshals and Sammy Weaver and Harris.[62][63]

A later ballistics report showed that nineteen rounds were fired in total during the firefight.[64] Roderick fired one shot from an M16A1, Degan fired seven rounds from an M16 (while moving at least 21 feet (6.4 m)), Cooper fired six rounds from a 9 mm Colt submachine gun, Sammy Weaver fired three rounds from a .223 Ruger Mini-14, and Harris fired two rounds from a .30-06 M1917 Enfield Rifle.[65]

In the firefight, a shot or shots from DUSM Roderick killed the Weavers' dog, a yellow Labrador Retriever, at which time Sammy Weaver is reported to have returned fire at Roderick.[65] After the federal agents began firing, Sammy Weaver was killed by a shot to the back while retreating.[65][13] DUSM Degan was shot and killed by Harris.[65][66]

The matter of who fired the shot that killed 14 year-old Sammy Weaver was of critical concern in all investigations. At the time of the writing of the Ruby Ridge: Report ... (1996), the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government, chaired by Arlen Specter, noted that the government's position at trial was that Cooper had fired the shot that killed Sammy Weaver. But the Subcommittee engaged additional experts, and declined to draw a final conclusion.[67] In the DOJ's Ruby Ridge Task Force (RRTF) report to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR, 1994), they state:

The evidence suggests, but does not establish, that the shot that killed Sammy Weaver was fired by DUSM Cooper.

It is noted that there is no indication he intended to shoot Weaver.[68][69][70]

Reporter Jess Walter, in his work Ruby Ridge,[71]—first released in 1995 as Every Knee Shall Bow: The Truth and Tragedy of Ruby Ridge and the Randy Weaver Family (see Bibliography)— concludes that the bullet that killed Sammy Weaver was fired by Larry Cooper.[72] In 1997 Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprungl conducted an independent search of the "Y", and his investigator Lucien Haag confirmed that a bullet found in that search matched Cooper's gun and contained fibers that matched Sammy Weaver's shirt.[73]

Accounts differ between Harris and the Federal agents as to who fired first.[74][75] In the 1993 trial over charges in the death of Deputy U.S. Marshal Degan, prosecutors alleged that Harris had fired the first shot. Harris asserted self-defense and was acquitted.[76]

On cross examination by the defense, ballistics experts called by the prosecution testified that the physical evidence contradicted neither the prosecution nor defense theories of the firefight.[72] Martin Fackler testified as to who was responsible for which shots, that Roderick fired the shot or shots that killed the dog, that Degan fired the shot that hit Sammy in the right elbow, that Harris shot and killed Degan, and that Cooper "probably" shot and killed Sammy.[77]

DUSMs Roderick and Cooper stated that the dog preceded Kevin Harris, and Sammy Weaver out of the woods. They said DUSM Degan challenged Harris, who turned and shot and fatally wounded Degan before Degan could fire a single shot. They said Roderick shot the dog once, Sammy fired twice at Roderick, and Roderick returned fire. Roderick and Cooper testified that they heard multiple gunshots from the Weaver party. Cooper testified to having fired two three-shot bursts at Harris, to seeing Harris fall "like a sack of potatoes", and to seeing leaves fly up in front of him, presumably from the impact of a round. Cooper sought cover. He testified to having seen Sammy run away, and to radioing to OP team member Dave Hunt that he had wounded or killed Harris.[78]

As described by Randy and Sara Weaver, in their book, The Federal Siege (1998), Kevin Harris' version of events differed, as follows.[79] Harris told them the dog was followed out of the woods by Sammy Weaver and Harris, and that the dog ran up to Cooper. He said the dog ran to Roderick, who shot it in front of Sammy Weaver. He yelled, "You shot my dog, you son of a bitch" and fired a shot at Roderick.[80] Harris said that Degan came out of the woods and shot Sammy in the arm. Harris fired and hit Degan in the chest. According to the Weavers, Harris said that Cooper fired at Harris, who ducked for cover, and Cooper fired again, hitting Sammy in the back, who fell. Harris fired about 6 feet (2 m) in front of Cooper, forcing him to take cover. Only then did he hear Cooper identify himself as a US Marshal. Harris said he checked Sammy and found him dead, and ran to the Weavers' cabin.[81]

After the firefight at the "Y", marshals Hunt and Thomas went to a neighbor's house to call for assistance from the USMS Crisis Center. Marshals Norris, Cooper, and Roderick stayed with Degan's body at the "Y". Randy and Vicki went to the "Y" and retrieved Sammy's body. Randy, Vicki and Harris placed Sammy's body in a guest cabin near the main cabin.[82][83] From 11:15 a.m. onward, Hunt reported to the Crisis Center in Washington D.C. that no further gunfire was heard.[84]

Siege and controversy

In the aftermath of the firefight on August 21 at 11:20 am PDT, USMS Dave Hunt[84] requested immediate support from Idaho law enforcement,[85] and alerted the FBI that a marshal had been killed.[84] Following Hunt's phone call, the Marshals Service Crisis Center was activated under the direction of Duke Smith, Associate Director for Operations. The Marshals Service Special Operations Group ("SOG") was alerted to deploy.[85] In response to the USMS call, the Boundary County sheriff's office mobilized.[86] Also in response to the USMS request, Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus declared a state of emergency in Boundary County, allowing use of the Idaho National Guard Armory at Bonners Ferry and, after an initial delay, to use National Guard armored personnel carriers (APCs).[87] Soon thereafter, the Idaho State Police arrived at the scene.[86]

FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC, responded by sending the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) from Quantico to Idaho;[88] Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Eugene Glenn of the Salt Lake City FBI office was appointed Site Commander with responsibility for all active individuals from the FBI, ATF, and USMS.[88] A stand-off ensued for eleven days, as several hundred federal agents surrounded the house,[89] and negotiations for a surrender were attempted.[90]

Special ROE and sniper/observer deployment

By Saturday, August 22, special rules of engagement (ROE) were drafted and approved by FBI Headquarters and the Marshal Service for use on Ruby Ridge.[91] According to the later RRTF report to the DOJ (1994), the Ruby Ridge ROE were as follows:

"If any adult in the area around the cabin is observed with a weapon after the surrender announcement had been made, deadly force could and should be used to neutralize the individual."[92]
"If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the announcement deadly force can and should be employed if the shot could be taken without endangering any children."[92]
"If compromised by any dog the dog can be taken out."[92]
"Any subjects other than Randy Weaver, Vicki Weaver, Kevin Harris presenting threat of death or grievous bodily harm FBI rules of deadly force apply. Deadly force can be utilized to prevent the death or grievous bodily injury to oneself or that of another."

(From the sworn statement of FBI SAC Eugene Glenn).[92]

As noted in a footnote to the report in this crucial section:

The [ROE] was modified from "adult" to "adult male" [in ROE point 2] to exclude Vicki Weaver around 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. after consultation with [SAC Eugene] Glenn because Vicki Weaver was not seen at the site of Degan's slaying.[93]

The ROE were communicated to agents on site, including communication to HRT sniper/observers prior to deployment,[93] communications that included the change of "adult" to "adult male" to exclude Vicki Weaver.[93] Some deployed FBI agents, in particular the sniper/observers, would later describe the adopted ROE as a "green light" to "shoot on sight".[94]

On Wednesday, August 26, the ROE that had been in effect since the arrival of the HRT were revoked. Per Glenn's direction, the FBI's Standard Deadly Force Policy replaced the ROE to guide the law enforcement personnel that were to be deployed to the cabin perimeter. The FBI rules of deadly force in effect in 1992 stated that:

Agents are not to use deadly force against any person except as necessary in self-defense or the defense of another, when they have reason to believe that they or another are in danger of death or grievous bodily harm. Whenever feasible, verbal warnings should be given before deadly force is applied.

This was in stark contrast to the permissive ROE adopted for the Ruby Ridge stand-off.[95][96]

Deployment of sniper/observers, ROE understanding

On August 22, the second day of the siege, between 2:30–⁠3:30 pm, the FBI HRT sniper/observer teams were briefed and deployed to the cabin on foot.[91]

According to the RRTF report to the DOJ, there were various views and interpretations taken of these ROEs by members of FBI SWAT teams in action at the Ruby Ridge site. Denver SWAT team leader Gregory Sexton described them as "severe" and "inappropriate." Two members of the Denver SWAT team said they were "strong" and a "departure from the ... standard deadly force policy", "inappropriate", and of a sort one "had never been given" before. The latter of these two members said that "other SWAT team members were taken aback by the Rules and that most of them clung to the FBI's standard deadly force policy." Another team member responded to the briefing on the ROE with "[y]ou've gotta be kidding."[97]

But most of the FBI HRT sniper/observers accepted the ROE as modifying the deadly force policy. According to later interviews, HRT sniper Dale Monroe saw the ROE as a "green light" to shoot armed adult males on sight, and HRT sniper Edward Wenger believed that if he observed armed adults, he could use deadly force, but he was to follow standard deadly force policy for all other individuals. Fred Lanceley, the FBI Hostage Negotiator at Ruby Ridge, was "surprised and shocked" at the ROE, the most severe rules he had heard in more than 300 hostage situations. He later characterized the ROE as being inconsistent with standard policy.[98][99] The 1996 Senate report criticized the ROE as "virtual shoot-on-sight orders."[100]

Sniper shots: R. Weaver wounding, V. Weaver killing

Before the negotiators arrived at the cabin, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi, from a position over 200 yards (180 m) north and above the Weaver cabin,[101] shot and wounded Randy Weaver in the back with the bullet exiting his right armpit, while he was lifting the latch on the shed to visit the body of his dead son.[102] (The sniper testified at the later trial that he had put his crosshairs on Weaver's spine, but Weaver moved at the last second.[103]) As Weaver, his 16-year-old daughter Sara,[104] and Harris ran back toward the house, Horiuchi fired a second bullet, wounding Harris in the chest. This bullet killed Vicki Weaver, who was standing behind the door in the cabin where Harris entered.[105] Vicki was holding the Weavers' 10-month-old baby Elisheba.[104][106][107]

Constitutionality of the second shot

The RRTF report to the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) of June 1994 stated unequivocally in conclusion (in its executive summary) that the rules that allowed the second shot to have been made did not satisfy constitutional standards for legal use of deadly force.[108] The 1996 report of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government Information, Arlen Specter [R-PA], Chair, concurred, with Senator Dianne Feinstein [D-CA] dissenting.[109] The RRTF report said that the lack of a request by the marshals to the Weavers to surrender was "inexcusable."[110] Harris and the two Weavers were not believed to be an imminent threat (since they were reported as running for cover without returning fire).[111]

The later Justice task force criticized Horiuchi for firing through the door, when he did not know if anyone was on the other side of it.[110] While there is a dispute as to who approved the rules of engagement which Horiuchi followed, the task force condemned the rules of engagement that allowed shots to be fired without a request for surrender.[110][102]

Situational reevaluation, ROE suspension, siege end

Both FBI HQ and the Site Commanders in Idaho re-evaluated the situation based on information they were receiving from U.S. Marshals Hunt, Cooper and Roderick about what had happened on August 21. On August 23, repeated attempts to negotiate with Weaver via bullhorn failed; there was no response from the cabin.[91]

On about Monday, August 24, the fourth day of the siege, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Danny Coulson, who did not know that Vicki Weaver had been killed,[112] wrote a memo with the following content:

Something to Consider

1. Charge against Weaver is Bull S___.
2. No one saw Weaver do any shooting.
3. Vicki has no charges against her.

4. Weaver's defense. He ran down the hill to see what dog was barking at. Some guys in camys [camouflage] shot his dog. Started shooting at him. Killed his son. Harris did the shooting. He is in pretty strong legal position.[113]

The stand-off was ultimately resolved by civilian negotiators including Bo Gritz, to whom Weaver agreed to speak.[90] Through Gritz's mediation, Harris, who had earlier urged Weaver to end his suffering, surrendered on August 30 (Sunday). He was removed via stretcher, and flown by an Air Force medical evacuation helicopter to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.[114][115][116] Weaver allowed the removal of his wife's body, which Gritz oversaw.[114][115][116]

The FBI HRT Commander gave Gritz a deadline to get the remaining Weavers to surrender, or said he would resolve the standoff by a tactical assault.[117] Weaver and his daughters surrendered the next day; both Harris and Weaver were arrested.[118] Harris was in serious condition at Sacred Heart, but U.S. Marshals did not allow his parents to see him (or talk by telephone) until Monday evening, after a federal court order was issued.[119] Weaver's daughters were released to the custody of relatives. Federal officials considered charging Sara, who was 16, as an adult.[120]

Weaver was transferred by military helicopter to the airport at Sandpoint and flown by USMS jet to Boise. There he was given a brief medical examination at St. Luke's Medical Center. He was held at the Ada County jail and arraigned in federal court the following day, Tuesday, September 1.[121][122]

Trials of Weaver and Harris

Weaver and Harris were charged with a variety of offenses;[118][123] their trial in U.S. District Court in Boise began in April 1993,[124][125] and was presided over by Judge Edward Lodge.[31][126][127] Weaver's defense attorney, Gerry Spence, rested his case in mid-June without calling any witnesses for the defense, instead seeking to convince the jury through cross-examination aimed at discrediting government evidence and witnesses.[127][128][129][130] Weaver was ultimately acquitted in July of all charges except missing his original court date and violating his bail conditions,[131][132] for which he was sentenced in October to 18 months and fined $10,000.[1][133][134] Credited with time served and good behavior, Weaver served less than 16 months and was released from the Canyon County jail in Caldwell in mid-December.[135][136]

Harris was defended by attorney David Nevin and was acquitted of all charges.[76][131][132] Exactly five years after the incident (August 21, 1997), he was indicted by Boundary County prosecutor Denise Woodbury for the first-degree murder of DUSM Bill Degan,[137][138][139][140] but the charge was dismissed in early October on grounds of double jeopardy, because he had been acquitted in the federal criminal trial on the same charge in 1993.[141][142][143]

Defense counsels for Weaver and Harris alleged throughout their 1993 trial that agents of the ATF, USMS, and FBI were themselves guilty of serious wrongdoing. The Department of Justice (DOJ) created the Ruby Ridge Task Force (RRTF) to investigate events. It delivered a 542-page report on June 10, 1994, to the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).[3][4] (This RRTF report, originally available in a highly redacted form,[4] became available in a much more complete form.[3])

Federal investigations of law enforcement

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) created the Ruby Ridge Task Force (RRTF) to investigate the events; it completed a 542-page report on June 10, 1994, for the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).[3][4] (This RRTF report, originally available in a highly redacted form,[4] later was made available in a much more complete form.[3])

Questions persisted about Ruby Ridge and the subsequent Waco siege, which involved the same agencies and many of the same officials. The Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government Information held fourteen days of hearings on these incidents and allegations of misconduct, ending on October 19, 1995.[144] The hearings were televised on C-SPAN.[145] Both the internal 1994 Ruby Ridge Task Force Report and the public 1995 Senate subcommittee report on Ruby Ridge criticized the rules of engagement as unconstitutional.[108][109]

A 1995 GAO investigation was conducted on the policies regarding use of force by federal law enforcement agencies. Its report said: "In October 1995, Treasury and Justice adopted use of deadly force policies to standardize the various policies their component agencies had adopted over the years."[146] The major change was that agencies required a law enforcement agent to have reasonable belief of an "imminent" danger of death or serious physical injury in order to use deadly force. This brought all federal LEA deadly force policies in line with the U.S. Supreme Court rulings Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 18 (1985) and Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989), which applied to state and local law enforcement agencies.[147]

Aftermath: civil suits

Randy Weaver and his daughters filed a wrongful death suit for $200 million related to the killing of his wife and son. In an out-of-court settlement in August 1995, the federal government awarded Randy Weaver $100,000 and his three daughters $1 million each. The government did not admit any wrongdoing in the deaths of Sammy and Vicki.[148][149] On the condition of anonymity, a DOJ official told the Washington Post that he believed the Weavers probably would have won the full amount if the case had gone to trial.[66]

The attorney for Harris pressed Harris's civil suit for damages, although federal officials vowed they would never pay someone who had killed a U.S. Marshal. In September 2000, Harris was awarded a $380,000 settlement from the government.[150]

State criminal charges

In 1997 Boundary County prosecutor Denise Woodbury indicted FBI HRT sniper Lon Horiuchi for manslaughter on state charges, just before the statute of limitations for this crime expired.[138][140][151] She appointed a special prosecutor to conduct the case. But in 1998 the trial was removed to federal court because Horiuchi had been acting in the line of duty as a federal law enforcement officer. Judge Lodge quickly dismissed the case on grounds of sovereign immunity.[13][152][153]

The decision to dismiss charges was reversed (6–5) in 2001 by an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit, which held that enough uncertainty about the facts of the case existed for Horiuchi to stand trial on state manslaughter charges.[154][155][156] Boundary County prosecutor Brett Benson, who had defeated Woodbury in the May 2000 primary and won the November election,[157] decided to drop the case. He said he believed that it was unlikely the state could prove the criminal charges, and too much time had passed.[158][159] He also believed his decision would enable the process of healing in the county.[160] Attorney Stephen Yagman, based in San Francisco and who had been appointed as the special prosecutor, said that he vehemently disagreed with the decision. He suggested that the case could still be prosecuted if the Boundary County prosecutor later changed again.[160]

Later life for the Weavers

Randy and his daughter Sara Weaver wrote The Federal Siege at Ruby Ridge (1998), about the incident, which was published in paperback. (The appendix of the book includes the 1995 Report on the U.S. Senate Ruby Ridge Hearing.)[161]

The Weaver family, including Randy, later moved to Kalispell, Montana. Sara and the other two Weaver daughters are employed there. After becoming a born again Christian, Sara Weaver said in 2012 that she had forgiven the federal agents who killed her mother and brother.[162]

Domestic terrorism

American domestic terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols claimed revenge for the federal government's poor handling of Ruby Ridge and the Waco siege as their motivation for the Oklahoma City bombing. On April 19, 1995, the second anniversary of the fire that ended the Waco siege, they detonated a massive truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, including numerous women and children; injuring 680 others, and destroying more than one third of the building. It was demolished and replaced.[163]

In popular culture

A CBS miniseries about the Ruby Ridge incident, titled Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy, aired on May 19 and 21, 1996.[164] It was based on the book Every Knee Shall Bow by reporter Jess Walter.[96] It starred Laura Dern as Vicki, Kirsten Dunst as Sara, and Randy Quaid as Randy.[13] The television series was adapted as a full-length TV movie released as The Siege at Ruby Ridge later that same year.[165]

In 1999, Bluegrass musician Peter Rowan addressed the events at Ruby Ridge in his song "The Ballad of Ruby Ridge."[166]

Ruby Ridge was the subject of Criminal Minds, Season Three, Episode entitled "Identity" (2007). Agent David Rossi says that he was at Ruby Ridge during the siege.

In 2017, it was the focus of the 323rd episode of American Experience, the 5th of its 29th season.

The standoff, including the shooting of Vicki Weaver, is featured in the first episode of the Paramount Network television miniseries Waco (2018).

Tara Westover, in her memoir Educated (2019), referred to this incident, noting her own family's preparations to defend their isolated home against potential siege by "the Feds".

The Ruby Ridge incident was the subject of the first season of the narrative podcast series Slate Presents. The 4-episode season, titled Standoff: What Happened at Ruby Ridge? ran as a stand-alone miniseries hosted by journalist Ruth Graham.[167]

Bibliography

Primary sources

Ruby Ridge Task Force (June 10, 1994). Report of the Ruby Ridge Task Force to the Office of Professional Responsibility [OPR] of Investigation of Allegations of Improper Governmental Conduct in the Investigation, Apprehension and Prosecution of Randall C. Weaver and Kevin L. Harris [most complete version] (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Chapters and sections cited from this work include:

I. Introduction / Executive Summary

§B. Significant Findings.

IV. Specific Issues Investigated

§B. The Failure of Weaver to Appear for Trial (2. Statement of Facts, subsection c.; or passim);
§C. Efforts by the Marshals Service to Effect the Arrest of Weaver (2. Statement of Facts, subsections a., g.);
§D. Marshals Service Activities Between August 17 and 21, 1992 (2. Statement of Facts, subsection c.; 3. Discussion, subsections a., c.; 4. Conclusion; or passim)
§F. FBI's Rules of Engagement and Operations on August 21 and 22, 1992 (2. Statement of Facts, subsections a.-g.; 3. Discussion, subsection a; or passim);
§H. Law Enforcement Operations at Ruby Ridge From August 22, 1992 Until August 31, 1992 (2. Statement of Facts, subsection b.); and
§L. Scope of the Indictment and Alleged Prosecutorial Misconduct Before the Grand Jury (passim).

VI. Chronology of Events (passim).

Note, other nearly identical sources of the same content are available online, e.g., differing only in terms of header or introductory content.

Ridge Task Force (November 9, 2006 rel.) [June 10, 1994].Report of the Ruby Ridge Task Force to the Office of Professional Responsibility [OPR] of Investigation of Allegations of Improper Governmental Conduct in the Investigation, Apprehension and Prosecution of Randall C. Weaver and Kevin L. Harris [OPR legacy, highly redacted version]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

This source exists as a series of PDF files of the full but heavily redacted report, including cover page-p. 39, pp. 40–84, pp. 85–125, pp. 126–165, pp. 166–211, pp. 212–251, pp. 252–298, pp. 299–338, pp. 339–395, pp. 396–474, pp. 475–516, and pp. 517–545, all via Justice.gov, all. Retrieved February 8, 2017.

U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism Technology and Government [Arlen Specter, Chair] (1996). Ruby Ridge: Report of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government, Information of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Senate. pp. 154 pages. Retrieved February 8, 2017. Reproduced in published book form by Diane Publishing, Collingdale, PA, ISBN 0788129767, 978-0788129766.