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Siege at Ruby Ridge: The Forgotten History of the ATF Shootout That Started a Militia Movement
The Siege at Ruby Ridge is often considered a pivotal date in American history. The shootout between Randy Weaver and his family and federal agents on August 21, 1992, is one that kicked off the Constitutional Militia Movement and left America with a deep distrust of its leadership – in particular then-President George H.W. Bush and eventual President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno.
The short version is this: Randy Weaver and his wife Vicki moved with their four kids to the Idaho Panhandle, near the Canadian border, to escape what they thought was an increasingly corrupt world. The Weavers held racial separatist beliefs but were not involved in any violent activity or rhetoric. They were peaceful Christians who simply wanted to be left alone.
Specifically for his beliefs, Randy Weaver was targeted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) in an entrapping “sting” operation designed to gain his cooperation as a snitch. When he refused to become a federal informant, he was charged with illegally selling firearms. Due to a miscommunication about his court date, the Marshal Service was brought in, who laid siege to his house and shot and killed his wife and 14-year-old son.
Randy Weaver was, in many ways, a typical American story. He grew up in an Iowa farming community. He got decent grades in high school and played football. His family attended church regularly. He dropped out of community college and joined the United States Army in 1970. After three years of service, he was honorably discharged.
One month later he married Victoria Jordison. He then enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa, studying criminal justice with an eye toward becoming an FBI Agent. However, he dropped out because the tuition was too expensive. He ended up working in a John Deere plant while his wife worked as a secretary before becoming a homemaker.
Both of the Weavers increasingly became apocalyptic in their view of the world. This, combined with an increasing emphasis on Old Testament-based Christianity, led them to seek a life away from mainstream America, a life of self-reliance. Vicki, in particular, had strong visions of her family surviving the apocalypse through life far away from what they viewed as a corrupt world. To that end, Randy purchased a 20-acre farm in Ruby Ridge, ID, and built a cabin there.
The land was purchased for $5,000 in cash and the trade of the truck they used to move there. Vicki homeschooled the children.
The Weavers Move to Ruby Ridge
After moving to Ruby Ridge, Weaver became acquainted with members of the Aryan Nations in nearby Hayden Lake. He even attended some rallies. The FBI believed his involvement in the church was much deeper than it actually was – they thought he was a regular congregant of the Aryan Nations and had attended the Aryan Nations World Congress.
Both Randy and Vicki were interviewed by the FBI in 1985, with Randy denying membership in the group, citing profound theological differences. Indeed, the Weavers (who had some points of agreement with the Aryan Nations, primarily about the importance of the Old Testament) mostly saw their affiliation with the Aryan Nations as a social outlet. Living off-grid, the nearby members of the Aryan Nations were neighbors in remote northern Idaho.
Later, in 1986, Randy was approached at a rally by undercover ATF informant Kenneth Faderley, who used a biker alter ego of Gus Magisono and was currently monitoring and investigating Weaver’s friend Frank Kumnick. Faderley introduced himself as an illegal firearms dealer from New Jersey. Randy later encountered Faderley at the World Congress of 1987. He skipped the next year’s Congress to run for county sheriff, an election that he lost.
The ATF claims that in 1989, Faderley purchased two illegally shortened shotguns from Randy Weaver. However, Weaver disputes this, saying that the shotguns he sold Faderley were entirely legal and were shortened after the fact. The notes from the case show that Faderley purchased the guns and showed Weaver where to shorten them, which would constitute illegal entrapment. What’s more, the government preyed on the destitute nature of the Weavers, who lived in a small cabin in the woods with no electricity or running water.
The real purpose of the investigation was not to grab Weaver, but to use him to infiltrate a group in Montana being organized by Charles Howarth. In November 1989, Weaver refused to introduce Faderley to Howarth, and Faderley was ordered by his handlers to have no further contact with Weaver.
Randy Weaver Refuses to Turn Snitch
In June 1990, Faderley’s cover was blown. It was then that the ATF reached out to Weaver, stating that they had evidence he was dealing illegal firearms. They told him they would drop all charges if he would agree to become their new informant regarding the investigation of the Aryan Nations groups in the area. Weaver refused.
To coerce him into changing his mind, the Feds staged a stunt where a broken down couple were at the side of the road. Weaver stopped to help them and was handcuffed, thrown face down in the snow and arrested. He had to post his home as bond. Still, he refused to become a federal informant.
The irony of the federal government’s desire to obtain informants within the Aryan Nations is that different branches of federal law enforcement and intelligence gathering occupied five of the six key positions in the organization. This means that the Aryan Nations were effectively a government-run shop, with agents spying on each other to ensure the integrity of an investigation – into an organization almost entirely run by the federal government.
The government had an obsession with the Aryan Nations due to Robert Jay Matthews, who was a member of The Order, a terrorist organization including members of the Aryan Nations. The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team burned Matthews alive inside his own home.
Due to his ongoing refusal to snitch, Weaver was then arrested in January 1991, on illegal firearms sales charges. These charges stemmed from Weaver’s earlier “sale” of two shortened shotguns to Faderley, the undercover ATF agent – a sale which the feds later admitted constituted illegal entrapment.
Weaver’s court date was set for February 19, 1991, then changed to the next day. Weaver, however, received notice that his court date was not until March 20. He missed his February court appearance and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. The United States Marshals Service wanted to allow Weaver the chance to appear for what he thought was his court date, however, the United States Attorney’s Office sought a grand jury indictment on March 14th – six days before his notice said he was due in court.
Already skeptical of the Feds after their repeated strongarm tactics, both Randy and Vicki saw this as further evidence that Weaver would not receive a fair trial. They increasingly isolated themselves on their Ruby Ridge farm, vowing to fight rather than surrender peacefully.
During the standoff, a voluntary surrender date was negotiated with the Marshals Service for October 1991, but the United States Attorney’s Office refused the settlement. The Deputy Director of the Special Operations Group of the Marshals Service, using evidence obtained through surveillance, believed that the best course of action was to drop the indictment, issue a new one under seal, and use undercover agents to arrest Weaver, who presumably would have dropped his guard. This recommendation was again rejected.
Continue reading Siege at Ruby Ridge: The Forgotten History of the ATF Shootout That Started a Militia Movement at Ammo.com.
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IIRC, an FBI sniper shot his wife Vicki as she was holding their baby . . .
The shooter, Lon Horiuchi, violated just about all the rules of engagement when he shot Weaver’s wife. I still have no idea why charges against him were mysteriously dropped. It’s true that he later turned up at the Waco fiasco but no one is sure what his role was at that event.
I still remember a very spirited discussion that I had with an FBI agent that was conducting a block of instruction for an anti-terrorism course that I attended while in the Air Force (in 2002). Someone in the class asked about the Ruby Ridge incident and the FBI agent remarked that Horiuchi was a “good guy”. When I objected to that characterization (I may have termed Horiuchi a coward; I used to be more blunt than I am now) the FBI guy really turned red.
After Ruby Ridge, Horiuchi should have been terminated or at least taken off field duty. When he turned up at Waco, I lost a lot of respect for the FBI.
I am not surprised. A deceased old friend was planted in KKK chapters in NC and MD by the FBI. He said that towards the end it was a joke–it seemed to him there were more undercover agents and informants than actual Klansmen.
I also don’t get why, given the fact that these groups never take the offensive and are only dangerous when cornered and threatened, that the feds always engineer situations in which these targets are cornered and threatened. Waco comes to mind.
There’s a lot of evidence that the Waco debacle was engineered by the ATF as a way to get some additional funding. From everything I’ve read, they had several opportunities to arrest David Koresh outside the compound, but wanted to stage a big splashy assault. Needless to say, the situation got away from them.
Throw in Janet Reno’s faux “concern for the children” and a tragedy was created.
IIRC, Randy Weaver lost a civil lawsuit against this guy. Too bad . . .
The Feds need to have a show of violent force every now and then to keep the average citizens living in fear of challenging their authority. What was that Jefferson quote again?
One of my favorite quotes from a pundit critical of the whole episode was, “Why didn’t they arrest him when he was on his way to the grocery store to buy milk for the children?”
IIRC, to add insult to deathly injury, Randy Weaver was prosecuted for ten counts including murder arising from the standoff, and was amazingly acquitted by a jury of all but the original failure to appear for his court date(!). His acquittal on the homicide charge was based on self-defense.
He was sentenced to substantial prison time. His defense lawyer had been the intrepid Gerry Spence, who abhorred Weaver’s political beliefs but took the case due to his outrage at the entrapment practiced against Weaver. Weaver and family later were awarded over $3 million in civil suits as a result of the deaths of his wife and child.
You recall correctly. His name was Lon Horiuchi, and he is a murderer. Spread his name.
The best book I’ve read on the Ruby Ridge shoot out is Every Knee Shall Bow.
Very interesting, and very sad story.
One of the recurring themes between Ruby Ridge and Waco is the leadership rejecting less confrontational options. This pops up in a number of stories of bad police shootings. These are generally not master criminals and militarized terrorists. Do surveillance, figure out their schedule, and get them when they are alone, not in their home. You are less likely to be shot, and more likely to take the suspect into custody without injury.
This should be basic police work – hell, you could learn this from cop shows on TV.
I read somewhere where Texas Rangers on the scene at Waco thought the proposed ATF assault strategy was nuts.
To make a long story a bit shorter the US Marshalls involved in the first incident were to observe the cabin. After that first shootout the Marshalls requested FBI help by claiming Mr. Weaver was a suspect in a Spokane bank robbery. That was not true, he never was suspected of bank robbery.
It didn’t help matters that Weaver’s attorney gave him the wrong court date so Mr. Weaver did not appear on the actual court date and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The FBI issued a verbal change of the rules of engagement. That has to be put in writing, and some agents disagreed with the change, as well as being concerned that the change was never a written order.
As James Bovard wrote at The American Conservative at the time of the hearings to confirm Barr for his second term as Attorney General,
Ordered the paperback.
I am not a fan of blackmail as a form of law enforcement. The whole “tell us what we want to hear [whether it is true or not] and we won’t prosecute” or “plead guilty or we will prosecute your son”are not tactics used by people with any concern for justice.
And that’s the problem with “qualified immunity”…
Barr told the New York Times in 1993 that he was not directly involved in the Ruby Ridge operation. Two years later, the Washington Post revealedthat “top officials of the Bush Justice Department had at least 20 [phone] contacts concerning Ruby Ridge in the 24 hours before Vicki Weaver was shot,” including two calls involving Barr.
. . .
The Justice Department paid $3 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit from the Weaver family. But when Boundary County, Idaho filed criminal charges against Horiuchi, Barr sprang to action seeking immunity for FBI snipers. He spearheaded efforts to sway the court to dismiss all charges because holding a sniper liable would “severely undermine, if not cripple, the ability of future attorneys general to rely on such specialized units in moments of crisis such as hostage taking and terrorist acts.”
This story plus the lack of indictments of the Russian Hoaz gang paint a very criminal picture of Barr.
You dont get promoted in the FBI if you dont make the case.
If you want to screw over the FBI and Justice department. Just have every defense lawyer demand a trial by jury. They would run out of courts within 2 months.
The seeds of Portland?
It can’t be quoted enough: “When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”
What militia movement? Antifa seems to be more successful.
When marshals come to arrest you don’t resist. They have the authority to use any means necessary. If you think you are being treated unfairly make your case in court later.
IMHO, the moral of this story is that regardless of bad actors in the government you can still get justice in the courts.
Good advice. Don’t defend yourself when they shoot your son in the back, that just gets them riled up.
While it would be somewhat concerning, Barr has done more in favor of law and order than Sessions, and has taken action against deep state shenanigans.
Have some patience. I recall that you wanted immediate war with China a few months back. Barr and co get one shot at these indictments, and they will be facing an uphill battle.
I agree that the feds have a way of making things worse. However, sometimes they get it right.
As an Associated Press reporter I helped cover a federal trial in Boise in 1990, in which three Aryan Nations members were accused of plotting to bomb a gay disco in Seattle. I sat directly behind Aryan Nations head Richard Butler. The key witness was a former pro wrestler turned FBI informant who infiltrated the group. Defense lawyers argued Aryan members had been set up, that the bomb plot was all the informant’s idea. The jury disagreed, and the men received prison sentences ranging from two years to nine years.
I learned a great deal from your post, including why some people have held deep animosity toward Barr. Thank you!
Thank you for your report on that situation.
And a belated but sincere welcome to Ricochet.
Thanks! I feel at home here.