This day in history: The siege at Ruby Ridge started on this day in 1992.
Ruby Ridge was the site of an eleven-day siege in August 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho of a cabin occupied by the Weaver family. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) came to arrest Randy Weaver under a bench warrant after his failure to appear on federal firearms charges. During a surveillance operation, Weaver's dog was shot by one of the officers, leading Sammy Weaver, Randy's son, to fire at the team. Sammy was then shot and killed, causing an exchange of fire in which Kevin Harris, Randy's friend, shot and killed Deputy U.S. Marshal William Francis Degan. Weaver, Harris, and members of Weaver's immediate family refused to surrender. The Hostage Rescue Team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI HRT) became involved as the siege was mounted. In the standoff, Weaver's wife Vicki was shot by an FBI sniper, while she was holding her baby daughter - an action that would lead to charges against the sniper. The conflict was ultimately resolved by civilian negotiators. Harris surrendered and was arrested on August 30; Weaver and his three daughters surrendered the next day.
"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." Source
The Weaver family and Harris both filed civil suits against the federal government in response to the firefight and the siege. In August 1995, the Weavers won a combined out-of-court settlement of $3.1 million; Harris was awarded a $380,000 settlement in September 2000.
Buy my published Kindle book on Amazon on the Strange History of Medicine and Buy my book: The Folly of Socialism (40 Chapters)
No comments:
Post a Comment