The story of #RubyRidge is nothing but heartbreaking. Today, August 22, is the 26th anniversary of Vicki Weaver's death in the siege of Ruby Ridge, and in honour, I'd like to remember the story for its facts.
Let's take a moment to discuss a story the Federal Government would rather be forgotten. A story of a family that only wanted to worship their God, raise their children, and be left alone.
Background
Ruby Ridge is an outstretch of mountains in the northernmost part of Idaho, in a county named Boundary, as it rests right along the Canadian border, between the Washington and Montana borders. When someone wants to be left alone, Ruby Ridge is one place they go.
One person who wished nothing more than to be left alone was Randy Weaver. Weaver was a devout Christian & US Army vet who had become disillusioned with his government; in the early 1980's, he moved his family to a 20-acre plot of land on Ruby Ridge and built himself a home. He had no electricity. He had no running water. But he had his family, his faith, and the work of his hands, and with these he created a life for himself.
But about ten miles from where Randy chose to build his home was an Aryan Nations compound.
Now, there is no evidence to suggest that Randy Weaver or his family harboured any white supremacist thoughts, despite what reports these days would say. But the Aryan Nations people were some of the only people around, with whom Randy could trade or get work. And on rare occasion, he did.
Entrapment
The Aryan Nations compound near Randy's home had been, for a couple years, a target of the FBI. And when Randy showed up, he stuck out like a sore thumb. This made Randy and his family a ripe target for the FBI to use. An undercover informant took advantage of Randy's needs. When the informant learned that Randy was looking for work at the compound, he saw opportunity. So he asked Randy to saw off a couple shotguns.
This was entrapment, pure and simple. If Randy made these illegal weapons, the FBI/ATF would be justified to get a warrant. And they did get their warrant. They must have been thinking, "If we can arrest this man, we can use him to get to bigger and more dangerous people in the Aryan Nations."
But that's not what they got. The ATF arrested Randy in July of 1990.
The FBI immediately asked Randy to turn State's Witness against the Aryan Nations, and he refused -- not because he held sympathies for white separatists, but because he had once before been lied about and pursued by the government, in 1985. In fact, the US Marshals, ATF, and FBI did nothing to assuage Weaver's distrust of the government. They doubled down on their accusations of him being a white supremacist, a bank robber and wished to kill the president.
It was all untrue. And Weaver vehemently denied it.
A Delicate Situation
They could not hold Randy for long, and he eventually returned to his home in Ruby Ridge. But in December of 1990, a grand jury dismissed the bank robbery and treason charges, and indicted Weaver on charges of making illegal firearms. By this time, the ATF had built up this image in their mind. They thought of Randy Weaver in the same way we think of terrorists today: bunkered down with thousands of bullets at their disposal.
"We can't just walk up to his house and arrest him," they convinced themselves.
So instead, they waited. They knew Randy Weaver wouldn't show up for his trial, and when he inevitably didn't, they gained the help of the Marshals Service. Surveillance was set up all around the Weaver home. Snipers took up position at all angles. They watched and waited.
When the Marshals were brought in on the case, they had not been informed of WHY Randy Weaver was being sought. No one told them about the shotguns. No one told them about the attempts to solicit a State's Witness. All they knew was this man was evading the law.
There were three units. Two surveillance units set up a good distance away with sniper rifles, spotting and surveillance equipment, and one ground unit which happened to be trespassing on the Weaver property by a good distance. And Randy's dog could smell them. It went after the ground unit. Very little information is known about what happened during the early stages, but what is known is that shots were fired by both sides, starting with the Marshals shooting Randy's dog.
And then Randy's son, Sammy Weaver.
These were people of the forest. They didn't get their food from the grocery store; they hunted and grew their food right there around their property. Every one of the Weavers was handy with a gun.
And they fought back. US Marshal William Degan was shot & killed.
The Siege & Standoff
This drove the federal officers into a frenzy. Suddenly, dozens of FBI, ATF, and US Marshal units are being deployed in this remote mountain forest in northern Idaho. They're ready to get revenge for their fallen brother in arms. They think this is another Robert Matthews. And because they think this is another Robert Matthews, they decide that a surrender order does not need to be given. Instead, the federal officers are told they can open fire as soon as they see any armed adult.
But the Weavers are hunters. They're always armed.
The federal agents were prepared for war. Roadblocks were set up. Helicopters, armoured personnel carriers, humvees were brought out in an overwhelming display of force. And on the morning of August 22, 1992, all the Weavers wanted to do was see the body of their son. They head to the shed where Sammy's body had been stored, and they take with them their weapons. A shot rings out.
CRACKKK. Randy is hit in the shoulder. They run back to the house.
CRACKKKK. Another shot goes right through Vicki Weaver's face.
Word came down the mountain quickly after Vicki's death. Neighbors, friends of the Weavers, supporters, news crews had gathered down at the road up to Ruby Ridge, and her death drove them to riot. Their worst fears had come true. A tyrannical force was killing Americans.
Again, the history is skewed. People like to say that the roadblock was filled with skinheads and racists -- but they were a tiny minority. Most were just proud Americans, like you see in the picture above. Of 200-300 people, maybe 10 people were from the Aryan Nations.
After 11 days of stand-off, Randy Weaver eventually surrendered to the FBI. He was terribly wounded from the bullet in his shoulder. It could have been avoided at so many points. The entrapment. The falsifying of charges. Shooting the dog. Foregoing the surrender order. But even now, more than 25 years later, the government cannot be honest about its failures at Ruby Ridge. "They were white separatists," they say. "It wasn't our fault," they tell themselves.
History is Written by "Winners"
The history is tweaked to give the government excuse. But we know better. All the Weavers wanted was to be left alone. And because of that, the government grew suspicious of them. Lied about them. Used entrapment to try and use them.
The scariest words in the English language really are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."