See also Israel and the United States; Jewish Amer-
icans; Literature in the United States; Theater in the
United States.
Ruby Ridge shoot-out
The Event Federal agents assault and besiege a
family, resulting in deaths of a mother, child,
and U.S. marshal
Date August 21-22, 1992
Place The remote mountains of northern Idaho
The Ruby Ridge incident led to a U.S. Senate investigation
and increased mistrust of federal law enforcement.
Randy Weaver was a white separatist who lived with
his family in a remote plywood cabin in northern
Idaho. Their friend and neighbor was a young man
named Kevin Harris. Attending the July, 1986, Aryan
Nations World Congress, Weaver was befriended by
a biker who called himself Gus Magisono but who
was actually Kenneth Fadeley, an undercover infor-
mant for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
and Firearms (ATF). Three years later, Weaver sold
him two sawed-off shotguns shorter than the legal
limit. In 1990, the ATF threatened to prosecute
Weaver unless he himself became an undercover in-
formant; he refused and warned the Aryan Nations.
In December, 1990, Weaver was indicted for fed-
eral gun law violations. At the arraignment, Weaver
was incorrectly told by the magistrate that if Weaver
were convicted, his family might lose their home in
order to pay for the court-appointed defense attor-
ney. The trial was scheduled for February 20, 1991,
but Weaver was incorrectly told that the trial date was
March 20. Weaver had no intention of going to trial
on any date and did not appear. Assistant U.S. attor-
ney Ron Howen had Weaver indicted for failure to
appear, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The
U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) was notified, and the
agency deployed its paramilitary Special Operations
Group (SOG). For sixteen months, the USMS sur-
veilled Weaver’s home.
The Marshals Attack and FBI Siege On August 21,
1992, six deputy marshals entered the Weaver prop-
erty, and three of them threw rocks toward the cabin,
alerting one of the Weavers’ dogs. Weaver, Harris,
and Weaver’s fourteen-year-old son, Sammy, grabbed
guns and went to investigate, thinking that the dog
had detected game. The marshals shot the Weavers’
dog. Marshal Larry Cooper fired his 9-millimeter
machine pistol at Sammy, killing him with a shot in
the back as he was running away. Marshal William F.
Degan was fatally shot by Harris, who then fled with
Randy Weaver to the cabin.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Hos-
tage Rescue Team (HRT) was next brought in. Com-
mander Richard Rogers created rules of engage-
ment authorizing FBI snipers to shoot any adult
male outside the cabin carrying a gun. The shoot-to-
kill orders were approved by FBI supervisor Larry
Potts, in violation of Idaho’s homicide law.
At 6:00p.m.on August 22, Weaver, Harris, and
Weaver’s teenage daughter Sara exited the cabin.
FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shot to kill Weaver but hit
him in the shoulder. Standing in the cabin doorway,
Weaver’s wife, Vicki, holding her ten-month-old
baby, Elisheba, shouted to the group to get inside.
Horiuchi then fatally shot Vicki Weaver in the head,
although he later claimed that he was aiming at her
husband.
The siege ended after Vietnam War hero and
right-wing commentator Bo Gritz volunteered to ne-
gotiate. Gritz talked Weaver into surrendering, in
exchange for Weaver being allowed to meet with
Gerry Spence, the famous criminal defense lawyer.
Harris surrendered on August 30 and the Weavers
on the following day.
Trial Spence took Weaver’s case pro bono. At an
April, 1993, trial, Weaver and Harris were acquitted
of murder and all other charges, except for Weaver’s
failure to appear for the original trial. Judge Edward
Lodge fined the FBI $1,920 for illegally withholding
evidence and lying, and chastised their “callous dis-
regard” for the rights of defendants and a “complete
lack of respect” for the court. Weaver was sentenced
to eighteen months, to be reduced by credit for the
fourteen months he had already spent in custody.
Impact In 1995, a Senate subcommittee held hear-
ings on Ruby Ridge. ATF director John Magaw
promised to end immediately the agency’s practice
of paying informants on a contingency basis.
(Fadeley had been paid this way.) The FBI decorated
sniper Horiuchi for his work at Ruby Ridge. In 1995,
Potts was appointed second in command of the FBI
by Director Louis Freeh, but public outrage quickly
forced him to resign. The USMS honored the six
marshals as heroes. Coupled with the 1993 events at730 Ruby Ridge shoot-out The Nineties in America