The Ruby Ridge Catastrophe
"Federal agents in body armor and black ninja uniforms, armored cars crashing up hillsides, even the fabled helicopters of militia nightmares --Ruby Ridge had all the elements of a paranoid fantasy, with the difference that it was stamped in real flesh and blood. In the 11- day standoff, Weaver's wife was shot dead as she held their 10-month-old daughter in her arms. A day earlier his 14-year-old son and a U.S. Marshal had been killed (Lacayo, 1995)." But who was Randy Weaver? What kind of horrible criminal was he to deserve armed federal agents rushing on his house and family? And why isn't there a happy ending to this story? Randy Weaver was a 44-year old ex-Green Beret. He lived in a cabin in the woods of Ruby Ridge with his wife, Vikki, son, Sammy, and daughters, Sara, Rachael, and Elisheba. Randy also had his young friend, Kevin Harris, staying with him and his family. Randy and his family were subsistence hunters and farmers. They had a generator to produce electricity, but they had no televisions or radios. The Weaver family liked to keep things simple and keep to themselves. In October of 1989, Randy Weaver sold two sawed-off shotguns that were under the legal length to a "frie
The incident led to one of the most extensive internal reviews of an FBI I am bothered by these questions and many more when I read information about the Ruby Ridge incident. Many things "could" and "should" have been done differently. The FBI was clearly in the wrong, as it was stated in the Justice Report. I believe Ruby Ridge was a catastrophe. of its criminal division and now its deputy director, for their roles in the operation At the conclusion of this standoff, it seems as though unnecessary life was lost and innocent blood shed. But why? Why did the Ruby Ridge incident end in a catastrophe? Did it really have to end up that way? The only way to get some answers to these questions is to examine the methods used by the U.S. Marshals and the FBI and to compare them to what "should" and "could have been done. "FBI Headquarters rejected an initial operation plan because there was no provision to even attempt to negotiate the surrender of the suspects. The plan was revised to include a negotiation provision-but subsequent FBI action made that provision nullity. FBI snipers took their positions around the Weaver cabin a few minutes after 5 p.m. on August 22. Within an hour, every adult in the cabin was either dead or severely wounded-even though they had not fired a shot at any FBI agent (Bovard, 1995)." As the FBI hostage-rescue team were in route to Ruby Ridge the "rules of engagement were discussed. It was said that any armed adults "could" and "should" be shot on site, deadly force "should" and "could" be used to neutralize the situation. But why was all of this happening to the Weaver's? We also found serious problems with the terms of the Rules of Engagement in force
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Approximate Word count = 1995
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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