{
  "id": "enwiki-001376553833",
  "slug": "ruby-ridge-standoff",
  "title": "Ruby Ridge standoff",
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  "lead": "The Ruby Ridge standoff was the siege of the Weaver family home in Boundary County, Idaho, in August 1992. On August 21, deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) came to arrest Randy Weaver under a bench warrant for his failure to appear on federal firearms charges. The charges stemmed from Weaver's sale of a sawed-off shotgun to an undercover federal informant. During a pre-arrest surveillance operation, U.S. Marshal Art Roderick shot Weaver's dog when it ran at them and then pointed his rifle at Weaver's 14-year-old son, Samuel, who was armed. Samuel fired at the marshals, and was shot in the back and killed by the team. In the ensuing exchange of fire, Weaver's friend Kevin Harris shot and killed Deputy Marshal William Francis Degan Jr. Subsequently, 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, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shot Weaver, then shot Harris, but the second shot also hit and killed Weaver's wife Vicki blindly through a doorway. The conflict was ultimately resolved by civilian negotiators, including veteran activist Bo Gritz, who eventually convinced them to surrender. Harris surrendered and was arrested on August 30; Weaver and his three daughters surrendered the next day.…",
  "body": "The Ruby Ridge standoff was the siege of the Weaver family home in Boundary County, Idaho, in August 1992. On August 21, deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) came to arrest Randy Weaver under a bench warrant for his failure to appear on federal firearms charges. The charges stemmed from Weaver's sale of a sawed-off shotgun to an undercover federal informant. During a pre-arrest surveillance operation, U.S. Marshal Art Roderick shot Weaver's dog when it ran at them and then pointed his rifle at Weaver's 14-year-old son, Samuel, who was armed. Samuel fired at the marshals, and was shot in the back and killed by the team. In the ensuing exchange of fire, Weaver's friend Kevin Harris shot and killed Deputy Marshal William Francis Degan Jr. Subsequently, 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, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shot Weaver, then shot Harris, but the second shot also hit and killed Weaver's wife Vicki blindly through a doorway. The conflict was ultimately resolved by civilian negotiators, including veteran activist Bo Gritz, who eventually convinced them to surrender. Harris surrendered and was arrested on August 30; Weaver and his three daughters surrendered the next day. Extensive litigation followed. Initially, Randy Weaver and Harris were tried on a variety of federal criminal charges, including first-degree murder for the death of Degan. In the successful defense, Weaver's attorney Gerry Spence accused the agencies that were involved of criminal wrongdoing, in particular the FBI, the USMS, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), and the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for Idaho. Harris and Weaver were acquitted of all the siege-related charges, and Weaver was only found guilty of violating his bail terms and of failing to appear for a court hearing, both related to the original federal firearms charges. 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. In 1997, a Boundary County prosecutor indicted Horiuchi for the manslaughter of Vicki, but the county's new prosecutor controversially closed the case, claiming he would be unlikely to secure a conviction. The behavior of government agents during these events drew intense scrutiny. At the end of Weaver's trial, the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility formed the Ruby Ridge Task Force (RRTF) in an attempt to investigate Spence's charges. The resulting report raised questions about all of the participating agencies' conduct and policies. Another inquiry was led by the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information, which held hearings between September 6 and October 19, 1995. It issued a report in which it called for reforms in federal law enforcement to prevent a repeat of the losses of life at Ruby Ridge and to restore the public's confidence. Several documentaries and books were produced on the siege. The actions of government and state law enforcement at Ruby Ridge and during the Waco siege roughly six months later were both cited by the terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols as their primary motivations to carry out the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. ==August 21 firefight== On August 21, 1992, six U.S. Marshals were sent to scout the area to determine suitable places away from the cabin to apprehend and arrest Weaver. The marshals, dressed in military camouflage, were equipped with night-vision goggles and M16 rifles. Marshals Art Roderick, Larry Cooper, and William F. \"Bill\" Degan formed the reconnaissance team, while Marshals David Hunt, Joseph Thomas, and Frank Norris formed an observation post (OP) team on the ridge north of the cabin. While scouting the area, Roderick threw two rocks at the Weaver cabin to test the reaction of the family's dog, a yellow Labrador Retriever named Striker. Striker ran out to pursue the source of the sound. Weaver—in addition to his friend, Kevin Harris, and Weaver's 14-year-old son, Samuel (\"Sammy\")—followed Striker to investigate, hoping the dog had found a game animal, as the cabin was out of meat. The recon team (Roderick, Cooper, and Degan) initially retreated through the woods, but later took up hidden defensive positions. The dog was drawn to the area where the recon team was hiding because a neighbor started a loud pickup truck. Samuel and Harris followed the dog through the woods, while Randy took a separate logging trail; Vicki, Sara, Rachel, and baby Elisheba remained at the cabin. Near the trail, Randy encountered the recon team, who later claimed they announced themselves to him at that time. Roderick said he yelled, \"Back off! U.S. Marshal!\" upon sighting Weaver, while Cooper said he shouted, \"Stop! U.S. Marshal!\" A minute later, Samuel and Harris emerged from the woods following the dog, who had brought them directly to the recon team. Roderick shot and killed the dog. Seeing this, Samuel yelled, \"You've killed my dog, you son of a bitch!\" and then shot in the direction of Roderick. Cooper then shot towards Samuel and Harris, who both sought cover. Harris, upon finding cover behind a tree stump, returned fire with a shot that killed Deputy U.S. Marshall William \"Bill\" Degan Jr. Samuel, while retreating and running up a hill, was shot in the back and killed by Cooper. A later ballistics report showed that a total of nineteen rounds were fired during the fight. Roderick fired one shot from an M16A1 (which killed the dog by entering near his rear and exiting through his chest), then Samuel fired three shots from a .223 Ruger Mini-14 (at Roderick), Degan fired seven shots from an M16 (at Harris and Weaver, while moving at least ), Cooper fired six shots from a 9 mm Colt submachine gun (at Harris and Weaver), then Harris fired two shots from a .30-06 M1917 Enfield Rifle (striking and killing Degan). The origin of the shot that killed Samuel was of critical concern in all investigations. The Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government Information, chaired by Senator Arlen Specter, investigated the matter and engaged experts, noting that the government's position at trial was that Cooper had fired the fatal shot. However, in a 1996 Senate Report, the Subcommittee ultimately declined to reach a final conclusion on that question. A report by the Justice Department's Ruby Ridge Task Force (RRTF) to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR, 1994) stated: It was concluded there was no indication he intended to kill or injure Samuel. Reporter Jess Walter, in his work Ruby Ridge: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Weaver Family, concludes that Cooper fired the bullet that killed Samuel Weaver. The County Sheriff later conducted an independent search of the area and discovered a bullet that both matched Cooper's 9 mm Colt submachine gun and contained fibers that matched Samuel's shirt, conclusively proving Cooper shot Samuel. Harris's and the federal agents' accounts differ as to who fired the first shot that day. In Harris's 1993 trial for charges related to Degan's death, prosecutors alleged that Harris fired the first shot. Harris asserted that he fired in self-defense. He was acquitted by a jury. At trial, ballistics experts called by the prosecution testified that the physical evidence could not conclusively prove either the prosecution or the defense's theories about the gunfight. Martin Fackler testified that Roderick fired the shot that killed the dog, Degan fired a shot that hit Samuel in the right elbow, Harris shot and killed Degan, and Cooper \"probably\" shot and killed Samuel. Roderick and Cooper both testified that the dog emerged from the woods ahead of Harris and Samuel. According to their account, Degan confronted Harris, who then turned and fatally shot Degan before Degan could fire. Roderick claimed he shot the dog once, after which Samuel fired twice at him, prompting Roderick to return fire. Both Roderick and Cooper testified that they heard multiple gunshots from the Weaver party. Cooper further testified that he fired two three-shot bursts at Harris, causing Harris to fall \"like a sack of potatoes,\" with leaves flying up in front of him, likely from the impact of a round. After taking cover, Cooper stated that he saw Samuel flee, then Cooper radioed fellow marshal Dave Hunt to report that he had either wounded or killed Harris. As described by Randy and Sara Weaver in their book, The Federal Siege (1998), Harris's version of events differed, as follows. Harris told the Weavers that he and Samuel followed the dog out of the woods, and the dog ran up to Cooper and Roderick, who shot the dog in front of them. Samuel yelled, \"You shot my dog, you son of a bitch!\" and fired a shot at Roderick. Harris said that Degan came out of the woods and shot Samuel in the arm. In response, Harris fired at Degan and hit him in the chest. Cooper began firing at Harris, who ducked for cover, then Cooper fired again, hitting Samuel in the back, who crumpled. Harris fired at Cooper from only 6 feet (2 m) away, forcing Cooper to take cover. Only then did he hear Cooper identify himself as a U.S. Marshal. Harris said he checked Samuel and found him dead, then ran to the Weavers' cabin. Samuel's parents, Randy and Vicki, retrieved their son's body and brought it to their guest cabin. Meanwhile, Marshals Norris, Cooper, and Roderick stayed with Degan's body. Marshals Hunt and Thomas went to a neighbor's house to call for assistance from the Marshall Service's Crisis Center in Washington, D.C.. Hunt reported to the Crisis Center that no further gunfire had been heard after 11:15 a.m. === Constitutionality of second shot after threat had been neutralized=== The RRTF report to the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) of June 1994 stated unequivocally in conclusion (in its executive summary) that the rules that allowed the second shot to have been made did not satisfy constitutional standards for legal use of deadly force. The 1996 report of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government Information, Arlen Specter [R-PA], chair, concurred, with Senator Dianne Feinstein [D-CA] dissenting. The DOJ's RRTF report said that the lack of a request for surrender before Agent Horiuchi's second shot was \"inexcusable\", as Harris and the Weavers were running for cover at the time and did not pose an imminent threat. The later Justice task force criticized Horiuchi for firing through the door, when he did not know if anyone was on the other side of it. While there is a dispute as to who approved the rules of engagement which Horiuchi followed, the task force condemned the rules of engagement that allowed shots to be fired without a request for surrender. ==References==",
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