Ruby Ridge.
The Ruby Ridge incident in August 1992 is widely seen as a disturbing example of federal government overreach and mishandling, particularly by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).
It began when Randy Weaver, a former Green Beret and survivalist, failed to appear in court for a weapons charge that itself stemmed from a questionable ATF sting operation.
The government had tried to pressure Weaver into becoming an informant, and when he refused, they targeted him with a minor firearms charge. He and his family chose to remain on their rural Idaho property rather than comply, fearing entrapment or unjust persecution.
The situation escalated tragically on August 21, when U.S. Marshals in camouflage, trespassing on Weaver’s land, shot and killed the family’s dog, which triggered a firefight that left Weaver’s 14-year-old son, Sammy, and U.S. Marshal William Degan dead. The following day, FBI snipers were deployed with a controversial “shoot on sight” order, later ruled unconstitutional. One sniper, Lon Horiuchi, shot and wounded Randy Weaver and his friend Kevin Harris, and then killed Weaver’s wife, Vicki, as she stood unarmed in a doorway holding her baby. The killing of Vicki, in particular, shocked the nation and became a symbol of federal aggression gone too far.
Public backlash against the government’s handling of Ruby Ridge was intense and bipartisan. Congressional hearings and internal reviews criticized the FBI’s rules of engagement and highlighted systemic failures in communication, oversight, and proportionality.
The Weavers were eventually awarded a $3.1 million settlement in a wrongful death suit, and no federal agents were ever criminally convicted for the deaths.
Ruby Ridge became a rallying cry for anti-government activists and militias in the 1990s and is still cited as a warning about unchecked federal power, militarization of law enforcement, and the erosion of constitutional rights in the face of bureaucratic force.
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