The Siege at Ruby Ridge (Part II)

Incident at the "Y" in the trails

The USMS had not dropped the case, and on Friday, August 21, 1992, six marshals were sent to scout the area to determine suitable places away from the cabin to ambush and arrest Weaver.  The marshals, dressed in military camouflage, were equipped with night-vision goggles and M16 rifles.  Deputy U.S. Marshals (DUSMs) Art Roderick, Larry Cooper, and Bill Degan formed the reconnaissance team, while DUSMs David Hunt, Joseph Thomas, and Frank Norris formed an observation post (OP) team on the ridge north of the cabin.

At one point, Roderick threw two rocks at the Weaver cabin to test the reaction of the dogs.  The action provoked the dogs; Weaver's friend Kevin Harris and Weaver's 14-year-old son Samuel (Sammy) emerged and followed the dog Striker to investigate.  Harris and the younger Weaver said that they were hoping that the dog had noticed a game animal since the cabin was out of meat.  The Recon team marshals (Roderick, Cooper, and Degan) initially retreated through the woods in radio contact with the OP team, but later took up hidden defensive positions.

Later, OP team marshals and the Weavers both claimed the Weaver dogs were alerted to the Recon team marshals in the woods after neighbors at the foot of the mountain started their pickup truck.   The Recon team marshals retreated through the woods to the "Y" junction in the trails 500 yards (460 m) west of the cabin, out of sight of the cabin.  Sammy Weaver and Kevin Harris followed the dog Striker on foot through the woods while Randy Weaver, also on foot, took a separate logging trail; Vicki, Sara, Rachel, and baby Elisheba remained at the cabin, at first appearing anxious to the OP team, but later appearing relaxed.  Randy encountered the marshals at the "Y"; Roderick claimed to have yelled, "Back off! U.S. Marshal!" upon sighting Weaver and Cooper said he had shouted, "Stop! U.S. Marshal!".  By their account, the dog and the boys came out of the woods about a minute later, and a firefight erupted between the marshals and Sammy Weaver and Harris.

A later ballistics report showed that nineteen rounds were fired in total during the firefight.  Art Roderick was shown to have fired one shot from an M16A1, Bill Degan fired seven rounds from an M16 (while moving at least 21 feet (6.4 m)), Larry Cooper to have fired six rounds from a 9 mm Colt submachine gun, Sammy Weaver to have fired three rounds from a .223 Ruger Mini-14, and Harris fired two rounds from a .30-06 M1917 Enfield Rifle.

In the firefight, a shot or shots from DUSM Roderick killed the Weavers' dog, a yellow Labrador Retriever, at which time Sammy Weaver is reported to have returned fire at Roderick.  After the federal agents began firing, Sammy Weaver was killed by a shot to the back while retreating, and DUSM Degan was shot and killed in self-defense by Harris.

The matter of who fired the shot that killed the youth Sammy Weaver was of critical concern in all investigations. At the time of the writing of the Ruby Ridge: Report ... (1996), the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government, chaired by Arlen Specter, noted that the government's position at trial was that Cooper had fired the shot that killed Sammy Weaver; however, at the time of writing, the Subcommittee had engaged further experts, and declined to draw a final conclusion.  In the DOJ's Ruby Ridge Task Force (RRTF) report to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR, 1994), while noting that the marshals of the USMS "went to great lengths in preparing for their mission to avoid endangering the Weaver children," and that "[t]here is [i.e., was at the time of that report] no proof, and we do not conclude, that Cooper intentionally aimed the fatal shot at Sammy Weaver," they close by stating:

The evidence suggests, but does not establish, that the shot that killed Sammy Weaver was fired by DUSM Cooper.

Reporter Jess Walter, in his highly regarded work Ruby Ridge, concludes that the bullet that killed Sammy Weaver was indeed fired by Larry Cooper.

Accounts differ between Harris and the Federal agents as to who fired first.  In the 1993 trial over the death of Deputy U.S. Marshal Degan, prosecutors alleged that Harris had fired the first shot; Harris asserted self-defense and was acquitted.

On cross examination by the defense, ballistics experts called by the prosecution testified that the physical evidence contradicted neither the prosecution nor defense theories of the firefight.   It was the testimony of Martin Fackler, regarding those responsible for which shots, that Roderick fired the shot or shots that killed the dog, that Degan fired the shot that hit Sammy in the right elbow, that Harris shot and killed Degan, and that Cooper "probably" shot and killed Sammy.   The 1993 jury trial resulted in an acquittal of Kevin Harris.  Reporter Jess Walter concludes in Ruby Ridge that Cooper fired the bullet that killed Sammy Weaver, in part based on evidence from a later search—in 1997—by a local sheriff that produced a bullet and fibers that connected Cooper's gun and Sammy Weaver's shirt and wound.

The version of the firefight presented by DUSMs Roderick and Cooper stated that the dog preceded Kevin Harris, and then Sammy Weaver, out of the woods. Deputy Marshal Degan is then presented as challenging Harris, who turned and shot and fatally wounded Degan before Degan could fire a single shot. The account proceeds to describe Roderick as shooting the dog once, Sammy firing twice at Roderick, and Roderick firing once again. Roderick and Cooper testified that they heard multiple gunshots from the Weaver party. Cooper testified to having fired two three-shot bursts at Harris, to seeing Harris fall "like a sack of potatoes", and to seeing leaves fly up in front of him, presumably from the impact of a round, which then led Cooper to seek cover. Cooper testified to having seen Sammy run away, and then to radioing to OP team member Dave Hunt that he had wounded or killed Harris.

As described by Randy and Sara Weaver, in their account, The Federal Siege (1998), Kevin Harris' version of events differed, as follows.  Harris reported to them that the dog was followed by Sammy Weaver and then Kevin Harris out of the woods, and that the dog ran up to Cooper and danced about as he did in playing with the children. He reports that the dog then ran to Roderick, who shot the dog in front of Sammy Weaver, who then yelled "You shot my dog, you son of a bitch" and who then fired a shot at Roderick.  Degan is then described as coming out of the woods firing his M16, and hitting Sammy in the arm. Then, Harris is described as firing and hitting Degan in the chest. The Harris account to the Weavers then has Cooper firing at Harris, who ducked for cover, and Cooper firing again and hitting Sammy in the back, who then fell. Harris then describes himself firing about 6 feet (2 m) in front of Cooper, forcing him to take cover, whereupon he states having heard Cooper announce that he was a U.S. Marshal. Harris then describes that he checked Sammy's body, found him dead, and ran to the Weaver's cabin.

After the firefight at the "Y", marshals Hunt and Thomas went from the hillside to a neighbor's house to call for assistance from the USMS Crisis Center while marshals Norris, Cooper, and Roderick stayed with Degan's body at the "Y". Randy and Vicki went to the "Y" and retrieved Sammy's body. Randy, Vicki and Harris placed Sammy's body in a guest cabin near the main cabin.  From 11:15 a.m. onward, Hunt reported to the Crisis Center in Washington D.C. that no further gunfire had been heard.

Siege and controversy

In the aftermath of the firefight on August 21 at 11:20 am PDT, USMS Dave Hunt requested immediate support from Idaho law enforcement, and alerted the FBI that a marshal had been killed.  Following Hunt's phone call, the Marshals Service Crisis Center was activated under the direction of Duke Smith, Associate Director for Operations. The Marshals Service Special Operations Group ("SOG") was alerted to deploy.  In response to the USMS call, the Boundary County sheriff's office mobilized.  Also in response to the USMS request, Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus declared a state of emergency in Boundary County, allowing use of the Idaho National Guard Armory at Bonners Ferry and, after an initial delay, to use National Guard armored personnel carriers (APCs).  Soon thereafter, the Idaho State Police arrived at the scene.

FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC, responded by sending the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) from Quantico to Idaho; Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Eugene Glenn of the Salt Lake City FBI office was appointed Site Commander with responsibility for all active individuals from the FBI, ATF, and USMS.  A stand-off ensued for eleven days, as several hundred federal agents surrounded the house, and negotiations for a surrender were attempted.

Special ROE and sniper/observer deployment

By Saturday, August 22, special rules of engagement (ROE) were drafted and approved by FBI Headquarters and the Marshal Service for use on Ruby Ridge.  According to the later RRTF report to the DOJ (1994), the Ruby Ridge ROE were as follows:

"If any adult in the area around the cabin is observed with a weapon after the surrender announcement had been made, deadly force could and should be used to neutralize the individual."

"If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the announcement deadly force can and should be employed if the shot could be taken without endangering any children."

 "If compromised by any dog the dog can be taken out."

 "Any subjects other than Randy Weaver, Vicki Weaver, and Kevin Harris presenting threat of death or grievous bodily harm FBI rules of deadly force apply. Deadly force can be utilized to prevent the death or grievous bodily injury to oneself or that of another."

(From the sworn statement of FBI SAC Eugene Glenn).

As noted in a footnote to the report in this crucial section:

The [ROE] was modified from "adult" to "adult male" [in ROE point 2] to exclude Vicki Weaver around 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. after consultation with [SAC Eugene] Glenn because Vicki Weaver was not seen at the site of Degan's slaying.

The ROE were communicated to agents on site, including communication to HRT sniper/observers prior to deployment, communications that included the change of "adult" to "adult male" to exclude Vicki Weaver.  Some deployed FBI agents, in particular the sniper/observers, would later describe the adopted ROE as a "green light" to "shoot on sight".

On Wednesday, August 26, the ROE that had been in effect since the arrival of the HRT were revoked. Per Glenn's direction, the FBI's Standard Deadly Force Policy replaced the ROE to guide the law enforcement personnel that were to be deployed to the cabin perimeter. The FBI rules of deadly force in effect in 1992 stated that:

Agents are not to use deadly force against any person except as necessary in self-defense or the defense of another, when they have reason to believe that they or another are in danger of death or grievous bodily harm. Whenever feasible, verbal warnings should be given before deadly force is applied.

This was in stark contrast to the permissive ROE adopted for the Ruby Ridge stand-off.

Deployment of sniper/observers, ROE understanding

On August 22, the second day of the siege, between 2:30–⁠3:30 pm, the FBI HRT sniper/observer teams were briefed and deployed to the cabin on foot.  According to the RRTF report to the DOJ, there were various views and interpretations taken of these ROEs by members of FBI SWAT teams in action at the Ruby Ridge site, including describing them as "severe" and "inappropriate" (Denver SWAT team leader Gregory Sexton), and as "strong" and a "departure from the ... standard deadly force policy", as "inappropriate", and of a sort he "had never been given" before (two members of the Denver SWAT team). The latter of these two members stated further that "other SWAT team members were taken aback by the Rules and that most of them clung to the FBI's standard deadly force policy," and a further team member responded to the briefing on the ROE with "[y]ou've gotta be kidding."

However, most of the FBI HRT sniper/observers accepted the ROE as modifying the deadly force policy. Examples included HRT sniper Dale Monroe, who saw the ROE as a "green light" to shoot armed adult males on sight, and HRT sniper Edward Wenger who believed that if he observed armed adults, he could use deadly force, but he was to follow standard deadly force policy for all other individuals. Fred Lanceley, the FBI Hostage Negotiator at Ruby Ridge, was "surprised and shocked" at the ROE, the most severe rules he had ever heard in his over 300 hostage situations, and characterized the ROE as being inconsistent with standard policy.  A later Senate report criticized the ROE as "virtual shoot-on-sight orders."

Sniper shots: R. Weaver wounding, V. Weaver killing

Before the negotiators arrived at the cabin, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi, from a position over 200 yards (180 m) north and above the Weaver cabin, shot and wounded Randy Weaver in the back with the bullet exiting his right armpit, while he was lifting the latch on the shed to visit the body of his dead son.   (The sniper testified at the later trial that he had put his crosshairs on Weaver's spine, but Weaver moved at the last second.) Then, as Weaver, his 16-year-old daughter Sara, and Harris ran back toward the house, Horiuchi fired a second bullet, killing Vicki Weaver and wounding Harris in the chest. Vicki Weaver was standing behind the door through which Harris was entering the house, holding their 10-month-old baby Elisheba, in her arms.

Constitutionality of the second shot

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 taken place 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 RRTF report also found the lack of a request to surrender "inexcusable", since Harris and the two Weavers were not an imminent threat (reported as running for cover without returning fire).

The task force also specifically blamed Horiuchi for firing through the door, not knowing whether someone was on the other side of it.  While controversy exists as to who is responsible for approving the rules of engagement that were being followed by the FBI sniper, the task force also condemned the rules of engagement that allowed shots to be fired without request for surrender.

Situational reevaluation, ROE suspension, siege end

Both FBI HQ and the Site Commanders in Idaho re-evaluated the situation based on information they were receiving from U.S. Marshals Hunt, Cooper and Roderick about what had happened on August 21. On August 23, repeated attempts to negotiate with Weaver via bullhorn failed with no response from the cabin.

On about Monday, August 24, the fourth day of the siege on the Weaver family, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Danny Coulson, who was unaware that Vicki Weaver had been killed, wrote a memo with the following content:

Something to Consider

1. Charge against Weaver is Bull S___.

2. No one saw Weaver do any shooting.

3. Vicki has no charges against her.

4. Weaver's defense. He ran down the hill to see what dog was barking at. Some guys in camys [camouflage] shot his dog. Started shooting at him. Killed his son. Harris did the shooting. He is in pretty strong legal position.

The stand-off was ultimately resolved by civilian negotiators including Bo Gritz—to whom Weaver agreed to speak.  Through the intermediacy of Gritz, Harris, who had earlier urged Weaver to end his suffering, surrendered on August 30 (Sunday) and was removed via stretcher, and flown by an Air Force medical evacuation helicopter to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.  Likewise, Weaver allowed the removal of his wife's body, the move of which, via body bag, Gritz oversaw.  FBI HRT Commander gave Gritz a deadline to get the remaining Weavers to surrender; else the standoff would be resolved by a tactical assault.  Weaver and his daughters surrendered the next day; both Harris and Weaver were arrested.  Harris was in serious condition at Sacred Heart, but U.S. Marshals did not allow his parents to see him (or talk by telephone) until Monday evening, after a federal court order was issued.  Weaver's daughters were released to the custody of relatives, although some consideration was given to charging Sara, who was 16, as an adult.

Weaver was transferred by military helicopter to the airport at Sandpoint then flown by USMS jet to Boise and given a brief medical examination at St. Luke's Medical Center. He was held at the Ada County jail and arraigned in federal court the following day, Tuesday, September 1.

Aftermath: trials, acquittals, awards, investigations, perspectives

Weaver and Harris were charged with a variety of offenses; their trial in U.S. District Court in Boise began in April 1993, and was presided over by Judge Edward Lodge.  Weaver's defense attorney, Gerry Spence, rested his case in mid-June without calling any witnesses for the defense, instead seeking to convince the jury through cross-examination aimed at discrediting government evidence and witnesses.  Weaver was ultimately acquitted in July of all charges except missing his original court date and violating his bail conditions, for which he was sentenced in October to 18 months and fined $10,000.  Credited with time served and good behavior, Weaver served less than 16 months and was released from the Canyon County jail in Caldwell in mid-December.

Harris was defended by attorney David Niven and was acquitted of all charges.  Exactly five years after the incident (August 21, 1997), he was indicted by Boundary County prosecutor Denise Woodbury for the first-degree murder of DUSM Bill Degan, but the charge was dismissed in early October on grounds of double jeopardy, because he had been acquitted in the federal criminal trial on the same charge in 1993.

Defense counsels for Weaver and Harris alleged throughout their 1993 trial that agents of the ATF, USMS, and FBI were themselves guilty of serious wrongdoing, leading the Department of Justice (DOJ) to create the Ruby Ridge Task Force (RRTF), which delivered a 542-page report on June 10, 1994, to the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).  (This RRTF report, originally available in a highly redacted form became available in a much more complete form.)

Questions persisted about Ruby Ridge and the subsequent Waco siege, which involved the same agencies and many of the same officials. The Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government Information held fourteen days of hearings, ending on October 19, 1995. The hearings were televised on C-SPAN and confirmed many of the questions raised by the DOJ OPR Report.  Both the internal 1994 Ruby Ridge Task Force Report and the public 1995 Senate subcommittee report on Ruby Ridge criticized the rules of engagement as unconstitutional.  A 1995 GAO report on use of force by federal law enforcement agencies would be composed, and report: "In October 1995, Treasury and Justice adopted use of deadly force policies to standardize the various policies their component agencies had adopted over the years."  The major change was the requirement of a reasonable belief of an "imminent" danger of death or serious physical injury, which brought all federal LEA deadly force policies in line with the U.S. Supreme Court rulings Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 18 (1985) and Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989) that applied to state and local law enforcement agencies.

The surviving members of the Weaver family filed a wrongful death suit for $200 million. In an out-of-court settlement in August 1995, the federal government awarded Randy Weaver $100,000 and his three daughters $1 million each. The government did not admit any wrongdoing in the deaths of Sammy and Vicki.  On the condition of anonymity, a DOJ official told the Washington Post that he believed the Weavers probably would have won the full amount if the case had gone to trial.

Along with the Waco siege, the incident ultimately became a motive for Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, which resulted in their mass murder of 168 people, a terrorist "retaliation" for the federal government's handling of both incidents.

FBI HRT sniper Lon Horiuchi was indicted for manslaughter in 1997 by Boundary County prosecutor Woodbury just before the statute of limitations for the crime of manslaughter expired, but the trial was removed to federal court in 1998 and Judge Lodge quickly dismissed on grounds of sovereign immunity.  The decision to dismiss the charges was reversed (6–5) in 2001 by an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit, which held that enough uncertainty about the facts of the case existed for Horiuchi to stand trial on state manslaughter charges.  Boundary County prosecutor Brett Benson, who had defeated Woodbury in the May 2000 primary and handily won the November election, decided to drop the charges because he felt it was unlikely the state could prove the case and too much time had passed.  Stephen Yagman, the special prosecutor, responded that he "could not disagree more with this decision than I do."

Randy and Sara Weaver wrote a 1998 paperback book, The Federal Siege at Ruby Ridge, about the incident. (The appendix of the book is a reprint of the 1995 Report on the U.S. Senate Ruby Ridge Hearing.)

The attorney for Harris pressed Harris's civil suit for damages, although federal officials vowed they would never pay someone who had killed a U.S. Marshal. In September 2000, after persistent appeals, Harris was awarded a $380,000 settlement from the government.

The Weaver family, including Randy, later moved to Kalispell, Montana, where Sara and the other two Weaver daughters are employed. After becoming a born again Christian, Sara Weaver said in 2012 that she had forgiven the federal agents who killed her mother and brother.

In popular culture

A CBS miniseries about the Ruby Ridge incident, titled Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy, aired on May 19 and 21, 1996, based on the book Every Knee Shall Bow by reporter Jess Walter.  It starred Laura Dern as Vicki, Kirsten Dunst as Sara, and Randy Quaid as Randy.  The television series was edited together in movie form as The Siege at Ruby Ridge.

In 1999, renowned Bluegrass musician Peter Rowan paid homage to the tragedy at Ruby Ridge in his song "The Ballad of Ruby Ridge," sympathetic to the Weaver family.

In a 2007 episode of Criminal Minds agent David Rossi reveals that he was at Ruby Ridge during the siege. His quote was, "All anyone remembers was that an FBI sniper killed a woman while she was holding her baby."

In 2017, it was the focus of the 323rd episode of American Experience, the 5th of its 29th season.

The standoff, including the shooting of Vicki Weaver, is featured in the first episode of the Paramount Network television miniseries Waco in 2018.

The New York Times bestselling memoir Educated by Tara Westover references the incident in relation to her own family's preparations to defend their home against potential siege by "the Feds".

The Ruby Ridge incident was the subject of the first season of the narrative podcast series Slate Presents. The 4-episode season, titled Standoff: What Happened at Ruby Ridge? ran as a stand-alone miniseries hosted by journalist Ruth Graham.