Ruby Ridge Revisited: Fear, Firearms, and Family on the Edge

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The Weaver family wanted out of the world's mess, so they moved to the mountains of Idaho

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to homeschool, grow their own food, and overall try to avoid trouble.

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Trouble didn't get the memo.

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A land dispute turned federal standoff, neighbors turned informants, and guns turned everything

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into a powder keg.

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What happened next?

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Well, it's a story about family, fear, and a showdown nobody could predict.

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Before we jump in, if you like your true crime brief and bingeable, you're exactly where

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you need to be.

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Hit follow now for at least two new episodes every week.

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This is 10 Minute Murder.

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Let's get into it.

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[Music]

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In the 1980s, Randy Weaver, an Iowa factory worker and former US soldier, decided to take

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his wife Vicki and their four kids out to Idaho.

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Vicki was the family's spiritual anchor, leading with strong beliefs that shaped their way

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of life.

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She'd been having this reoccurring dream about living on a mountain, a warning, at least

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to her, that the world as they knew it was heading for trouble.

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Vicki and Vicki saw the world around them as a mess of darkness and corruption.

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Their goal was simple.

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Protect their kids from as much as they possibly could.

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That led them to Ruby Ridge, Idaho, where they could homeschool, grow their own food, and

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basically unplug from what they viewed as a broken system.

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Even in their isolated corner, conflict found them.

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They got tangled up with one of the few neighbors nearby, Terry Kinnison.

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For a $3,000 land dispute, Randy won the case, but Kinnison wasn't about to forget the

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loss.

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More importantly, he made sure some powerful folks knew exactly what he thought of the

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Weaver's.

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Burning, over losing the land case, Terry Kinnison took things up but notch.

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He fired off letters to the FBI, the Secret Service, and his local sheriff, claiming that

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Randy Weaver had threatened the lives of President Ronald Reagan, Idaho's Governor

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John Evans, and even Pope John Paul II.

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The Weavers somehow got wind of these serious accusations and fired back with letters of

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their own, this time to the President and the FBI.

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They said their enemies were trying to turn federal agencies against them.

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You can see why they wanted to defend themselves, but sending those letters didn't exactly help

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to clear their name.

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If anything, it may think look even more tangled.

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The authorities took the accusations seriously and launched an investigation into the Weaver

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family.

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Randy and Vicki faced interviews with the FBI, the Secret Service, and the county sheriff.

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No one could prove the Weavers actually threatened anyone, but the Secret Service came away convinced

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Randy was involved with the Arian Nations, a white supremacist group.

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Randy denied the claims, but the suspicion stuck.

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After the problem, he had attended at least three Arian Nations meetings.

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At one of those, he unknowingly crossed paths with an informant working for the Bureau of

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Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

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The ATF, the Secret Service and the ATF, suspected that Randy was hoarding a large fire arm

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stash on his property.

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To get a search warrant, they needed evidence.

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So the ATF turned one of the local Arian Nations members into an informant.

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This informant acted as an illegal arms dealer and quickly gained Randy's trust enough to be

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introduced to the family.

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According to the allegations, Randy sold the informant to illegally modified saw-off

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shotguns.

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That was enough for the ATF to move in, but their focus was bigger.

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They wanted to take down the Arian Nations as a whole.

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They offered Randy a deal.

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Help bring down the Arian Nations and they dropped the charges.

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They declined.

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After that, the ATF decided to arrest him.

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Knowing the arrest could get ugly, two agents staged a car breakdown on the side of the road.

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When Randy and Vicki stopped to help, they arrested him.

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After Randy was taken into custody, he made bail and was told to appear in court on February

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19, 1991.

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Then the date changed to February 20th.

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The next day.

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But here's the kicker.

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The court never informed Randy directly.

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They only sent this new date to his court-appointed lawyer, Everett Hofmeister.

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Turns out Everett was a disaster.

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First he sent Randy a letter with the wrong court date, March 20th instead of February

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20th.

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Then he followed up saying he'd made a mistake and asked Randy to get in touch with him immediately.

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Randy never responded.

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So surprise, he missed the date, the February 20th court appearance.

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Because of that, a warrant was issued for his arrest and it stayed active even after Everett

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showed the judge the mix up, but the court wasn't buying excuses.

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From that point on, Randy Weaver was officially a fugitive.

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Randy already didn't have much faith in the government and now his lawyer gave him even

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more reasons to doubt anyone.

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When he finally learned there was a warrant out for his arrest, he refused to turn himself

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in.

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The warrant that any attempt to arrest him on his land would be met with resistance.

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Part of his stubbornness came from whatever it told him that if he lost the case, he'd

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lose his land and the government would take his kids.

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All of that turned out to be fake news, but Randy had no way to fact check when the warning

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came from his own lawyer.

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Once it was clear Randy wasn't going to hand himself over, surveillance teams moved

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in on his property.

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They stayed back at first, but close enough to see the family would pick up weapons and

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get ready to defend themselves and their home whenever anyone came near.

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Randy made it clear he wasn't going to give up without a fight, but no one knew exactly

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how far that would go.

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Then the media reported that Randy had fired on a government helicopter flying over the

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property.

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A serious claim that put the authorities on high alert.

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The problem? that was completely untrue.

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Marshall's on-site and even the helicopter pilot told FBI agents there were no shots fired

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that day, especially not at the helicopter.

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By then though, it was too late.

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The idea that Randy would defend his family with force was firmly etched into the minds

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of law enforcement.

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Come summer 1992, six US marshals moved in, scouting the cabin to figure out the best

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time and place for an arrest.

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They hid in the surrounding forest, decked out in military camouflage, night vision goggles,

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and armed with M-16 rifles.

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That's when the family dog, a golden retriever named Striker, spotted them and charged into

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the woods toward the marshals.

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Samuel Weaver, Randy's 14-year-old son and the family friend Kevin Harris, followed.

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The family had been stuck in that cabin for a while, and when Striker took off like that,

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it hoped he'd found something that they could hunt and eat.

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Randy was in the woods that day too, and shortly after Striker bolted, the two groups,

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Randy's small hunting party and the marshals, ran into each other.

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The marshals identified themselves just as Striker charged through the trees toward

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them.

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Then one of the marshals fired, killing Striker right in front of Randy, Kevin Harris,

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and 14-year-old Samuel Weaver.

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Samuel lost it.

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He allegedly shouted, "You've killed my dog, you son of a bitch, before picking up

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his rifle and firing back at the marshall who shot Striker."

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Chaos erupted instantly.

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Both sides dove for cover and began shooting.

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Kevin Harris killed a marshall in the crossfire.

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It's widely believed that Marshall Larry Cooper shot Samuel in the back of the head while

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he was trying to run back to the cabin, killing him instantly.

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Both sides pulled back after the fire fight, but the damage was done.

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The standoff escalated and authorities brought in every available backup.

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FBI snipers took positions with clear views of the cabin.

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One sniper was watching when negotiators approached the Weavers, hoping to arrange a truce.

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Before talks could happen, the sniper saw an opening.

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He shot Randy in the back while Randy was unlocking a shed.

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Randy was on his way to visit Samuel's body.

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He survived but was seriously wounded.

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As he, his 16-year-old daughter Sarah and Kevin Harris raced back to the cabin, the sniper

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fired again.

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The bullet went through Kevin Harris' chest and into Vicki Weaver, who was standing

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at the door holding her 10-month-old baby.

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Vicki died instantly, clutching her baby.

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Her death triggered an 11-day standoff that finally ended when civilian negotiators

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broke her to truce and Randy and Kevin surrendered.

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The authorities got what they wanted, Randy in custody, but at a terrible cost.

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During the siege, a memo surfaced from FBI Deputy Assistant Director Danny Colson, written

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before he knew Vicki was dead, and it read, "Exactly."

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Something to consider.

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Number 1.

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Charge against Weaver is bullshit.

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Number 2.

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No one saw Weaver do any shooting.

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Number 3.

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Vicki has no charges against her.

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Number 4.

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Weaver's defense.

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He ran down the hill to see what Dog was barking at.

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Some guys in Cammy's shot his dog, started shooting at him, killed his son.

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Harris did the shooting.

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He is in a pretty strong legal position.

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The government had thrown everything they had at Randy Weaver, arguably without solid

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justification.

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Kevin Harris survived his injuries and was acquitted of all charges.

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Weaver was convicted only of missing his first court date, sentenced to 18 months in prison,

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fined $10,000, and released after 16 months.

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In 1995, Randy sued the federal government and settled for over $3 million.

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Thanks for listening to 10 Minute Murder.

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I'm Joe, the host.

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[MUSIC]