90 Miles From Tyranny

Friday, August 21, 2026

Visage à trois #5034

Three Videos For Your Viewing Pleasure:

EIGHT Additional Bonus Videos:

When the benefits of a high trust society are abused,

they become a relic of the past.

NINE Additional

Memes Await You:

(If you are easily offended, do not click the link below, click this link instead: Help For You)

August 21–31, 1992 (an 11-day standoff in Boundary County, Idaho).

It began on August 21, 1992, when a surveillance team of U.S. marshals encountered Randy Weaver, his 14-year-old son Sammy, and family friend Kevin Harris near Weaver’s remote cabin on Ruby Ridge. A firefight ensued in which Sammy Weaver, a family dog, and Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan were killed.

The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team arrived the next day. On August 22, an FBI sniper shot and wounded Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris; a second shot killed Vicki Weaver (Randy’s wife) as she stood in the cabin doorway holding their infant daughter.

The siege ended when Harris surrendered on August 30 and Weaver (with his surviving daughters) surrendered on August 31.

Ruby Ridge inquiries primarily involved a major Department of Justice (DOJ) internal review (the “Ruby Ridge Task Force”), FBI administrative reviews, U.S. Senate hearings, related criminal and civil proceedings, and later disciplinary processes. These examined the 1992 standoff involving Randy Weaver, his family, friend Kevin Harris, U.S. Marshals, and the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT).

Key Investigations and Findings

1. DOJ Ruby Ridge Task Force Report (June 10, 1994) A 542-page report prepared by a DOJ task force (led by Barbara Berman, with FBI investigative support) after the Weaver/Harris criminal trial. It reviewed the ATF investigation of Weaver, the Marshals’ efforts to arrest him, the August 21 firefight, the FBI’s response, rules of engagement, the sniper shootings, and the subsequent prosecution.

Major conclusions included:

No evidence that ATF targeted Weaver for his religious or political beliefs, and insufficient evidence of illegal entrapment on the original firearms charges.
The decision to deploy the FBI HRT was appropriate.
The FBI’s special Rules of Engagement (“can and should” use deadly force against any armed adult male) were improper, failed to comply with constitutional standards and standard FBI deadly-force policy, and may have encouraged excessive force.
The first shot by FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi (wounding Randy Weaver) was found to meet the constitutional “objective reasonableness” standard.
The second shot (killing Vicki Weaver and wounding Harris) did not meet that standard. Horiuchi intended to shoot Harris but did not see Vicki Weaver behind the cabin door; the Task Force recommended reviewing the second shot for possible prosecution.
FBI intelligence gathering at the scene was inadequate; the internal FBI shooting review was insufficiently thorough and reached incorrect conclusions about the second shot.
Many other misconduct allegations were not supported.

The full report was not officially released publicly at the time (portions and summaries circulated later). DOJ components (including OPR and the Civil Rights Division) later disagreed with some of the Task Force’s conclusions on the second shot and declined federal prosecution of Horiuchi.

2. FBI Internal Reviews

Early post-incident reviews (including the “Walsh Report”) found little or no misconduct.
Later administrative reviews led FBI Director Louis Freeh to discipline or propose discipline for about a dozen employees in early 1995, including for issues related to the rules of engagement and information handling.
One significant criminal case: FBI official E. Michael Kahoe (chief of the Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Section) pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for destroying an after-action critique of the FBI’s performance and ordering a subordinate to destroy remaining copies so the document would appear never to have existed. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a fine.

3. U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearings (September–October 1995) The Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information (chaired by Sen. Arlen Specter) held 14 days of hearings with 62 witnesses, reviewed thousands of documents (including the DOJ Task Force report and trial materials), and issued a critical report.

Key findings:

A “chain of mistakes” and “substantial failures” by ATF, the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, and the Idaho U.S. Attorney’s Office weakened public trust.
ATF exaggerated Weaver’s dangerousness (including inaccurate claims about his record and associations) and failed to correct or fully acknowledge errors.
Flawed intelligence about Weaver was passed among agencies.
The second shot by Horiuchi violated constitutional standards for deadly force, the FBI’s own policy, and even the special rules of engagement; those running to the cabin did not present an imminent threat of grievous harm.
Criticism of leadership, inadequate negotiations emphasis, and self-protective internal reviews.
Randy Weaver bore responsibility for failing to appear in court, but the government’s handling was heavily faulted.

FBI Director Freeh acknowledged serious deficiencies and overreaction; the FBI later revised deadly-force policies.

4. Criminal Outcomes Related to the Inquiries

Weaver and Harris were largely acquitted at trial (1993); Weaver was convicted only of failure to appear and a related offense.
Federal prosecutors declined to charge Horiuchi with civil rights violations (insufficient evidence of willfulness).
Idaho charged Horiuchi with involuntary manslaughter; the case was removed to federal court, faced immunity issues, and was ultimately dropped by the state.
Beyond Kahoe’s obstruction conviction, broader criminal prosecutions of higher FBI officials (e.g., related to the rules of engagement or alleged cover-up) were declined for lack of sufficient evidence.

5. Civil Settlements

1995: The government paid $3.1 million to settle claims by Randy Weaver and his three surviving daughters ($1 million each to the daughters; $100,000 to Weaver). No admission of liability.
2000: The government paid $380,000 to settle Kevin Harris’s lawsuit. No admission of liability.

Overall Assessment from the Inquiries

The investigations documented significant problems: unconstitutional/special rules of engagement, inadequate intelligence and negotiation emphasis, the unjustified second shot, flawed inter-agency information, and some post-incident obstruction. They also found no systemic targeting of Weaver for ideology alone and limited support for some of the more extreme misconduct claims. Disciplinary actions were taken, policies changed, and civil payments made, but few high-level criminal prosecutions resulted. Later DOJ processes (into the early 2000s) revisited discipline and largely closed the matter without further major sanctions.

These reviews remain the primary official record and have been widely cited in discussions of federal law-enforcement accountability, use-of-force standards, and the origins of certain anti-government sentiments in the 1990s.

"Ruby Ridge" on 90 Miles:

April 25, 1792: The Guillotine Is Used For The First Time

April 29, 1429: Joan Of Arc Arrives In Orleans

April 30, 1803: The Louisiana Purchase Is Completed

May 4, 1905: Construction Begins On The Panama Canal
May 5, 1818: Karl Marx Is Born
May 10, 1869: The Transcontinental Railroad Is Completed

May 14th, 1804: Lewis And Clark Begin Their Expedition Of The American West

May 18, 1925: Communist Genocidal Dictator Pol Pot Is Born - This Day In History

May 21, 1927: Charles Lindbergh Completes His Transatlantic Flight
This Day In History: May 23, 1934: Bonnie And Clyde Are Killed

May 26, 1896: Nicholas II Is Crowned Czar Of Russia
This Day In History - May 30, 1431: Joan Of Arc Is Burned At The Stake
June 4, 1989: Do You Remember The Tiananmen Square Massacre?
June 8, 1967 - The USS Liberty was attacked by Israeli Air Force jet fighters and Navy torpedo boats in international waters June 15, 1215: King John Signs The Magna Carta
June 19, 1953: Julius And Ethel Rosenberg Are Executed For Espionage
June 21, 1788: The U.S. Constitution Is Ratified
June 22, 1633: Galileo Galilei Is Forced To Recant His Support Of The Copernican Theory
June 25, 1950: The Korean War Begins