On this day, Aug. 21, in 1992, U.S. marshals moved in on Randy Weaver’s cabin at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, leading to one of the most controversial law enforcement incidents in recent history.
Six marshals, wearing camouflage and equipped with night-vision goggles and M-16 rifles, scouted the family property after Weaver, a white separatist, failed to show up for court on illegal-weapons charges.
Weaver’s dogs started barking, alerting the family. Weaver, Kevin Harris and Weaver’s 14-year-old boy, Samuel, went to investigate. A firefight erupted, leaving dead Samuel Weaver, a deputy marshal and a dog.
A standoff ensued. On the second day, when Weaver went to the shed to look at his dead son, snipers fatally shot Weaver’s wife, Vicki, in the head, and wounded Weaver and Harris.
After 12 days, Weaver and Harris surrendered and were arrested. Weaver was sentenced to 18 months for missing his court date. The federal government settled a lawsuit with the family, and a dozen FBI agents were disciplined.
– Scott McCabe
