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<xml><p>This file passed through Search-Net on <ent type='PERSON'>Prowler</ent>'s DOMAIN call now for more
(509) 327-8922 four line ring-down</p>
<p> THE RANDY WEAVER CASE
Another Federal Fiasco!</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>BATF</ent>'s entrapment of <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> led to
the violent deaths of three people. Says his
defense attorney, <ent type='PERSON'>Gerry Spence</ent>: "What
happened to <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> can happen to
anybody in this country."
BY JIM OLIVER</p>
<p> Seeing his dog, Striker, shot to death by masked intruders clad in
camouflage, <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Sammy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>, 14, fired back in fear for his life. The
4 ft., 11"-tall youngster was hit in the arm, then shot in the back as
he turned to run for home. He died instantly, killed by an agent of the
<ent type='ORG'>federal government</ent>.</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Cradling</ent> her 10-month-old daughter in her arms, <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> stood
in the doorway of her home, mourning her slain son, unaware that she
herself had only seconds to live. In an instant a bullet tore into <ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent>
<ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>'s face, blew through her jaw and severed her carotid artery.
The bullet was fired from 200 yds. away by an agent of the federal
government.</p>
<p> What had the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> family done to bring <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> snipers and submachine-gun-toting U.S. marshals to the woods around their cabin on <ent type='ORG'>Ruby Ridge</ent>
in northern <ent type='GPE'>Idaho</ent>? Why did the government act as though the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>s
had forfeited the protections guaranteed all <ent type='NORP'>Americans</ent> by the United
States Constitution? Who made the decisions that led to their
unjustified deaths and also to the death of deputy U.S. <ent type='PERSON'>Marshall</ent> William
<ent type='PERSON'>Degan</ent>?</p>
<p> For the six men working near <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>'s plywood cabin on <ent type='ORG'>Ruby Ridge</ent>,
Aug. 21, 1992, was another day on a job that had been going on more
than 16 months. Their employer, the U.S. government, was spending
$13000 a week, and there had been no end in sight to the work.</p>
<p> The cabin--really a shack--was home to 44-year old former Green
Beret <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> and his family--wife, <ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent>; son, <ent type='PERSON'>Sammy</ent>; and
daughters, <ent type='PERSON'>Sara</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Rachel</ent> and <ent type='ORG'>Elisheba</ent>. It was also home to their young
friend, <ent type='PERSON'>Kevin Harris</ent>. They were subsistence hunters, and tended a
garden, putting up vegetables. A generator produced occasional
electricity. They had no TV, no radio.</p>
<p> This day there were some new men on the job site not far from the
cabin--one, 42-year-old <ent type='PERSON'>William Degan</ent>, had been brought to northern
<ent type='GPE'>Idaho</ent> on special orders. He was to help plan a successful conclusion
to the job.</p>
<p> The men in the woods were dressed in their work clothes--camouflage
commando outfits complete with masks. They carried the tools of
their trade--two-way radios rigged for quiet operation, night vision
equipment, semi-automatic handguns, fully automatic military rifles
and at least one silenced HK submachine gun. One of the men was a
medic, prepared to care for any casualties.</p>
<p> The weaver family had dogs. Somebody threw a rock to test their
reaction. A golden retriever barked near the cabin and came running
their way. A mission somebody in <ent type='ORG'>the Marshal Service</ent> had dubbed
"<ent type='EVENT'>Operation Northern Exposure</ent>" was about to end.</p>
<p> The "op" had included use of jet reconnaissance overflights with
aerial photographic analysis by <ent type='ORG'>the Defense Mapping Agency</ent>, and
placement of high-resolution video equipment recording activity by
the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> family from sites 1 1/2 miles away--160 hours worth
of tape used.</p>
<p> For nearly a year and a half, federal agents had roamed the area,
picking locations for surveillance and for snipers. <ent type='PERSON'>Degan</ent>, belonged
to the Special Operations Group, the Marshals' national <ent type='ORG'>SWAT</ent> team.
The six on-site this day were deputy U.S. Marshals.</p>
<p> The target of all of this--and of a Federal <ent type='ORG'>law enforcement</ent> and
prosecution effort that would eventually total approximately $3
million--was <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>. What kind of criminal was he to
demand this kind of attention? Was he a major drug dealer?
Serial killer? Was he a terrorist bomber?</p>
<p> No. On Oct. 24, 1989, <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> sold two shotguns whose barrels
arguably measured 1/4 inch less than the 18 inch length determined
arbitrarily by <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent> to be legal. The H&amp;R single-barrel 12-ga.
and <ent type='ORG'>Remington</ent> pump were sold to a good friend who instructed
<ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> to shorten the barrels. The "good friend" was an undercover
informant working for <ent type='ORG'>the Bureau</ent> of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms
(<ent type='PERSON'>BATF</ent>), who later told reporters he was in it "mainly for the
excitement."</p>
<p> Eight months after he sold the shotguns, <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> was approached
by two <ent type='PERSON'>BATF</ent> agents with an offer--spy on the Aryan Nations, a
white supremacist hate group head-quartered in northern <ent type='GPE'>Idaho</ent>,
or go to jail. <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> refused to become a government informer,
and--six months later--he was indicted on the shotgun charge.</p>
<p> On Jan. 17, 1991, as <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> and his wife were driving to town
for supplies, they encountered a pickup truck-camper with its
hood up, a man and woman seeming to be in trouble. The <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>s
stopped to offer their help. A horde of federal agents piled out
of the camper. A pistol was pressed against <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>'s neck. <ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent>
<ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> was thrown to the slushy ground.</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> was arraigned before a federal magistrate, who later
admitted he cited the wrong law. Out on bond, <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> went back
to his cabin. According to friends who testified in court, he and
his wife vowed not to have any more dealings with the courts of
the <ent type='ORG'>federal government</ent>. They would just stay on their mountain.</p>
<p> A hearing was set on the shotgun matter for <ent type='ORG'>Federal Court</ent> in
<ent type='GPE'>Moscow</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Idaho</ent>. The government notified <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> by letter that
he was to appear March 20, 1991. The actual hearing was held
February 20--one month earlier. The error in dates was enough
to give rise to a memo within <ent type='ORG'>the Marshal Service</ent> saying the case
would be a washout. (<ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> did not show for the wrong date,
either.) U.S. Attorney <ent type='PERSON'>Ron Howen</ent> went to the grand jury anyway,
and <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> was indicted for failure to appear.</p>
<p> But why had the <ent type='PERSON'>BATF</ent> picked <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> to set up as an
informer? He was a man devoted to family, a man with no criminal
record, a veteran who served his country with honor. It was <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>'s
beliefs that made him an ideal target. His unorthodox religious
and political views were far outside mainstream <ent type='GPE'>America</ent>. He
was a white separatist. And, <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> was little, a nobody.</p>
<p> Over the next 16 months, the feds painted <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> as racist, as
anti-<ent type='NORP'>semitic</ent>, as a criminal. But they had to entrap him into his
only crime, altering two guns. The media were unquestioning. In
print and on TV and radio, <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>'s home--the plywood shack he
built himself--became a "mountain fortress," and then "a bunker,"
and a stronghold protected by a cache of 15 weapons and ammunition
capable of piercing armored personnel carriers."</p>
<p> The common shotguns <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> sold became the chosen "weapons of
drug dealers and terrorists" or "gangster weapons" that "have no
sporting use." The media always added the universal out... "agents
said." But there were no gangsters. There were no terrorists or
drug dealers, just <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>, the gun buyer and the government.</p>
<p> It was all a lie. Hate-hype. People believed it, maybe even the
agents who planted the hate-hype began to believe it. It all ceased
to matter on August 21, when Striker barked and sniffed out the
agents spying on the cabin--lives changed, lives ended.</p>
<p> Nobody, except the people who were there, knows exactly what
happened next. There were several versions of the story. But some
facts <ent type='NORP'>jibe</ent>. <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>'s little boy, <ent type='PERSON'>Sammy</ent>--a kid whose voice
hadn't yet changed--and <ent type='PERSON'>Kevin Harris</ent> followed Striker. <ent type='PERSON'>Harris</ent> and
<ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> later said they thought the dog was chasing a deer. <ent type='PERSON'>Harris</ent>
carried a bolt-action hunting rifle. The boy also had a gun.</p>
<p> Without warning a federal agent fired a burst into Striker, killing
him. (It came out in court later that there had been a plan to take
the dog "out of the equation.") The boy, frightened, shot back, and
when one of the agents fired another burst, <ent type='PERSON'>Sammy</ent> lay dead.</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Kevin Harris</ent> shot deputy <ent type='PERSON'>William Degan</ent> in the chest. He died a
few moments later. The shooting ended relatively quickly. The
agents would claim <ent type='PERSON'>Harris</ent> fired first. <ent type='PERSON'>Harris</ent> claimed he fired after
the boy was shot. Agents told the media their men had been pinned
down for eight hours. It was a lie.</p>
<p> The dog was dead. The boy was dead. Deputy <ent type='PERSON'>Degan</ent> was dead. Two
<ent type='GPE'>America</ent>n families had tragically lost loved-ones. During the night
hours, <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Kevin Harris</ent> brought the little boy's body
to a shed near the cabin and washed it.</p>
<p> Deputy <ent type='PERSON'>Degan</ent>'s shooting brought in the <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent>. Soon, the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>
property was ringed by a huge force of <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>BATF</ent>, U.S. Marshals,
<ent type='GPE'>Idaho</ent> state police and local <ent type='ORG'>law enforcement</ent> and <ent type='GPE'>Idaho</ent> National
Guard.</p>
<p> Among the federal <ent type='ORG'>law enforcement</ent> commanders was Richard
Rogers, the head of the <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent>'s hostage rescue team, which includes
its snipers. On the flight out, he took an extraordinary step--he
decided to alter radically the prescribed rules of engagement of
<ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> sharpshooters.</p>
<p> Normally, agents can only shoot when they are facing death or
grievous harm. But 11 snipers that were positioned around the
<ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> cabin were given new ordrs:</p>
<p> "If any adult in the compound is observed with a weapon after
the surrender announcement is made, deadly force can and should
be employed to neutralize the individual." This meant <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>'s
wife would be fair game. It went on:</p>
<p> "If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the
announcement, deadly force can and should be employed if the shot
can be taken without endangering the children."</p>
<p> Of words reminiscent of hollow justifications used in <ent type='GPE'>Waco</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Texas</ent>,
federal spokesmen kept telling the media of their concern for the
children. In fact, <ent type='PERSON'>Gene Glenn</ent>, the agent in charge of the siege, told
<ent type='ORG'>The New York Times</ent> he considered the kids to be hostages. Yet they'd
already killed one child.</p>
<p> The negotiators were not in place, and no effort had been made to
contact the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>s, when <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Kevin Harris</ent>--armed--
and 16-year-old <ent type='PERSON'>Sara</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> left the cabin and moved to the shed
where <ent type='PERSON'>Sam</ent>'s body lay.</p>
<p> As the three reached the shed, an <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> sniper some 200 yds. away
aimed at <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>. He told the court he was aiming for the spine,
just below the neck. He missed; shot <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> in the back of the arm,
the bullet exiting through the armpit.</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Sara</ent> later told <ent type='ORG'>Spokesman Review</ent> staff writer <ent type='PERSON'>Jess Walter</ent> in a
copyrighted story:</p>
<p> "I ran up to my dad and tried to shield him and pushed him toward
the house. If they were going to shoot someone, I was going to make
them shoot a kid."</p>
<p> At the cabin, <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> was waiting at the door, holding her
infant daughter, <ent type='ORG'>Elisheba</ent>. The sniper fired again. His bullet hit
<ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>. She was dead before the baby hit the floor,
miraculously unhurt. <ent type='PERSON'>Harris</ent> was hit by bullet fragments and bone
from <ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent>'s skull. He was bleeding badly. <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>, daughters
<ent type='PERSON'>Sara</ent> and 10-year-old <ent type='PERSON'>Rachel</ent> all saw the violent death.</p>
<p> Later, sniper <ent type='PERSON'>Lon Horiuchi</ent> stated in court that killing <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>
had been a mistake; that he was aiming for <ent type='PERSON'>Kevin Harris</ent>. <ent type='ORG'>Defense</ent>
attorney <ent type='ORG'>Spence</ent> asked him, "You wanted to kill him, didn't you?"
He answered, "Yes, sir."</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Sara</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> recounted the night following her mother's death.
Again from reporter <ent type='PERSON'>Jess Walter</ent>'s story:</p>
<p> "<ent type='ORG'>Elisheba</ent> cried during the night. She was saying, 'Mama, mama,
mama.'... Dad was crying and saying, 'I know baby. I know baby. Your
Mama's gone....'"</p>
<p> She told <ent type='PERSON'>Walters</ent> that on Sunday, they tried to yell at federal agents
and get their attention, to tell them that her mother was dead. She
said they got no resopnse. Instead they would her the <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> negotiators.</p>
<p> "They'd come on real late at night and say, 'Come out and talk to us,
Mrs. <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>. How's the baby, Mrs. <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>,' in a real smart-<ent type='PERSON'>alecky</ent>
voice. Or they'd say, 'Good morning, Randall. How'd you sleep? We're
having pancakes. What are you having?"</p>
<p> The <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> later claimed it had no idea that its sniper had shot <ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent>
<ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>. Yet a <ent type='ORG'>New York Times</ent> stringer quoted <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> sources as saying
they were "using a listening device that allow(ed) them to hear
conversations, and even the baby's cries in the cabin." Another lie?</p>
<p> On Thursday, August 27, radio newsman <ent type='PERSON'>Paul Harvey</ent> used his noon
broadcast to reach the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>s, who he'd learned were regular
listeners. Urging <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> to surrender, <ent type='PERSON'>Harvey</ent> said,
prophetically, "<ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent>, you'll have a much better chance with a jury
of understanding homefolks than you could ever have with any kind
of shoot-out with 200 frustrated lawmen."</p>
<p> As part of their efforts to make contact with the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>s, the <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent>
sent a robot with a telephone to the cabin. But the robot also had
a shotgun pointed at the door, so the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>s feared that reaching
for the phone could result in death or injury.</p>
<p> Somewhere in all of this, the <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> discovered the body of <ent type='PERSON'>Sammy</ent>.
They told the news media they didn't know he'd been killed.</p>
<p> The siege began to unravel six days after <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> had been
killed. Her body remained in the kitchen of the cabin all that time.
<ent type='PERSON'>Sara</ent> crawled around her to get food and water for her family. It
was during this time that <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Randy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Kevin Harris</ent> dictated
their version of their story to <ent type='PERSON'>Sara</ent>. In this letter, <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> accused
his government of murdering his wife.</p>
<p> The news media, based on information from the feds, repeatedly
reported that <ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent> had been killed in "an exchange of fire" or in
a "gun battle." More spin control.</p>
<p> The only shots were two--from the government's sniper.</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Kevin Harris</ent> was the first person to come out. Sunday, August 30,
badly wounded, he was rushed to a <ent type='GPE'>Spokane</ent> hospital where he was
treated and charged with murder. A magistrate told him he was
facing the death penalty.</p>
<p> The rest of the family came out on the next day. The surrender was
negotiated--not by the <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent>--but by Bo <ent type='ORG'>Gritz</ent>, former Green Beret hero.</p>
<p> All the lies and federal spin control over the story were about to
end. The case was going to court.</p>
<p> The 36-day trial took place in the U.S. District Court in <ent type='GPE'>Boise</ent>, with
Judge <ent type='PERSON'>Edward Lodge</ent> presiding. The jury of eight women and four men
heard the government put on 56 witnesses. The defense rested
without calling a single witness, confident that the government had
destroyed its own case. They were right.</p>
<p> The jury deliberated for nearly three weeks, and found <ent type='PERSON'>Harris</ent> not
guilty of murder or any other charges leveled against him. They
found <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> not guilty of eight federal felony counts. The judge
had earlier thrown out two other counts.</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> was found guilty of two counts: failing to appear in court
and violating his bail conditions. He was declared not guilty of the
gun charge--the seed of all this misery.</p>
<p> It was a bizarre trial, full of contradictions, with government
witnesses countering each other's stories as to the events of
August 21, and countering the events leading up to <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>'s
death the next day.</p>
<p> The question of who fired first--<ent type='PERSON'>Harris</ent> or the Marshals--was key
to the jury deciding on the murder charge against <ent type='PERSON'>Harris</ent>. In the end
they believed <ent type='PERSON'>Kevin Harris</ent> acted in self-defense. Earlier, the death
penalty had been ruled out. The law the prosecution cited had been
struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court two decades before.</p>
<p> The government spent days going over the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent>s' religious views,
trying to establish they were racist and demonstrated a long-lived
conspiracy to violently confront the government. The jury didn't
believe it.</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Marshall</ent> service witnesses told about a series of pre-siege scenarios
to root <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> out of his cabin. But when pressed by the defense,
they said they never considered simply knocking on the door and
arresting him.</p>
<p> During the trial, the government admitted that the <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> had tampered
with the evidence; that the crime scene photos given the defense
were phony reenactments. Physical evidence had been removed and
replaced. The prosecutor knew this and had failed to tell the defense.</p>
<p> The prosecution also withheld documents that might have helped
the defense. When ordered by the judge to produce them immediately,
the <ent type='ORG'>FBI</ent> sent the material from <ent type='GPE'>Washington</ent>, D.C., via <ent type='ORG'>Fourth Class</ent> mail,
which took two weeks to cross the country. For prosecutorial
misconduct, the judge ordered the government to pay part of the
defense attorneys' fees, an action almost unheard of in a criminal
case. Prosecutor <ent type='PERSON'>Hoiwen</ent> also was forced to apologize in open court.
At the end of the trial, he collapsed in the middle of a statement,
telling the judge, "I can't go on."</p>
<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Gerry Spence</ent> told the jury, "This is a murder case, but the people
who committed the murder are not here in court."</p>
<p> After the trial, <ent type='ORG'>Spence</ent> told <ent type='ORG'>The New York Times</ent>, "A jury today has
said that you can't kill somebody just because you wear badges,
then cover those homicides by prosecuting the innocent.</p>
<p> What are we going to do now about the deaths of <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Vicki</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>, a
mother who was killed with a baby in her arms, and <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Sammy</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent></ent>,
a boy who was shot in the back?"</p>
<p> <ent type='ORG'>Spence</ent> has asked the <ent type='GPE'>Boundary County</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Idaho</ent>, prosecutor to bring
charges against various federal agents. Should that happen, lingering
questions about the <ent type='PERSON'>Weaver</ent> case finally may be answered. Should
that happen another jury undoubtedly will serve notice to those
who have forgotten that <ent type='GPE'>the United States</ent> government is supposed to
serve its citizens, not entrap them, not defame them, not falsify
evidence against them and absolutely not kill their children.</p>
</xml>