[geeks] 4th Amendment Gone

[Phil Stracchino]

On Sat, Apr 03, 2004 at 10:22:36AM +0000, Mike Meredith wrote:
> I've not heard of Ruby Ridge (I'll google for it later),

Basic capsule summary of Ruby Ridge:

1.  Randy Weaver, a white separatist who just wanted to be left alone,
is entrapped by the US government into "selling an illegal firearm" (a
Federal undercover agent bought a shotgun from him, then persuaded him
to shorten the barrel to a fraction of an inch under legal minimum
length without Weaver realizing it would be under the limit).

2.  The FBI and BATF now tell Randy Weaver, "Right, now you're going to
infiltrate the Aryan Nations Church for us, or we'll prosecute you on
Federal weapons charges."  Weaver says, "What, do I look fucking stupid
or something?  Go infiltrate them yourself, I don't have a deathwish."

3.  The FBI and BATF lay siege to Weaver's cabin, Federal marshals
springing without warning from the undergrowth shoot Weaver's
14-year-old son's dog, the son panics and returns fire at these unknown
intruders, and they kill him.  A few hours later, Weaver is shot and
wounded by an FBI sniper as he's going to look at his son's body, and as
his wife (with a baby in her arms) holds the cabin door open for his
return, she is shot in the head by another FBI sniper at less than 100
yards range.  The sniper will later claim he was shooting at Weaver and
missed.  It will later be revealed in court that the orders of engagement
were to shoot any adult occupant of the cabin on sight.

4.  For the next three or four days, FBI and ATF agents taunt Weaver on
loudhailers, asking him how his wife is.  The cabin is bathed in
floodlights and blasted with loud rock music to keep the surviving
occupants (Randy, his 16-year-old daughter, and a friend) from sleeping,
while helicopters circle overhead with searchlights.

5.  After about a week, Weaver is allowed to surrender.  If memory
serves, he is tried and found guilty of a technical weapons violation
that carries something like a $200 fine.  Lon Horiuchi, the sniper who
shot Weaver's wife in the head, receives a commendation.  The Idaho
state attorney-general subsequently files murder charges against
Horiuchi.  (I don't recall what came of that.)


   "Don't call Randy Weaver paranoid.  His worst fears about the
    government have already come true."

        -- Jonathan Karl 


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