A fourteen-year-old boy. A mother shot holding her infant. The Ruby Ridge siege didn't begin with violence — it began with a sawed-off shotgun engineered by a federal informant. This is the chapter where everything fell apart.
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Most people hear "Ruby Ridge" and think they already know the story. A survivalist family.
Randy Weaver was not a man the government stumbled upon by accident. He was a man they helped create as a target.
Three deputy marshals were moving through the woods near the Weaver property. Randy Weaver's fourteen-year-old son Sammy was out in the same area with a family friend named Kevin Harris.
The FBI took command. The Hostage Rescue Team was deployed.
After Vicki was killed, the siege continued for eight more days. Vicki's body remained inside the cabin.
The federal government prosecuted Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris in nineteen ninety-three. They charged Weaver with conspiracy and the original firearms violations, among other counts.
After the trial, congressional hearings examined what had happened at Ruby Ridge. FBI Director Louis Freeh acknowledged that twelve officials had been found guilty of misconduct in their handling of the siege.
Here's where the story extends beyond one family and one mountain. Ruby Ridge didn't stay in Idaho.
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