What became of the FBI? - shoot-out at Ruby Ridge indicates a loss of control

National Review, Oct 9, 1995 by Mark Levin

IN NOVEMBER 1987, Cuban inmates rioted and took over Oakdale Federal Detention Center in Louisiana. Shortly thereafter, Cuban inmates did the same at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. More than 100 hostages were taken in both places, including guards, other employees, and prisoners. I was assigned by then Attorney General Edwin Meese, my boss, to assist him in monitoring these emergencies.

The FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) was dispatched to Oakdale to work with Bureau of Prison (BOP) officials. When Atlanta was taken over, with the HRT busy in Oakdale, FBI SWAT teams from around the country were brought to Atlanta. But law enforcement in Atlanta was without some specialized capabilities, including demolition, snipers, and helicopter support. President Reagan, at the request of Mr. Meese, declared a state of emergency and deployed Army Special Operations Forces to Atlanta in support of the FBI and BOP.

Mr. Meese personally headed a command group at the Justice Department in Washington, which was in constant contact with the FBI and BOP in Oakdale and Atlanta. The command group included top officials from the FBI, BOP, Marshals Service, Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Security Council, and State Department. All significant decisions were made by the attorney general after consultation with the command group and law-enforcement teams on the scene.

Early on, Attorney General Meese told the command group he did not want a repeat of Attica, where dozens of hostages and prisoners had been killed when New York State law-enforcement officials charged the prison. Hostage negotiators were among the first to arrive at Oakdale and Atlanta, and negotiations continued from the beginning to the end of the emergencies. We would take other action only if a hostage was in imminent danger. We were ready for war, but prepared to wait. A few weeks later, the uprisings ended without loss of life.

For the last ten days, Senator Arlen Specter's Senate Judiciary subcommittee on terrorism has been hearing testimony on a very different siege with a very different outcome.

Ruby Ridge is a remote mountaintop in northern Idaho. Randy and Vicki Weaver moved their family there from Iowa over a decade ago. They sought refuge from a government they did not trust, and freedom to practice their religious beliefs, which included the separation of races. They were not members of such violent or militant separatist groups as Aryan Nations or the Order. But over the years, Randy Weaver did attend three Aryan Nations meetings.

The Weavers' ordeal began in 1989 when a confidential informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms persuaded Randy Weaver to sell him two sawed-off shotguns, thereby entrapping him. The ATF informant received $5,000 for his help. There is no indication that, prior to meeting the informant, Weaver had ever sold illegal weapons to anyone.

The ATF then informed Weaver the United States attorney was considering bringing criminal charges against him for the gun sales, but might go easier on him if he turned informer against the Aryan Nations. Weaver refused, saying he would not become a "snitch."

Weaver was then charged. But why had the ATF entrapped him in the first place? His views were and are repugnant to most Americans, but he was not involved in unlawful activities. Was the ATF hoping to impress Congress and increase its budget with news stories touting its leadership in putting down separatists? Or was the ATF simply looking for illegal gun sales? In which case, why set up Weaver? Guns are sold illegally throughout the country, including on its doorstep in Washington, D.C., without any prompting by the ATF. This still remains to be explained.

In any event, Weaver failed to appear for trial on February 20, 1991. It is not clear whether he ever received correct information about the trial date, but he had no intention of appearing anyway, for he feared another government set-up. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Enter the U.S. marshals.

The ATF gave prosecutors (who passed it on to the marshals) blatantly false information about Weaver. The marshals, whose job it was to apprehend Weaver, were told: "Weaver is a suspect in several Eastern Washington and Western Montana bank robberies. An alleged accomplice in the robberies was arrested somewhere in Iowa and implicated a person believed to be Weaver during a confession. The accomplice has since escaped from custody with the assumption he could be on the Weaver property." What prompted this false report, which could only persuade the marshals that they were dealing with a desperate criminal? And that is exactly what it did.

For an astonishing 18 months, marshals mounted a surveillance operation on the Weavers -- including 16-year-old Sara, 14-year-old Sammy, 10-year-old Rachel, and, later, 10-month-old Elisheba -- and their live-in family friend, Kevin Harris.

On August 21, 1992, six deputy marshals went to the Weavers' homestead to scout the place a final time. The marshals, part of the service's Special Operations Group, were not planning on confronting the Weavers. Nonetheless, they were well equipped, wearing camouflage clothing and outfitted with night-vision goggles, M-16 machine guns, and a machine gun with a silencer.