How the Shootout at Ruby Ridge Resonates in the Gun Debate Today
When armed suspects stand off against the law today, one event continues to cast a shadow on both sides of the police line: the 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge.
In 1992, federal agents surrounded the remote Idaho cabin of fugitive Randy Weaver, wanted for selling two illegal sawed-off shotguns to an informant. By the time Weaver surrendered 11 days later, his wife, 14-year-old son and a federal agent were dead.
The outcry afterwards sparked Congressional hearings and investigations that shook the highest ranks of the FBI. It also began a new way of thinking about police tactics that has impacted some of the most far-flung corners of the country.
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- Producer: Erik German
- Editor: Sandrine Isambert
- Associate Producer: Meral Agish