Ruby Ridge Standoff | Northern Exposure | 2

Randy Weaver is arrested on gun-related charges, but a mix-up over the trial date deepens the Weaver family’s extreme beliefs and sets the scene for a disastrous confrontation with law enforcement Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletter Listen to American Scandal on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-scandal/ http://wondery.com/links/american-scandal/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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• 0:00Lindsay Graham?

  Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 0:25Lindsay Graham?

  It's January 17th, 1991, in the mountains of northern Idaho. Randy Weaver helps his wife Vicky off the back of their snowmobile and into their pickup truck, which is parked just below their property on Ruby Ridge. Before he climbs into the truck himself, Randy takes a quick look around, scanning the trees for any movement, but the snowy forest is silent. Six months ago, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives approached Randy with a deal. The ATF wanted him to pass along information about his friends in the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist neo-Nazi group. In return, they promised to drop charges stemming from an illegal sale of sawed-off shotguns. Randy refused to cooperate, though, and a month ago, he was indicted.

• 1:10Lindsay Graham?

  But so far, he's refused to turn himself in and has instead remained at his family's remote mountain compound. But now the Weavers are running low on supplies, and Randy and Vicky have no choice but to head into town. Randy starts up the truck and pulls out onto the highway. All right, Vicky, what do we need from the store? I figure it needs to last at least another month. Well, the best bang for the buck is potatoes. Probably get two of the 50-pound sacks. Milk for the kids, feed for the chickens, I need oil for the chainsaw and a few other things. We've only got 25 bucks, though. You think we can make do with just one sack of potatoes? Well, I could talk to the store owner, see if he could give us a deal. Maybe he's got a beat-up bag no one else wants.

• 1:53Lindsay Graham?

  We can put the kids to work and cut off the bad parts. As they continue down the highway, Randy thinks about how dire their financial situation has become. They're talking about buying half-rotten food just to feed their kids. Uh, honey, I don't know how much longer we can go on like this. All the money we saved from backing Iowa is gone. Selling firewood for a few bucks a bundle isn't cutting it. At some point, I might need to get a real job in town. But that's out of the question. The feds would see your name pop up in the system and you'd be arrested in a week. The only safe place for you is up on the mountain. But we gotta eat. God will deliver us a path, he always does. As Randy considers his wife's words, he spots a pickup truck towing a camper, broken down on the side of the road.

• 2:38Lindsay Graham?

  You think those folks need help? Well, I'd be Christian to find out. Randy pulls to the side of the road and parks 20 yards in front of the broken-down pickup. Its hood has popped open, and in the rearview mirror, Randy can see a young couple hunched over the engine. All right, why don't you wait here? Leaving Vicky behind in the truck, Randy hops out and begins walking toward the couple. Hey, you need some help? I used to work on John Deere's. Kinda handy with an engine. But as Randy nears the truck, the young man by the car suddenly spins around and points a pistol at Randy's head. He screams that he's a federal agent and Randy is under arrest. Randy turns back to his truck, but a female officer is already sticking a gun through Vicky's half-open window.

• 3:21Speaker 01

  Hey, leave her alone. She's got nothing to do with this. Vicky, you don't tell him anything.

• 3:28Lindsay Graham?

  A second later, Randy is tackled to the ground. As he lies on his belly with a knee in his back, Randy watches his wife be dragged from their pickup. He thinks about his three children back up on the mountain, all alone, and he wonders when he'll get to see them again. He starts to think that maybe he should have made that deal with the ATF.

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• 4:58Lindsay Graham?

  From Wondery, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American Scandal.

• 5:22Lindsay Graham?

  In the early 1980s, Christian fundamentalists Randy and Vicky Weaver began to have visions of impending Armageddon. So they uprooted their young family from their home in Iowa and moved to a cabin in the remote mountains of northern Idaho. There, they prepared themselves for what they believed would be the final battle with the forces of evil. The apocalypse never came, but Randy and his family stayed in their mountain retreat convinced that the federal government wanted to oppress white Christians like them. So they felt vindicated when they were arrested on the side of the highway. Vicky was quickly released, but Randy was arraigned in court. It was there that a crucial misunderstanding occurred. The part-time magistrate who handled the hearing left Randy confused,

• 6:05Lindsay Graham?

  and when he was released on bail, he returned home certain that if he lost at trial, he'd be forced to sell his family home to cover his legal fees. This wasn't true, but it would be just the first in a series of blunders and misconceptions by both Randy Weaver and the federal government. These were errors that would have deadly consequences. This is episode 2, "Northern Exposure."

• 6:31Lindsay Graham?

  It's January 1991, inside the Weaver's cabin on Ruby Ridge. Vicky Weaver sits at the kitchen table, looking through a pile of letters just dropped off at the cabin by a neighbor. She tosses aside a few pieces of junk mail and past-due bills she knows the family will never likely pay. But then one envelope catches her eye. It's from the federal courthouse in Court Lane, where Randy appeared before a judge last week. Vicky tears it open. The letter inside confirms the date of Randy's trial. But something's not right. It says the hearing is due to start on March 20th, and she could have sworn Randy said the judge gave him a date of February 19th. So Vicky calls across the room to where Randy is kicked back in a recliner cleaning one of his rifles.

• 7:15Lindsay Graham?

  Setting the gun aside, Randy joins Vicky at the table. She shows him the letter, and Randy is just as confused as she is. Everything about his arrest is seared into his memory, and he's certain this date is meant to be February 19th. He lets out a deep sigh. He's gonna have to drive down to Court Lane and find out what the real date is. But as Randy goes to pick up his winter coat from the back of the chair, Vicky grabs him by the arm. She tells him he can't go anywhere near that courthouse. The feds are clearly out for him. First they set Randy up on a phony gun charge, and now they're playing games with the trial date. This letter isn't a mistake. They're trying to trick Randy, so they'll have an excuse to break up the family and take their land away. Vicky reminds Randy that this is exactly why they moved to the mountain, to protect themselves.

• 8:00Lindsay Graham?

  What he needs to do is stay here, prepare for the worst, and most of all, keep praying. This seems to convince Randy. He sits back down at the table, tells Vicky he's lucky to have such a strong-minded woman of faith at his side. Because she's right, he's not gonna set foot in a federal building ever again, and he's certainly not gonna give himself up for trial. Vicky takes her husband's hand. She closes her eyes, and they begin to pray, asking God to protect them from all the agents of the devil trying to do them harm.

• 8:32Lindsay Graham?

  In the weeks leading up to the trial, the Weavers refuse to come down from the mountain. They don't even communicate with their court-appointed lawyer. Instead, Vicky sends a scathing and at times bizarre letter to the US Attorney's Office in Idaho. It's addressed to the servant of the Queen of Babylon and warns the government that war is upon the land and the tyrant's blood will flow. It's soon after that the court date arrives, and when Randy fails to show up, he officially becomes a fugitive from the law. Job of bringing him in falls to Deputy US Marshal Dave Hunt. Hunt is a former Marine who started out in law enforcement as a regular cop before transferring to the Marshal Service fifteen years ago. And at first, Hunt is not too concerned about the Weaver case.

• 9:16Lindsay Graham?

  He's dealt with these types of fugitives before, stubborn, anti-government survivalists are not that rare in Idaho. But when Hunt meets with his boss, the Chief Deputy Marshal in Boise, he hears a different point of view. The Chief Deputy has been spooked by Vicky's letter. He worries that the Weavers' extreme religious beliefs will lead them to kill themselves and their children rather than surrender willingly. Taking Randy by force may be the only option. But Hunt pushes back. He wants a chance to negotiate with the Weavers before any tactical team is sent in. Eventually, he and his boss settle on a compromise. Hunt will be given time to reason with Randy, but he won't be allowed to risk approaching the property directly. Instead, he'll have to use intermediaries to communicate with the Weavers. It'll be safer that way.

• 10:01Lindsay Graham?

  So in late February 1991, Hunt begins passing letters to the family through the Weavers' neighbor, Bill Greider. But when Hunt receives Randy's replies, they're full of the same defiant, radical language as the letter Vicky sent to the courthouse. After more than a month of this, Hunt begins to grow impatient with Randy's stubborn refusal to surrender, and so he pays a visit to the neighbor, Bill Greider, to discuss what to do next.

• 10:29Lindsay Graham?

  Snow still clings to the ground and their breath fogs the air as Dave Hunt and Bill Greider walk through the quiet woods near Greider's cabin. Hunt nods further up the mountain toward the Weaver's property on Ruby Ridge. Were you able to get that last letter up to Randy? Yeah, I sure did. I even stood up there in the cabin while he read it. And I heard his reply. Oh, what'd he say? Well, I don't want to repeat all the profanity, but safe to say, he's not had a change of heart. Man, I don't get it. I told him he could keep his land, and he'd barely do any time on the charges. Juries around here usually go easy on minor gun charges. He just doesn't trust you. He thinks it's all some kind of trick. Well, maybe, maybe if I go up there and look him in the eye, I'll get a better response. Well, I'm not sure that's a good idea.

• 11:13Lindsay Graham?

  Assuming you want to come back in one piece, that is. You really think he'd shoot me? I'd come along, make sure he knows I'm just there to talk. Ah, well, like I said, Randy thinks this is all a big conspiracy to take away his land and break up his family. He's convinced that if you ever got his hands on him, he'd be going away for a long time. And, and I think he'd rather die than let that happen. But what about Vicki? I mean, surely she doesn't want her kids caught up in some sort of shootout? Maybe she could talk some sense into him. Oh, no, she's just the same, maybe even worse. Now, one of the kids might even take a shot at you. Who are these people? I mean, in all my years on the job, I've never known a family like this. Well, in all honesty, Marshal, I don't know what you hope to achieve here. He's not coming down off that mountain, no matter how nicely you ask.

• 12:01Lindsay Graham?

  As Dave Hunt walks back to his car, he feels more frustrated than ever. He's beginning to doubt if his plan to bring Randy in voluntarily will ever work. Maybe his boss in Boise was right, and it's time to start planning a way to bring him in by force.

• 12:19Lindsay Graham?

  By the summer of 1991, Randy Weaver has been a fugitive for nearly six months. U.S. Deputy Marshal Dave Hunt has come to the conclusion that he's unlikely ever to surrender peacefully. Still, Hunt is wary of storming the cabin. He's concerned that Vicki Weaver or their three children may be caught in the crossfire. And to make the situation even more precarious, he's learned that Vicki is now several months pregnant. So Hunt decides he has no choice but to continue with his cautious approach. For the next six months, he turns his focus to other cases while still occasionally trying to communicate with the Weavers through intermediaries. But then in the spring of 1992, the Weaver case suddenly becomes a priority again.

• 13:01Lindsay Graham?

  The national media starts taking an interest in the story. They're fascinated by the eccentric, survivalist family holed up in their ramshackle cabin, thumbing their noses at the feds. Outlets from around the country request interviews with Weaver, but he declines them all. Eventually, TV journalist Geraldo Rivera resorts to flying a helicopter over Ruby Ridge to get footage. But when the crew onboard hears popping noises outside, they mistakenly think they're being shot at by the Weavers. And this story of a chopper under fire only draws more attention to the authorities' failure to bring Randy Weaver in. So the Marshal Service decides something must be done. On March 27, 1992, a meeting is held at the Marshals' National Headquarters in Arlington,

• 13:46Lindsay Graham?

  Virginia. Art Roderick, a deputy marshal, pulls up a chair inside a large conference room. Looking around the table, he sees more than a dozen of the country's highest-ranking marshals, including the agency's new acting director, Henry Hudson. The meeting kicks off with a briefing from the lead marshal in Idaho. Roderick listens closely as the agent lays out the long timeline of the case, which by now has dragged on for more than a year with no resolution in sight. Next to speak is the head of the Marshals' elite special operations group. His team has conducted some surveillance of the Weaver property, but he warns that even with all the resources and expertise at his disposal, any attempt to storm the cabin would carry an enormous risk. Finally, acting director Hudson takes the floor.

• 14:30Lindsay Graham?

  He confesses that he's so concerned about the case that he plans to take the extraordinary step of calling the US Attorney for Idaho with a proposal. He thinks the attorney should publicly drop the charges against Weaver, wait for him to let his guard down, then secretly indict him again. When Weaver thinks he's safe and ventures out from the property on his own, then they can make the arrest without endangering his family. But unfortunately, there's a good chance that the idea's a non-starter, as a US attorney might deem it unethical. So Hudson is open to any other proposals from around the table. At first, no one speaks. Then Roderick raises his hand. He explains that he's been studying the case and has put together a three-part plan to bring Weaver in.

• 15:12Lindsay Graham?

  It goes like this: First, he and a few handpicked colleagues will travel to Idaho to scout the area, talk to Weaver's friends and neighbors, and take one last shot at negotiating through an intermediary. Then, assuming Weaver rebuffs them once again, the team will spend several weeks surveilling the property with state-of-the-art, long-lens video cameras. This will allow the team to find patterns in Weaver's daily routine. And finally, in Phase Three, they will use that information to anticipate a moment when Weaver ventures away from his family, and then they make the arrest. When Roderick is finished, the room is silent. He looks at the faces of his colleagues, trying to gauge their response. He knows his proposal will take plenty of manpower, money, and most of all, patience.

• 15:55Lindsay Graham?

  And with the agency's ballooning PR crisis, that is running thin among the bosses. But then Director Hudson speaks up. He says that Roderick's put forth the best idea so far, so he tells him to submit a list of marshals for his team and start executing Phase One of the plan as soon as possible. With that, Roderick quickly gathers his briefcase and heads toward the exit. He's got a flight to Idaho to catch, and he just hopes the weeks or months away from home that lie ahead will pay off, that they'll be able to bring Randy Weaver down from the mountain without anyone getting hurt.

• 16:30Speaker 03

  Hi, I'm Kenyah Barris.

• 16:32Speaker 04

  And I'm Malcolm Gladwell. We're back for season two of our Audible original podcast, The Unusual Suspects.

• 16:37Speaker 03

  We're bringing you fresh, new conversations from guests like Anderson Pott, Davis Zedars, Ryan Howard, Richel, Amy Sheldon, and many more.

• 16:44Speaker 04

  Sign up for a free trial to Audible to listen to season two in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 16:51Speaker 05

  Journalist Tristan Redman goes where no son-in-law should ever go, deep into his wife's family history, digging up the cold case of who murdered her great-grandmother. Because, I should mention, he thinks the murderer might actually be the beloved family patriarch. For the best binge-watch series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

• 17:22Lindsay Graham?

  In March of 1992, US Marshal Art Roderick and his team begin implementing his three-part plan to study, observe, and ultimately arrest Randy Weaver. The operation is given the codename "Northern Exposure." After arriving in Idaho, Roderick starts by speaking with Weaver's friends and neighbors. He wants to gain some insight into the unusual families' thinking. The marshals then make one last-ditch effort to negotiate with Weaver through intermediaries. But by mid-April, it's clear to Roderick that Weaver still has no intention of surrendering to the authorities. So Roderick orders his team of marshals to move on to Phase 2 of the operation. They spend several weeks quietly setting up motion-detecting video cameras in the woods

• 18:06Lindsay Graham?

  surrounding the Weaver property on Ruby Ridge. By mid-May, Roderick and his men have almost completed their surveillance and are ready to move on to the next stage, when their colleague in the Marshal Service, Dave Hunt, pays a visit to their makeshift base camp.

• 18:23Lindsay Graham?

  The marshal's headquarters has been set up in a barn on a property near the Weavers. Dave Hunt slides back the door and steps inside. In the corner of the barn is a table equipped with the latest surveillance technology, and there Hunt finds Art Roderick standing over a bank of video monitors. Hey, Deputy Marshal, tell me you have good news. Hey, Dave, good to see you. Why don't you take a look for yourself? Roderick types into his desktop computer, bringing up still images of each member of the Weaver family on the monitors. You're familiar with most of our players here: Randy, Vicki, the kids. And look there, and the three dogs. Yeah, they could actually be a problem, especially the Labrador. He seems to roam free and barking at anything that moves. Hunt taps on the screen. And who's this?

• 19:08Lindsay Graham?

  That's Kevin Harris. Twenty-five years old, longtime family friend. More like an adopted son, I guess. He's living at the cabin full-time now. Oh, God, just what we need. One more guy who might shoot at us. Yeah, and we've run the numbers. Randy is seen carrying a weapon in about seventy percent of the footage. Vicky is armed half the time, and that's even when she's holding the baby. Kevin Harris is, I don't know, something like two-thirds of the time. What about the kids? Sarah's sixteen, and she's packing around thirty percent of the time. The same goes for ten-year-old Rachel. The one that worries me the most is the fourteen-year-old boy, Samuel, or Sammy, they call him. He's armed in eighty percent of our footage. That's even more than his dad. Hunt shakes his head. Remember what it was like at that age, fourteen years old?

• 19:53Lindsay Graham?

  Jesus, bundle of hormones and a head full of dumb ideas. You know, when this all started, I was worried that the kids would be caught in the crossfire. But now I'm getting scared they might be the ones doing the shooting. And they know we're coming for them, too. We've been working at night and hiding our equipment as best we can, but Samuel and Kevin, they found one of our cameras in the woods. They destroyed it. Another time, someone let out the air of my tires. All right, so they know we're here. Does that give us any chance we're gonna get up to the cabin without being seen? That's gonna be tough. Roderick brings up a collection of photos displaying various sections of the property. They've started daily patrols and rarely stray more than a few hundred feet from the cabin. They've obviously got the advantage of the high ground, and they're using these boulders

• 20:37Lindsay Graham?

  here as natural bunkers as well, stashing guns and ammunition behind them. Well, Randy has special forces training. I can't say I'm shocked by these tactics. They've also set up a barricade of rocks and logs near the entrance. Whenever they hear a vehicle nearby, one of them grabs a weapon and then heads down to the driveway, while another sits up at this boulder here, ready to provide cover fire. Jesus, it's like a mountain fortress. Is there any hope of resolving this without bloodshed? Well, maybe. One thing we've noticed is that the family does occasionally open the barricade to let neighbors drive through on the old logging road. So we know they're at least cordial with some of the people living around there. The idea we've come up with is for one of my guys to go undercover and pose as a new neighbor building his own cabin.

• 21:21Lindsay Graham?

  Over time, he'll befriend Randy, and then he'll find a moment to get him alone. And then we'll arrest him and bring him in. You make it sound easy. Oh, no, I know it's not. But I figure it's the best shot we've got at ending this with cuffs and not coffins.

• 21:38Lindsay Graham?

  Dave Hunt looks over the computer monitors, trying to imagine how this arrest might go down. He wishes he shared Roderick's optimism. Making an arrest anywhere near the property sounds incredibly risky, but Hunt understands it's probably the best possible plan considering the circumstances. He just hopes Roderick knows what he's doing. In May of 1992, the surveillance phase of martial art Roderick's operation is complete, and he's eager to get to work on the final stage: making the arrest of Randy Weaver. But at this point, Roderick faces yet another lengthy delay in the case. His superiors in the Marshal Service decided to hold off on the arrest until the agency's

• 22:19Lindsay Graham?

  acting director, Henry Hudson, is officially confirmed in the role by Congress. This takes three months, so it's August before Roderick is finally given the green light. Roderick selects his colleague, Mark Jurgensen, to go undercover as the friendly new neighbor who will lure Weaver away from his family for the arrest. But before Roderick sets that part of the plan in motion, he decides to take one more trip up the mountain. He wants to find the ideal spot to build Jurgensen's phony cabin, and he hopes to scout out possible locations to make the arrest. So Roderick selects a team of five other marshals, including Dave Hunt. The men gather at base camp hours before dawn on the morning of August 21st.

• 23:00Lindsay Graham?

  They dress in camouflage and put on night vision goggles before grabbing their rifles. Then the marshals split into two teams of three and begin quietly making their way up the steep and heavily forested hill. Hunt's team heads to an observation post a safe distance from the cabin to keep watch over the Weavers. Meanwhile, on the other team, Roderick is joined by Larry Cooper and Bill Dean, both experienced members of the Marshal's Elite Special Operations Group. Their destination is closer to the cabin itself. The man moves stealthily through the darkness. The mile-long journey uphill takes several hours. Cooper and Deegan have never been on Ruby Ridge before, so Roderick deliberately takes it slowly. He stops off along the way to point out key landmarks, including the barricade and the

• 23:45Lindsay Graham?

  boulder where the family stands lookout when they hear cars approaching. Then, as the sun begins to come up, Roderick slides off his night vision goggles and leaves them dangling from his neck. By now, the three marshals are nearing their destination. About 150 yards from the cabin, Roderick and Cooper take up a position hidden among the dense fir trees, while Deegan crouches by a boulder just behind them. Roderick whispers into his headset, checking in on Dave Hunt's team at the observation post. He's pleased to hear that the others have already been able to spot and photograph the various Weaver family members, so Roderick has a good idea of who might be where this morning. Turning back to his own team, Roderick then points out potential spots where snipers could be positioned for Randy Weaver's arrest.

• 24:29Lindsay Graham?

  Then Cooper makes a suggestion of his own. They already know from their surveillance that the Weaver's Labrador, Stryker, responds aggressively to the sound of cars, but now Cooper wants to see if the dog will react to other noises near the cabin as well. Roderick likes this idea, so he rummages through a pile of rocks near his feet and finds a round one about the size of a baseball. He lobs the rock into a small, dry creek bed between their position and the cabin. It lands with a clattering thud. The marshals wait for a moment, listening carefully, but there are no barks. The dog doesn't seem to have noticed. So Roderick tosses another rock, and again, there's no response from Stryker. That seems like a good sign to Roderick.

• 25:10Lindsay Graham?

  It means the marshals may have more freedom to walk near the cabin than he had thought. So soon, Roderick is satisfied that they've seen everything they need to. He, Cooper, and Deegan move away from the Weaver's cabin and begin heading back down the hill to rendezvous with the other team. And once again, they move slowly, making sure to keep out of sight and not make a sound. As the men approach a clearing along the old logging road, several hundred yards beneath the cabin, Roderick starts to relax. The final surveillance mission has gone off without a hitch, and they're ready to start planning the arrest. But then one of the weavers' neighbors starts their car somewhere nearby. The sound of the engine echoes across a quiet mountain. And a moment later, from further up the hill, Roderick

• 25:52Lindsay Graham?

  hears Stryker begin to bark manically. He freezes, just listening for a second. Barking grows louder, and Roderick suddenly realizes that the dog is fast approaching their position. Roderick grabs Cooper and Deegan by their shoulders, pushes them off the road into the woods. He tells them to spread out, take cover. Roderick then hits the ground himself, lying flat on his belly with his rifle ready. As the barking comes nearer and nearer, he stares silently out into the clearing from his hiding place, and just prays that the dog doesn't find them.

• 26:27Lindsay Graham?

  In the summer of 1881, US Army Lieutenant Adolphus Greeley and 24 other men embarked on an ambitious scientific mission to the northernmost reaches of the Arctic. But despite several triumphs of discovery, the men would soon face tragedy. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of the podcast American History Tellers. We take you to the events, times, and people that shaped America and Americans, our values, our struggles, and our dreams. In our latest series, after Adolphus Greeley and his men arrive at their destination more than 1,000 miles above the Arctic Circle, they get to work collecting scientific data and exploring the frigid landscape. But when resupply ships fail to reach them two summers in a row, they're forced to set out on a desperate search for rescue, and not

• 27:12Lindsay Graham?

  all of them will make it home. Follow American History Tellers wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of American History Tellers: Greeley Arctic Expedition, early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. By 1779, Benedict Arnold had sacrificed more for the revolution than Almost any other man in America, one of George Washington's most effective commanders, he had nearly lost a leg in the Second Battle of Saratoga. But in return, Arnold believed he had been humiliated by Congress and cheated of his glory by lesser men, so he decided to make them pay. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of the podcast American Scandal.

• 27:54Lindsay Graham?

  We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history: presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, Benedict Arnold turns his back on his comrades in the Continental Army and secretly defects to the British. With the help of his wife, he plots to hand over the most important colonial fortress to the enemy and doom the revolution he once served. Follow American Scandal wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 28:41Lindsay Graham?

  On the morning of August 21st, 1992, Randy Weaver, his family, and his friend Kevin Harris are all up on Ruby Ridge going through their daily routines. They work on chores inside the cabin or in the nearby garden while periodically monitoring the area for federal agents. At around 10:45 a.m., Randy is inside reading the Bible with his 10-year-old daughter Rachel when he's jolted to attention by his dog, Stryker, barking angrily outside. Randy grabs a shotgun off the wall, slides a handgun into his waistband, and walks out onto the porch to take a look. He finds his 14-year-old son Samuel and their friend Harris are already in the front yard with the dog. Randy surveys the area but can't see anything suspicious.

• 29:24Lindsay Graham?

  He figures Stryker must have smelled an animal nearby, an elk, maybe even a bear. Then a moment later, the dog takes off down the hill. Randy tells Samuel and Harris they should follow. It might be time to go hunting. Randy has his pair of weapons, Kevin is armed with a rifle, and Samuel has a lightweight assault weapon along with a handgun tucked into his waistband, just like his father. They all head off after the dog. But after about a minute of walking downhill, Stryker's bark has grown more faint and it's hard to tell exactly where it's coming from. So Randy suggests that they split up. Randy sticks to the logging road while Samuel and Harris cut down through the grassy meadow. Randy moves quickly down the road, turning his head from side to side, trying to track Stryker's barking.

• 30:08Lindsay Graham?

  But then suddenly, a camouflaged man bursts out from the woods in front of him with his rifle drawn. The man begins screaming at Randy, warning him to back off. A second later, Randy hears another man yelling at him from somewhere else in the woods nearby. Adrenaline surges through Randy's body. He yells at the two men to stay away from his property, to leave his family alone. Then he turns and begins running back up the hill toward the cabin. He feels it in his bones, that this is it, the ambush by the feds he's been preparing for, he's got to warn the others. But Randy hasn't gone far when he hears the loud crack of a rifle back down the road. Immediately, he thinks of his son Samuel and his friend Harris. He shouts out to them to run back to the safety of the cabin.

• 30:50Lindsay Graham?

  He doesn't hear a reply, so he raises his shotgun and booms a shot into the air to get their attention. But there's no response. He grabs a fresh shell from his pocket and loads it into the shotgun. But the adrenaline gets the best of him, and the gun jams when he goes to fire it. He pulls his other weapon from his waistband and fires several bullets into the air, but still, he hears nothing in response. Randy is starting to worry that the feds must already have captured them, when he hears his son's voice echo through the trees. Samuel yells that he's on his way, but then a dozen or more shots ring out in rapid succession. It sounds like a full-on firefight, and Randy is out of bullets. He turns and sprints back toward the cabin to get more weapons and ammunition.

• 31:33Lindsay Graham?

  His lungs burn in the thin mountain air as he dashes up the hill. Reaching the compound, Randy finds his wife and two daughters on the porch, all standing ready with guns in hand. Seconds later, he sees Harris come sprinting out of the woods, but Samuel isn't with him. Randy screams at Harris, desperate to know where his son is. But Harris is so winded, he can barely speak for the moment. Finally, through gasping breaths, Harris explains what happened. Randy's mind and body go numb. He can barely hear what Harris is saying, but one thing is clear: Samuel is dead.

• 32:10Lindsay Graham?

  The exact sequence of events on Ruby Ridge that morning will be debated for years to come, but some things are not disputed. The camouflage men Randy Weaver encountered on the trail were US Marshals Larry Cooper and Art Roderick. Fellow Marshal Bill Deegan was also hiding nearby. About a minute after Randy began running back toward the cabin, his dog Stryker approached the marshal's position. Fearing that Stryker was about to reveal their location to the Weavers, Roderick shot and killed the dog. But it was already too late, because at the exact moment Roderick fired his gun, Samuel Weaver and Kevin Harris appeared. Seeing that his dog had just been killed, Samuel instinctively shot at Roderick in retaliation.

• 32:52Lindsay Graham?

  He missed, but his shot kicked off a chaotic firefight between the two sides. Cooper and Deegan began firing, and so did Samuel and Harris. Taking refuge behind a tree stump, Harris took aim at Bill Deegan, striking the marshal in the chest. Then as Samuel began to run back up the hill toward the cabin, Cooper shot the boy in the back, killing him. In the confusion, Cooper was left with mistaken belief that he had shot Harris, and now, as the marshal struggled to get their team off the mountain, he is still unsure if the person he shot is dead or alive. Meanwhile, in the Weaver compound, Randy, Harris, and the rest of the family are all back at the cabin, struggling to process the death of 14-year-old Samuel.

• 33:34Lindsay Graham?

  Randy and Vicky know the battle with the feds is far from over, but before the family can bunker down, they need to retrieve the body of their son. So Randy, Vicky, and Harris make their way back down the hill. They find Samuel, laying face down on the trail. Examining the body, Randy sees that his son has been shot once in the elbow and once in the back. Randy and Vicky fight through tears as they lift their son up from the ground and carry him home. Harris follows behind, cradling the body of their dead Labrador Stryker.

• 34:09Lindsay Graham?

  When they reached their property, Randy and Vicky carry Samuel's body into Vicky's birthing shed to prepare him for burial. They lay the boy on his back and strip off his bloody clothes, begin washing him with cloths dipped into a bucket of soapy water. Then they turn the body over to continue their cleaning. The entry wound in Samuel's back is little bigger than the width of a pencil. Vicky gently lays her hand beside it. Our Sammy, our only son. They just ended the Weaver name. Randy just stares, his emotions overwhelming him. A boy trying to defend his dog. God, I'm not gonna let to stand here and take this. An eye for an eye, that's God's law. Randy storms out of the shed, walks quickly toward the nearby cabin as Vicky follows behind.

• 34:54Lindsay Graham?

  Randy, Randy, stop, where are you going? But Randy won't be stopped, he's headed into the cabin to prepare for battle. Inside, he pushes a handgun into his waistband again, and stuffs clips of ammunition into the pockets of his jeans. Then he grabs a rifle off the wall. Tell me you're not going down that hill. Don't stop me. He'll just kill you too. Randy pushes past his wife, but she grabs him firmly by the arm. Who's gonna protect me and the girls? We'll all die here, our children will die here, is that what you want? Vicky, this is my duty, surely you understand? But Vicky doesn't release her grip. Vicky, let me go. No, you'll have to shoot me first. If you want me to die, Randy, then just go ahead and do it now. Randy looks into his wife's eyes and knows this look.

• 35:39Lindsay Graham?

  She's not gonna give in, but the rage he's feeling is too much to bear. Vicky, they murdered our boy, they murdered him! I know they did, I know. Vicky cradles Randall's face in her hands. Randy screams, raising his rifle high above his head, begins firing wildly into the sky.

• 36:00Lindsay Graham?

  Randy goes on like this, reloading, over and over, until he's emptied every clip from his pockets. And he grabs the handgun from his waist and empties that too. When he's finally out of bullets, Randy lets the weapon fall from his hand. He collapses to his knees and begins to weep. Vicki wraps her arms around him. And a moment later, Randy feels his daughter Sarah's hand on his back. They all cry together. Randy knows that Vicki is right. What's most important now is protecting the rest of the family. The government has already taken his son from him, so he must do whatever it takes to stop them from taking anyone else.

• 36:40Lindsay Graham?

  From Wondery, this is episode two of Standoff at Ruby Ridge from American Scandal. In our next episode, the government responds to the shootout in the woods by sending a small army of federal agents to Idaho, leading to a protracted standoff and yet another fatality.

• 37:04Lindsay Graham?

  American Scandal is only possible because of listeners like you, so thank you. And don't miss an episode. Be sure to follow American Scandal on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. And Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. And to find out more about me, including my other podcasts, my live show, the history tours I'm arranging, and all sorts of other things, go to historyishuman.com. That's historyishuman.com.

• 37:37Lindsay Graham?

  If you'd like to learn more about the events at Ruby Ridge, we recommend the books Every Knee Shall Bow by Jess Walter, Police State by Jerry Spence, and the PBS American Experience documentary Ruby Ridge. This episode contains reenactments and dramatized details. And while in most cases, we can't know exactly what was said, all our dramatizations are based on historical research. American Scandal is hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Mohamed Shazim. Sound design by Gabriel Gould. Supervising sound designer, Matthew Phillips. Music by Thrum. This episode is written and researched by Corey Metcalf. Fact checking by Alyssa Jung Perry. Managing producer Emily Burke. Development by Stephanie Jens. Senior producers are Andy Beckerman and Andy Herman.

• 38:20Lindsay Graham?

  Executive producers are William Simpson for Airship and Jenny Lauer Beckman, Marshall Louis and Erin O'Flaherty for Wondery.

• 38:36Speaker 06

  Imagine you're reading Pride and Prejudice, except you're not reading it. Harris Dickinson and Marissa Abella are reading it to you on Audible. Her barbs sting you. His coldness sends a shiver up your spine. Your heart aches. Your ears burn. You yearn for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to profess their undying love for one another. You can't bear it any longer. Well, maybe a chapter longer. Performance is so good, you'll give love a second chance. Audible. Stories that speak to you.