Federal agents in body armor and black ninja uniforms, armored cars crashing into hillsides, even the legendary helicopters of militia nightmares - Ruby Ridge had all the elements of a paranoid fantasy, except that it was printed in real flesh and blood. During the 11-day standoff, Weaver's wife was shot while holding their 10-month-old daughter. The day before, his 14-year-old son and an American marshal had been killed (Lacayo, 1995). But who was Randy Weaver? What kind of horrible criminal was he to deserve to have armed federal agents descending on his home and family? And why doesn't this story have a happy ending? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Randy Weaver was a 44-year-old former Green Beret. He lived in a cabin in the woods at Ruby Ridge with his wife Vikki, son Sammy and daughters Sara, Rachael and Elisheba. Randy also hosted his young friend, Kevin Harris, with him and his family. Randy and his family were hunters and subsistence farmers. They had a generator to generate electricity, but they had no television or radio. The Weaver family liked to keep things simple and keep to themselves. In October 1989, Randy Weaver sold two less-than-legal length sawed-off shotguns to a friend. This friend turned out to be an undercover BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) agent. Several months after Randy sold these illegal shotguns, two BATF agents made him an offer. The offer was to be an informant for the BATF agency or be indicted and go to prison. Randy refused the offer and about seven months later he was charged with illegal gun sales. He was then arraigned and asked to appear in court again in February 1991. Randy did not return to court; he returned to his mountain. An arrest warrant was then issued for Randy Weaver for failure to appear in court and for selling illegal firearms. These were the dastardly crimes of horrible criminal Randy Weaver. For an entire year, the U.S. Marshals Service was involved in gathering information about Weaver and developing a plan to arrest him. So why didn't they just go to his mountain cabin and arrest him? Randy Weaver was a white separatist. His religious and political views were well outside the American mainstream. Weaver also loved guns and owned many of them. Based on information collected, the Marshals Service learned that Weaver had made statements for many years about his intent to violently confront federal law enforcement officials. As a result, the Marshals Service concluded that Weaver intended to violently resist government attempts to arrest him (Department of Justice Ruby Ridge Report). Therefore, they decided that an undercover operation would be the most prudent and safe route. A team of six U.S. Marshals approached the edge of the woods surrounding the Weavers' cabin on the afternoon of August 21, 1992. The Weavers' dogs began barking. loudly, so Randy, Kevin and Sammy started following their dogs through the woods. Gunshots rang out in the woods. The Weavers' dog, Striker, was killed. Sammy was shot in the back and killed. Kevin shot and killed a US Marshal. The Justice Department report concluded that it was impossible to know who fired the first shot. The shooting stopped abruptly;Randy and Kevin take Sammy's body to the shed and the confrontation has begun. Since a US Marshal was down, the FBI was called in for help in resolving the situation. That night, all was quiet at Ruby Ridge and the Weavers' cabin. But on August 22, 1992, the Rudy Ridge disaster occurred. FBI headquarters rejected an initial operation plan because there was no provision to even attempt to negotiate the suspects' surrender. The plan was revised to include a negotiation provision, but subsequent actions by the FBI rendered this provision void. FBI snipers took up positions around the Weaver cabin a few minutes after August 22, at 5 p.m. Within an hour, every adult in the cabin was either dead or seriously injured, even though they had not shot any FBI agents (Bovard, 1995). As the FBI Hostage Rescue Team was en route to Ruby Ridge, the rules of engagement were discussed. It was said that any armed adult could and should be shot on the spot and that deadly force should and could be used to neutralize the situation. But why was all this happening to the Weavers? On Thursday, August 27, radio journalist Paul Harvey took advantage of his midday show to reach the Weavers, who he had learned were regular listeners. As part of their efforts to make contact with the Weavers, the FBI sent a robot with a phone into the cabin. But the robot also had a shotgun pointed at the door, so the Weavers feared that grabbing the phone could result in death or injury (Oliver). Does this sound like normal negotiation tactics used by the FBI? Was the FBI really trying to get Randy and his family out of there alive? Kevin Harris finally surrendered on Sunday, August 30. He was very seriously injured and was later rushed to a nearby hospital. The surviving Weaver family surrendered the next day thanks to negotiations by former Green Beret hero Bo Gritz. Bo Gritz didn't work for the FBI. So why was he the one negotiating? Why didn't the FBI try to negotiate? At the end of this standoff, it appears that unnecessary lives have been lost and innocent blood has been shed. But why? Why did the Ruby Ridge incident end in disaster? Did it really have to end like this? The only way to get answers to these questions is to examine the methods used by the US Marshals and the FBI and compare them to what should and could have been done. Every negotiable situation involves critical decisions that must be made in order to obtain answers to these questions. to resolve the situation peacefully. How these critical decision points were reached and made has a huge impact on the situation. The Crisis Negotiations Handbook recommends approximately 17 questions to ask when considering a negotiated situation. You must first assess what type of incident it is. In the case of the Ruby Ridge incident, it was not a planned situation. This happened unexpectedly when shots were fired in the woods and Sammy Weaver was killed. The Weavers had no idea that U.S. Marshals were outside and planned to arrest him that day. The Weavers were unprepared for this type of situation, but weapons were available and emotions ran high. Ruby Ridge was not a hostage situation but a crisis, a standoff situation. Second, appropriate and accurate information must be used. Extensive intelligence and intelligence was gathered on the Weaver Cabin and its surroundings nearly 18 months before the start of the.