From: Craig Castleberry <[f--e--n] at [accessnv.com]> Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns,talk.politics.misc Subject: Government Pays Weavers $3.1 Million to Settle Ruby Ridge Claims Date: 16 Aug 1995 02:13:02 GMT Government Pays Weavers $3.1 Million to Settle Ruby Ridge Claims Eds: ADDS four grafs at end on terrorist advisory being sent to federal facilities noting upcoming Ruby Ridge anniversary. By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Expressing a desire to heal wounds, the Justice Department agreed Tuesday to pay white separatist Randy Weaver and his children $3.1 million for the killing of Weaver's wife and son during a 1992 siege by federal agents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Each of the three surviving children of Vicki Weaver - Sara, Rachel and Elisheba - will receive $1 million and her husband, Randy, will receive $100,000. The settlement resolves only a small part of the case that continues to roil the Justice Department and the FBI. A federal criminal investigation was opened last Friday into whether five top FBI officials, including recently demoted Deputy FBI Director Larry Potts, covered up their approval of controversial "shoot-on-sight" orders given to bureau snipers at Ruby Ridge. All five have been suspended with pay. Senate hearings on the case are set to begin Sept. 6. The Weaver family had sought $200 million in damages through civil claims against the government and a lawsuit against several federal officials. The settlement resolves all the family's claims against the government and its employees. "By entering into a settlement, the United States hopes to take a substantial step toward healing the wounds the incident inflicted," the department said in a written statement. "The settlement reflects the loss to the Weaver children of their mother and brother." The government did not admit any wrongdoing or legal liability in agreeing to the settlement, but Randy Weaver's attorney, Gerry Spence, said that was not how the Weavers felt. "In the Weavers' eyes, the government acknowledges wrongdoing by the payment of these moneys as damages," Spence said. "This payment ... in no way lessens the family's determination to see that those guilty of killing their mother and brother be brought to trial and held responsible in the criminal courts." Randall Day, prosecutor in Boundary County, Idaho, is considering whether to bring state charges against the federal agents. The Justice Department last year decided that none of its employees would be charged with federal crimes for the shootings. Militia and survivalist groups, angered at the lack of prosecution of law enforcement agents involved at Ruby Ridge, have made the case a rallying cry in their protests against the federal government. The incident began Aug. 21, 1992, when U.S. marshals were scouting Weaver's remote mountain cabin as they prepared to arrest him on weapons charges. Shooting broke out; Samuel Weaver, 14, and Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan were killed. Randy Weaver and his friend Kevin Harris later were acquitted of federal charges of killing Degan. The day after Degan's death, the FBI hostage rescue team was sent to the scene. One FBI sniper wounded Harris, who was armed, as Harris tried to run into the cabin. The bullet passed through the cabin door and killed Vicki Weaver, who was standing behind the door, holding an infant. Harris has filed a claim for $10 million in damages, but negotiations with the Justice Department have thus far failed to produce a settlement, said department spokesman Carl Stern. U.S. Attorney Eric Holder here is investigating whether the five suspended FBI employees made false statements or obstructed justice, both criminal charges. At least two of the five have admitted to investigators conducting an internal Justice Department probe that they destroyed FBI documents about the siege, Justice officials have said. Another suspended FBI official has admitted knowing that documents were destroyed during the internal inquiries about the shooting rules. The snipers were told they "could and should" use deadly force on any armed adult male spotted in the open. Longstanding FBI policy restricts the use of lethal force to protecting oneself or others from imminent harm. Eugene Glenn, the FBI field commander at Ruby Ridge, and Richard Rogers, the hostage rescue team chief, were primarily blamed for the shooting rules, but they have sworn that Potts approved them. Potts denies approving them. An internal Justice Department inquiry concluded that the shooting rules probably were unconstitutional. But Justice investigators decided the agents had no intent to use excessive force, and FBI director Louis J. Freeh concluded the shootings were acceptable under the normal bureau rules and that the agents ignored the special rules. Noting that "Weaver has become a hero to many antigovernment elements and militant gun advocates," the FBI's domestic terrorism unit sent a "threat advisory" early this month to all federal facilities in the country noting that the third anniversary of the Ruby Ridge siege occurs this month. A text of the advisory, which a federal law enforcement official read to The Associated Press, says "there is no specific intelligence indicating that a violent act is planned on or around" the anniversary. But the message notes that the Oklahoma City federal building was bombed on the second anniversary of the federal tear gas assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. A senior Justice Department official, requesting anonymity, said the advisory was sent solely "to remind government security officers of the anniversary date. It doesn't instruct them to do anything. That's up to each one."