Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
From: [c--e--s] at [icis.on.ca] (Charles Zeps)
Subject: Weaver Paid Off By FBI
Reply-To: [c--e--s] at [icis.on.ca]
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 15:10:37 GMT


                                     Government Settles Weaver Case

   WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department is paying white separatist Randy
Weaver and his children $3.1 million for the killing of Weaver's wife and son,
but the government is far from closing the books on the siege by federal agents
at his Idaho cabin three years ago. 
   The three surviving children of Vicki Weaver -- Sara, Rachel and Elisheba --
will receive $1 million apiece. Her husband, Randy, will receive $100,000. 
   "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. 
   But investigations and controversy about the case continue to roil the
department and the FBI. The unfinished business: 
   --The fourth and fifth internal investigations are under way. The latest,
begun Friday, is a criminal probe by the U.S. attorney here into whether 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. 
   --The fate of Potts and four other top FBI officials, all suspended with pay,
depends on the outcome of those cover-up investigations. Two of the four have
admitted destroying FBI documents during internal reviews of the case. Another
has admitted knowing about the destruction. Potts had made no such admission. 
   --A Senate subcommittee on terrorism opens hearings on the case Sept. 6. Sen.
Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who will chair the hearings, said the settlement shows
both "some real government concern" and that "the inquiry needs to be pursued." 
   --Kevin Harris, a friend of Weaver's wounded by the same FBI sniper's bullet
that killed Vicki Weaver, is seeking $10 million in damages from the government.
Negotiators working on a settlement are far apart. 
   --Randall Day, the local prosecutor in Boundary County, Idaho, is still
deciding whether to charge federal agents with state crimes. 
   "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," said Randy Weaver's attorney, Gerry Spence.

   The Justice Department last year decided that none of its employees would be
charged with federal crimes for the actual shootings on grounds there was no
intent to use excessive force. 
   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. 
   The government did not admit any wrongdoing or legal liability in agreeing to
the settlement, but Spence said, "In the Weavers' eyes, the government
acknowledges wrongdoing by the payment of these moneys as damages." 
   Militia and survivalist groups, angered at the lack of prosecution of law
enforcement agents at Ruby Ridge, have made the case a rallying cry. 
   Noting that "Weaver has become a hero to many anti-government elements and
militant gun advocates," the FBI's domestic terrorism unit sent a "threat
advisory" early this month to all federal installations nationwide noting that
August is the third anniversary of the siege, according to the text, which a
federal law enforcement official read to The Associated Press. 
   The advisory says "there is no specific intelligence indicating that a
violent act is planned on or around" the Ruby Ridge anniversary. But it notes
that the Oklahoma City federal building was bombed on the second anniversary of
the federal assault on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. 
   A senior Justice official, speaking only on the condition of anonymity, said
the advisory was sent solely "to remind government security officers of the
anniversary date. It doesn't instruct them to do anything." 
   The Ruby Ridge incident began Aug. 21, 1992, as U.S. marshals scouted
Weaver's remote cabin so they could arrest him on weapons charges. Shooting
broke out; Samuel Weaver, 14, and Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan were killed.

   Randy Weaver and Harris were acquitted of federal charges of killing Degan. 
   A day after Degan's death, the FBI hostage rescue team arrived. An FBI sniper
wounded Harris, who was armed, as Harris retreated toward the cabin. The bullet
passed through the cabin door and killed Vicki Weaver, who was standing behind
the door, holding an infant. 
   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 Potts approved them. Potts denies that. 
 
       I had learned that those who    |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
       are lying or trying to cover       CI$: GO OUTFORUM SEC.8
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       a common mistake - they tend
       to overact, to overstate their                PERMISSION TO
       case. - Richard Milhous Nixon                 COPY / REPOST
                              
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