From: Ted Drude <[t--dr--e] at [delphi.com]>
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: FBI sniper says Ruby Ridge shooting was justified
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 95 18:05:06 -0500

  By Robert Green
 
    WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuter) - An FBI sniper said Thursday a fellow agent
was justified in firing the shot that killed the wife of white separatist Randy
Weaver during the 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.
    FBI sharpshooter Dale Monroe said his partner Lon Horiuchi fired two shots
at Weaver and Kevin Harris after they came out of Weaver's cabin carrying rifles
because Horiuchi believed they were a threat to a government helicopter flying
overhead.
    Horiuchi's first shot hit Weaver. His second shot wounded Harris then went
through the cabin door and killed Vicki Weaver, who was inside holding her
infant daughter.
    "I believe the second shot was just as justified as the first," Monroe said
at a Senate hearing on the incident. "The reason for the shot was, in my
opinion, the helicopter crew was in danger from the armed males who came out of
the cabin."
    Horiuchi Tuesday refused to testify, invoking his constitutional right
against self-incrimination after senators on the subcommittee holding the
hearing refused to grant him immunity from prosecution.
    Monroe said the nine FBI sharpshooters who were watching Weaver's cabin were
authorised to shoot to kill if they saw armed individuals who exhibited a
threat.
    "We had been briefed that these were extremely dangerous individuals we were
dealing with and our helicopter was in an extremely vulnerable position," added
agent Jerome Barker.
    The FBI's normal policy allows agents to shoot to kill only if their lives
or others lives are in imminent danger. Monroe said he considered the rules of
engagement at Ruby Ridge to be within the overall guidelines.
    Subcommittee members said they believed the rules at Ruby Ridge were broader
than normal. "It gave you the authority to shoot someone even if they were
running away," said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee.
    The incident began on Aug. 21, 1992, when a U.S. marshal and Weaver's
14-year-old son Sammy were killed in a gun battle near the cabin.
    The FBI's Hostage Rescue Team was sent in and Vicki Weaver was killed the
next day. Weaver and Harris surrendered 10 days later and were acquitted of
murder for the marshal's death.
   Weaver testified at the hearing last week he believed Horiuchi deliberately
shot his wife.
    The marshals were trying to arrest Weaver for failing to appear in court 18
months earlier on charges of selling illegal sawed-off shotguns to an undercover
informant of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
    The Weaver case has inflamed right-wing groups and others who say the
government used excessive force, comparing it with the 1993 siege at the Branch
Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, that ended with at least 80 cult members
dying in a fire.
    Last month the government paid $3.1 million to Weaver and his three
daughters, without admitting any guilt, to settle their civil claims over the
deaths of his wife and son.
    Five FBI agents, including former Deputy Director Larry Potts, have been
suspended because of Ruby Ridge as the Justice Department investigates charges
of a coverup.