The Weaver family home on Ruby Ridge, near Naples, Idaho
| 1968 |
Randy Weaver joins
the Army
and becomes a member of the Green Berets. |
| 1970 |
While back in Fort
Dodge, Iowa, on leave from Fort Bragg, Randy resumes dating Vicki
Jordison, a confident 21-year-old from Coalville, Iowa. |
| November 1971 |
Randy and Vicki
marry in Fort Dodge, Iowa. |
| March 1976 |
Living in Cedar
Falls, Iowa, Vicki gives birth to the couple's first child, Sara. |
| 1978 |
Vicki begins having
visions of her and her future family living on a mountaintop where they
would be safe from the coming Apocalypse. The Weavers form a Bible
study group and begin to worry about "ZOG" (Zionist Organized
Government). Randy starts collecting guns and Vicki studies
self-sufficiency and survivalist techniques. |
| July
1978 |
As the Weavers begin
a search for a mountaintop retreat, Vicki gives birth to a son, Samuel. |
| 1982 |
Vicki gives birth to
a second daughter, Rachel. |
| August
1983 |
The Weavers sell
their Iowa home and head west, finding and buying a 20-acre parcel on
Ruby Ridge in northern Idaho. |
| March
1984 |
The Weavers complete
construction on their cabin and begin living on Ruby Ridge. The
Weavers home school their children. |
| Mid-1980s |
The Weavers take in
a fatherless and troubled teenager named Kevin Harris. The
Weavers begin adopting racist views, finding justification for them in
their interpretations of the Bible. They begin limiting their
association to those who hold like-minded views. |
| October
24, 1989 |
Randy meets an
undercover ATF agent and allegedly sells him two sawed-off
shotguns. |
| June
12, 1990 |
Government agents
offer to drop firearms charges against Randy if he agrees to be an
informant concerning illegal activities of members of the Aryan
Nations, a white supremacist organization with a stronghold in northern
Idaho. Randy refuses the offer and notifies the Aryan Nation
headquarters that the government is attempting to infiltrate their
group. |
| December
13, 1990 |
Randy is indicted on
federal firearms charges. |
| January
17, 1991 |
Federal agents
arrest Randy at gunpoint as he and Vicki traveled down the mountain to
purchase supplies. Randy is jailed for a day, then released on
bail. |
| January
21, 1991 |
Randy receives a
letter informing him that his trial has been scheduled for March 20,
though the actual date was February 20. |
| February
1991 |
When Randy fails to
show up for his court date, he is declared a fugitive and a warrant for
his arrest is issued. |
| Spring
1991 |
Vicki Weaver writes
threatening letters (e.g., "The tyrant's blood will flow") to federal
agencies. The Weavers do not leave their land during the 16
months after Randy was declared a fugitive. |
| October
24, 1991 |
Vicki gives birth to
a third daughter, Elisheba. |
| March
4, 1992 |
U. S. marshals (in
plain clothes) drive up the road to Weavers' cabin, but are stopped at
gunpoint by Randy who informs them they are trespassing. The
marshals leave. |
| August
17, 1992 |
A U. S. Marshals
Special Operations Group ("SOG") sets up a command post and begins
active surveillance of the Weaver property. |
| August
21, 1992 |
As a three-man SOG
team, armed with cameras and weapons, hikes around Weavers' property,
the Weavers' dog begins barking. The Weavers leave their cabin to
investigate. When Kevin Harris and Sammy Weaver come to within a
few yards of agent William Degan, he points a gun at them and shouts,
"Stop! U.S. Marshal!" Harris responds by fatally shooting Degan
with his rifle, prompting fellow marshal Larry Cooper to fire three
times at Harris. A third nearby marshal, Arthur Roderick, shoots
and kills the Weaver dog ("Striker"), fearing that it would give away
his position. The shooting of the dog prompts Sammy Weaver to
fire at the marshal. Cooper then fires at Sammy, killing the boy.
Harris retreats to the Weaver cabin. By nightfall, Ruby Ridge is
crawling with agents from U. S. Marhsals Office, the county, U.S.
Border Patrol, the State Police, the FBI, and the Idaho Ntional Guard. |
| August
22, 1992 |
The FBI revises its
rules of engagement to allow agents to fire at Weaver if he can be shot
without endangering others. A crowd on spectators,
including many anti-government activists begins gathering near Ruby
Ridge. Television crews set up camp. When the Weavers
decide to leave their cabin for a nearby shed, where they had put
Sammy's body, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi fires at Randy, hitting him in
the right arm. The Weavers run back to the cabin. As Vicki,
holding her baby in her arms, stands next to the cabin door, Horiuchi
fires a bullet that passes through Vicki's head and hits Harris in the
chest. |
| August
23, 1992 |
As agents are in the
process of destroying out buildings around the Weaver cabin, they
discover Sammy Weaver's body. |
| August
24, 1992 |
An FBI negotiator
calls out to the Weavers, asking Vicki (who he does not know has died)
whether she would like to let her children out for pancakes. A
government robot tries to take a telephone into the Weaver home, but
Randy warns that he will shoot the robot and the robot retreats. |
| August
28, 1992 |
The FBI brings
Colonel Bo Gritz, a decorated Viet Nam vet associated with right-wing
causes, to Ruby Ridge to negotiate a surrender. |
| August
31, 1992 |
On the day after
Kevin Harris has surrendered to get desperately needed medical
attention, and after Randy had been promised representation by famed
defense lawyer Gerry Spence, the Weavers surrender to federal
authorities. |
| April
14, 1993 |
The murder trial of
Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris opens in the federal courthouse in Boise
before Judge Edward Lodge. U. S. Attorney Ron Howen offers the
opening statement for the government. |
| April
19, 1993 |
On the fourth day of
the trial, during a siege of a religious compound near Waco, Texas, a
fire breaks out and eighty members of the Branch Davidian cult are
killed. Jurors in the Weaver trial are told to ignore the
incident. |
| June
16, 1993 |
Jury deliberations
begin in the Ruby Ridge trial. |
| July
8, 1993 |
After a lengthy
deliberation, the jury acquits Harris and Weaver of charges relating to
the murder of agent Degan. Weaver is convicted on the minor
charge of failing to appear in court on his 1991 weapons charge. |
| October
18, 1993 |
Randy Weaver is
sentenced to 18 months in prison (14 of which he had now served). |
| December
17, 1993 |
Weaver is released
from jail. |
| August
1994 |
Randy Weaver and
Kevin Harris file a $300 million civil suit against the U. S.
government for the wrongful deaths of Sammy and Vicki Weaver. |
| Spring
1995 |
A 542-page
Department of Justice report on the Ruby Ridge case is leaked to the
press. |
| August
1995 |
The U. S. Government
pays Weaver $3.1 million in compensation for the killing of his wife
and son. |
| Fall
1995 |
The Senate Judiciary
Committee holds hearings on the Ruby Ridge case. Weaver testifies
and says, "If I had it to do over again, I would come down the mountain
for my court appearance." He criticized the government for
bringing no one to justice for the shooting of his wife. |
| 1997 |
The District
Attorney for Boundary County charges FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi with
involuntary manslaughter in connection with death of Vicki Weaver. |
| June
5, 2001 |
The Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals allows prosecution to go forward against Lon Horiuchi,
holding that federal agents are not necessarily immune from state
prosecution. |
| June
14, 2001 |
Boundary County
prosecutors drop involuntary manslaughter charges against Lon Horiuchi
in connection with the shooting of Vicki Weaver. |