Ruby Ridge: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Weaver Family (Every Knee Shall Bow)

On the last hot day of summer in 1992, gunfire cracked over a rocky knob in northern Idaho, just south of the Canadian border. By the next day three people were dead, and a small war was joined, pitting the full might of federal law enforcement against one well-armed family. Drawing on extensive interviews with Randy Weaver's family, government insiders, and others, Jess Walter traces the paths that led the Weavers to their confrontation with federal agents and led the government to treat a family like a gang of criminals. This is the story of what happened on Ruby Ridge: the tragic and unlikely series of events that destroyed a family, brought down the number-two man in the FBI, and left in its wake a nation increasingly attuned to the dangers of unchecked federal power. The Portland Oregonian Tightly reported...an even-handed...excellent, minute-by-minute account. “The most comprehensive, even-handed and best written account of Ruby Ridge currently in print.” — Washington TimesFrom #1 New York Times bestselling author Jess Walter, here is the story of what happened on Ruby Ridge: the tragic and unlikely series of events that destroyed a family, brought down the number-two man in the FBI, and left in its wake a nation increasingly attuned to the dangers of unchecked federal power.On the last hot day of summer in 1992, gunfire cracked over a rocky knob in northern Idaho, just south of the Canadian border. By the next day three people were dead, and a small war was joined, pitting the full might of federal law enforcement against one well-armed family. Drawing on extensive interviews with Randy Weaver's family, government insiders, and others, Walter traces the paths that led the Weavers to their confrontation with federal agents and led the government to treat a family like a gang of criminals. "On the last hot day of summer 1992, gunfire cracked over a rocky knob in northern Idaho, just south of the Canadian border. By the next day three people were dead, and a small war was joined, pitting the full might of federal law enforcement against one well-armed family. Drawing on extensive interviews with Randy Weaver's family, government insiders, and others, Jess Walter traces the paths that led the Weavers to their confrontation with federal agents and led the government to treat a family like a gang of criminals.". "This is the story of what happened on Ruby Ridge: the tragic and unlikely series of events that destroyed a family, brought down the number two man in the FBI, and left in its wake a nation increasingly attuned to the dangers of unchecked federal power."--BOOK JACKET. The author, a journalist, narrates the series of events leading up to the siege by federal agents of the Weaver family home at Ruby Ridge. By presenting events from different points of view (both from the Weaver family and from law enforcement agents), he is able to provide readers a clear view of how misunderstandings (Weaver's belief in an evil one-world government, the government's belief that Weaver was far more extreme and violent than he really was) turned a minor legal issue into an armed standoff that resulted in several deaths.The book mostly maintains impartiality, allowing the reader to draw his/her own conclusions as to is most responsible for the escalation of tensions that led to tragedy.A fascinating read, highly recommended. "Ruby Creek is a stone-bedded scratch along the base of a rocky knob called Ruby Ridge, in that part of North Idaho aimed like a ridge barrel at Canada, the part of Idaho known as the Panhandle."