Ruby

Today, 22 August is the 17th anniversary of the controversial Ruby Ridge shooting incident which resulted in not only people dying there, but also the later deaths of 168 people in Oklahoma City. The incident arose from a simple wanted-person's case that became a mini war due to overzealousness by the authorities. An unarmed woman involved in the incident was actually shot without mercy and killed while still holding a child in her arms. It was a very good example of how authorities historically dealt with the public in the good old US. In 1992 a man named Randy Weaver was the target of a group of US marshalls out to arrest him for failing to attend a court hearing the previous year on possibly trumped-up charges of possessing illegal firearms. The allegations were made against him after he refused to act as an informant for the US ATF bureau who was then going after another man, a known extremist by the name of Kumnick. After his arrest in 1991 Randy had been misled by a letter from his probation officer that his trial was set for March 20 1991, when actually he was supposed to appear in court on February 20. So, when he did not appear for the hearing on that date, the judge issued a warrant of arrest for him. When the mistake made by the probation officer was discovered, the judge refused to cancel the warrant. Now the US law marshalls were obliged to go after him. Randy holed his family and himself up in his cabin at Ruby Ridge, a small piece of land in a rural part of Idaho which he owned and refused to make any contact with the enforcement agencies or the probation officer. On 21 August 1992, a group of six US marshalls approached his cabin with the aim of arresting him. They were all armed with combat assault rifles but no megaphone. Two dogs that belonged to the Weavers detected their presence and became much restless. Randy's 14-year-old son, Sammy and a family friend, Kevin Harris came out carrying guns to investigate the noise. Randy followed too but he went on a separate path. Shortly after, Sammy and Kevin and one of their dogs chanced upon the marshalls and shooting began. It was alleged at the trial later that one of the marshalls shot at the dog as the two sides met and also at Sammy who was wounded. This started a firefight in which one of the marshalls and Sammy ended up being shot dead. [The actions of the marshalls are very similar to the ways of the police in a particular S.E.Asian nation when they are in action]. Everybody who was still alive withdrew after the shooting and Sammy's body was taken back to the cabin by the Weaver family and Harris. The marshalls decided to call in an armoured vehicle the next day ( 22 August) plus FBI sharpshooters to put an end to the stand-off. There was supposed to be a final chance for the Weavers to surrender peacefully but that never materialised. An FBI sharpshooter decided to take matters into his own hands by trying on his own to execute the Weaver family. The sharpshooter, Lon Horiuchi, shot Randy, then his wife. Randy survived but his wife who was holding her ten-month-old baby died on the spot. Hours later, Randy, Harris and Randy's daughter, Sara surrendered.

Three people died as a result of gung-ho tactics by the enforcement marshalls and the merciless behaviour of the FBI sharpshooter, Lon Horiuchi. Horiuchi was indicted for manslaughter but the case was dismissed. He was alleged to have been directly involved in another fatal shooting in 1993, in a very similar manner to what happened at Ruby ridge. Again, he was never successfully prosecuted. The killing at Ruby Ridge angered many people. People were outraged that humans were hunted as if they were wild animals, to be shot at upon the slightest opportunity. The anger later led to the bombing of the Alfred Murrah federal building in Oklahoma city in 1995 that unfortunately caused the deaths of 168 people. It was supposed to be the payback for the killing of people by the high-handed federal law enforcement authorities in the US. Ruby Ridge is a perfect example of how little the US values human life, even right within the country itself. Humans outside the US most surely would have even less value. This could be why civilians are routinely sent packing whenever a threat is perceived to exist. This could be why so many have died in so many corners around the world since the end of WW2. Human lives are so cheap compared to the price of a bullet. The US is an artificial entity so no surprise why it values human lives so cheaply. Artificial equals cheapness. You have been warned.