Dave Davies

I'm Dave Davies.

This is Fresh Air.

I'm Dave Davies.

A 2022 Pew Research survey found that 39% of American adults and 47% of Christians believe we're living in the end times, prophesied in the Bible.

One event that likely accelerated the spread of that belief was the violent 1992 Ruby Ridge confrontation in Idaho between federal agents and the family of Randy Weaver, whose apocalyptic beliefs led them to build and live in a primitive cabin on a remote mountaintop.

An attempt by federal marshals to serve an arrest warrant on Weaver resulted in gunfire that left three people and a family dog dead and two people injured.

Our guest today, writer Chris Jennings, has a new book that explores the religious antecedents of the Weaver's beliefs and the impact of Ruby Ridge on the spread of conspiratorial anti-government and white supremacist movements.

The deadly actions of federal agents at Ruby Ridge, including the fatal shooting of a woman with a baby in her arms, raise some of the same questions about the use of lethal force at issue in current immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota.

Chris Jennings is a former editorial staffer at The New Yorker and the author of a previous book about 19th century utopian movements called Paradise Now.

His new book is End of Days, Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America.

Well, Chris Jennings, welcome to Fresh Air.

I want to begin with the first spasm of violence in the Ruby Ridge confrontation.

Randy Weaver and his family had been living without electricity or running water in this cabin they'd built themselves on this ridge near a small town in Idaho.

And federal marshals had for more than a year wanted to take Randy into custody for failing to appear in court on a weapons charge.

But on this particular day, federal marshals had made their way up the hillside to check the batteries on some surveillance cameras they had installed in the woods.

The plan was to do their work and get out quietly.

But the Weaver's dog, Striker, detected their presence, started barking.

You pick it up there.

Tell us what happened.

Yeah, a 14-year-old kid, right?