Dave Davies

And the people inside are looking at the body of Vicki and thinking, how can you be so cruel?

Eventually, different mediators are brought in, ones that Randy is willing to talk to and they are convinced to surrender, to leave, right?

Randy and Kevin, who is quite seriously wounded, are arrested and they would eventually be tried and acquitted of everything except Randy's original failure to appear in court.

Why did a jury acquit them?

Yeah, Jerry Spence, the cowboy lawyer who was quite well-known at the time, represented them.

The Weavers would sue the federal government and win a $3.1 million settlement.

Yeah.

Let's take a break here and then we'll talk some more.

We're speaking with Chris Jennings.

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

We'll continue after this short break.

This is Fresh Air.

You know, there have been so many horrendous stories in all the years since this, including many mass shootings.

It's that it's largely forgotten by a lot of people, not necessarily by people in the survivalist world, in the right-wing militia world.

In assessing the legacy of Ruby Ridge, you say that it portended the crack-up of American reality itself.

What do you mean?

Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris were acquitted at trial.

But there was also the matter of what sanctions, if any, should be imposed on government, you know, FBI officials and operatives in the field who were responsible for these killings.

What happened there?

You know, it's interesting.