Ruby Ridge Raid Called Part Of Law Enforcement ‘Cloud’ Sen. Arlen Specter Meets With Weaver To Hear Separatist’s Side Of The Story

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter met with white separatist Randy Weaver on Saturday to hear his version of a deadly raid at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and emerged saying a “considerable cloud” hangs over law enforcement.

“It is a bizarre set of circumstances,” said Specter.

The Republican presidential candidate is heading a congressional hearing into the 1992 standoff in which Weaver’s wife and son and a deputy U.S. marshal were killed.

On Friday, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into whether senior FBI officials covered up their role in the siege and four more top bureau officials were suspended.

The Justice Department investigation will complicate the congressional inquiry, said Specter, because his hearing “has to proceed so as to not prejudice any criminal actions.”

Specter conceded the Ruby Ridge dispute is only the latest black eye inflicted on federal law enforcement officials, but said his investigation won’t damage legitimate enforcement work.

“I regret to say that there’s a considerable cloud today and I think that considerable cloud has been recognized by the Department of Justice,” said Specter. “To the extent that there is a cloud, the sooner the cloud is removed, the better off those agencies are.”

Specter spoke at a news conference after meeting privately with Weaver in Des Moines. Staff attorneys were also meeting with Weaver on Saturday to gather his version of the events leading to the deadly standoff.

“All of the questions which Mr. Weaver is raising will be put to the federal law enforcement officials,” said Specter.

Weaver is from Iowa but moved to an isolated section of Idaho as he grew more distrustful of the government and sought to follow his white separatist views. He built a cabin at Ruby Ridge, outside Naples in Boundary County, just a few miles south of the Canadian border.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 1990 for making and selling illegal weapons but did not show up for his 1991 trial. That launched an 18-month surveillance of his home by U.S. marshals.

In August 1992, Weaver’s son Sam and U.S. Deputy Marshal William Degan were killed in a flurry of gunfire. The following day, Weaver’s wife, Vicki, was killed by a sniper as she stood in the door to the cabin. Weaver surrendered after an 11-day standoff.

Weaver was acquitted in July 1993 of murder-conspiracy charges stemming from the standoff. He was found guilty of failing to appear on the earlier weapons charges and was released from jail in December 1993.

Since then, he’s been living quietly in Grand Junction, Iowa, with daughters Elisheba, 3; Rachel, 13; and Sara, 19. He rejects interview requests.

There has been criticism of the force and tactics used by law enforcement officials, and questions have been raised about destruction of documents and other steps to cover their actions.

Specter rejected suggestions that the congressional hearings will undermine law enforcement efforts, and said he will also investigate the influence and activities of white separatist groups. The hearings are set to begin Sept. 6.

A former prosecutor in Philadelphia, Specter said he has sympathy for law enforcement but “in America there has to be a balance. It’s a very intricate matter. There are limits as to what law enforcement can do.”

Specter said the hearings will seek a balance to assure that law enforcement concerns are considered.

“There’s a real concern about that,” he said. “Law enforcement is the backbone of our civilized, orderly society. I spent a good bit of my life in law enforcement.”

Specter conceded that white separatist groups could pose a threat, and said his hearings will seek to determine the extent of that threat.

“I don’t know the answer to that question,” he said. “I think Americans need to know the answer to that question.”

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