Weaver Wronged, But He’s Not Right

A nation of laws either holds its law-enforcement agencies by a sturdy leash or it forfeits its legitimacy.

That is why the 1992 standoff at Ruby Ridge, where three people, including Randy Weaver’s wife and son, were shot to death, is under scrutiny now.

It is not clear, however, that members of the Senate subcommittee appreciate the difference between holding agencies accountable for indefensible excesses and canonizing a self-made victim like Weaver who is unworthy of the honor.

It isn’t merely that Weaver sold illegal sawed-off shotguns to an undercover federal agent, or that he failed to make a court appearance as directed.

Randy Weaver epitomizes fearful traits. His racist beliefs violate standards of decency most Americans embrace. He instilled his children with paranoid, anarchical values. He created for them and his wife a volatile and ultimately deadly situation.

None of that warrants the way authorities handled the Ruby Ridge incident. Which is precisely the point the Senate subcommittee should be emphasizing.

Instead, by treating him with genteel deference, several senators almost seem to condone Weaver’s attitudes or at least to overlook them.

The senators should be reminding the public how often the test of America’s commitment to justice comes in unpleasant packages. Such as Randy Weaver. Or Rodney King, whose lawless conduct precipitated the confrontation that led to his savage beating by a handful of Los Angeles Police Department thugs.

The real victims of such abuses are not Randy Weaver and Rodney King. The real victims are nameless, faceless, law-abiding Americans who may never encounter hostile law-enforcement officers but whose confidence in the police and in justice is shaken.

The senators could be stressing that Weaver’s blow-dried hair, timely tears and tragic personal loss earn him no adulation, no sympathy. He is a martyr by choice.

If the law demands that even Weaver is entitled to constitutional protections, then the public at large can take greater comfort that its own rights are secure. The hearings thus far have failed to make that point.

Instead, as the senators fawn over Weaver, they may embolden like-minded people to put their detestable agenda on public display, masquerading as patriots rather than the bigots and hate-mongers they are.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Doug Floyd/For the editorial board