Time To Get Past Regrettable Episode

Ultimately, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi was guilty of nothing more than being a lousy shot.

Not murder for killing a woman with babe in arms. Not involuntary manslaughter. Not even complicity for following a shoot-to-kill order that led to Vicki Weaver’s death.

According to a federal judge, the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause protects Horiuchi from prosecution because he was carrying out his duties as a federal agent when he shot Vicki Weaver. In other words, he was just following orders. Sound familiar?

The law shouldn’t permit on-duty officers to act recklessly. This ruling leaves a bad taste. But then, nothing about Ruby Ridge was satisfying - from the shootout that left three dead to the congressional hearings, to the courtroom drama that failed to reveal who fired the shot that led to the standoff or who OK’d the shoot-on-sight order. Maybe those two important questions will be answered by Kevin Harris’ civil suit against the U.S. government.

Or maybe they’ll never be answered. Still, it’s time to move on. Ruby Ridge has divided Inland Northwesterners long enough.

Commissioner Murleen Skeen of Boundary County, Idaho, spoke for many when she said: “Denise (Woodbury, the county prosecutor) did what she had to do. She felt we needed a final court decision. I’m not to say if someone should or shouldn’t have been convicted in this whole thing. But we have a decision, and it will be nice to have some closure.”

Prosecutor Woodbury served her constituents well by pursuing this case. The federal government wanted to sweep it under the rug after Randy Weaver and Harris were found innocent on murder charges. Woodbury dotted the last “i” and crossed the last “t” last year by filing a murder charge against Harris and the manslaughter count against Horiuchi - although both actions were dismissed. She provided one last reminder that Idahoans don’t welcome armed confrontations between heavy-handed federal agents and ideological zealots. Such scrutiny possibly prompted federal agents to resort to peaceful tactics later in dealing with Montana’s freeman.

Meanwhile, justice was served in a way.

Horiuchi and the U.S. marshals involved in the firefight must live with themselves, after gunning down a boy and his mother. And Weaver must daily ask himself why he allowed a minor weapons charge to put his family in harm’s way.