The siege at Ruby Ridge
The standoff that galvanised the US far-right; plus, growing up with Saddam Hussein.
The History Hour · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
Randy Weaver was a white separatist in Idaho in the north-west United States who was wanted by the government on firearms charges. When government agents approached his remote cabin on Ruby Ridge in August 1992, it was the start of an eleven day siege involving hundreds of police officers – which ended with the deaths of Weaver’s wife and teenage son, along with a US marshal. The incident would become a touchstone for the American far right.
Plus, growing up with Saddam Hussein, the invention of the asthma inhaler and digging up King Richard III of England.
PHOTO: Randy Weaver (C) shows a model of his Ruby Ridge, Idaho cabin to US Senator Arlen Specter, R-PA, during Senate hearings investigating the events surrounding the 1992 standoff with federal agents (PAMELA PRICE/AFP via Getty Images).