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Ambush at Ruby Ridge : How Government Agents Set Randy Weaver Up and Took His Family Down
AUGUST 21, 1992: A SIX-MAN TEAM from the Special Operations Group of the U.S. Marshals Service, dressed in full regalia and armed with silenced automatic weapons, moved onto Randy Weaver's 20-acre property known as Ruby Ridge. In less than 36 hours they had killed his son and an FBI sniper had shot his wife as she stood in the door of the cabin holding her 10-month-old-baby. Almost immediately the agents declared a hostage situation and a massive paramilitary buildup began, which eventually reached more than 400 heavily armed agents, including most of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, and a large array of assault vehicles and weaponry.
Ambush at Ruby How Government Agents Set Randy Weaver Up and Took His Family Down chronicles the U.S. Marshals Service elaborate, multi-million-dollar 18-month surveillance of Weaver, an Idaho backwoods resident known as a white separatist, indicted on a minor firearms charge many claim was a government act of hatred and blackmail. The resultant 11-day standoff in Weaver's small family cabin and the paramilitary attack that ensued are described through graphic and closely documented from the details surrounding the initial siege to the shoot-to-kill orders given by FBI headquarters.
Through court transcripts, private testimonies and interviews with insiders, local residents, and friends of the Weaver Family, jounalist Alan Bock debunks the myth that government agencies are beyond the realm of entrapment, cover-ups, and even the killing of innocent people. He overturns the hypocrisies and contradictions of the FBI, and takes you straight to the scene-first, to the tragedy of Ruby Ridge, then to the colorful neo-Nazi and protester-filled roadblock, and finally to the courtroom, where prosecutors and flamboyant defense attorney Gerry Spence go head to head.
But beyond being a shocking account of bizarre circumstances, Ambush at Ruby Ridge challenges the personal and political implications of the most notorious trial in Idaho history. Maybe if the ambush on David Koresh's Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, hadn't happened as the Weaver trial was underway. the events of Ruby Ridge might be seen as a regional story of government bungling with tragic results. But Waco did happen, causing many Americans to ask hard and fundamental questions about what the United States Government has become. Unlike with Waco, the government may actually be held accountable for what it did at Ruby Ridge.
Ambush at Ruby How Government Agents Set Randy Weaver Up and Took His Family Down chronicles the U.S. Marshals Service elaborate, multi-million-dollar 18-month surveillance of Weaver, an Idaho backwoods resident known as a white separatist, indicted on a minor firearms charge many claim was a government act of hatred and blackmail. The resultant 11-day standoff in Weaver's small family cabin and the paramilitary attack that ensued are described through graphic and closely documented from the details surrounding the initial siege to the shoot-to-kill orders given by FBI headquarters.
Through court transcripts, private testimonies and interviews with insiders, local residents, and friends of the Weaver Family, jounalist Alan Bock debunks the myth that government agencies are beyond the realm of entrapment, cover-ups, and even the killing of innocent people. He overturns the hypocrisies and contradictions of the FBI, and takes you straight to the scene-first, to the tragedy of Ruby Ridge, then to the colorful neo-Nazi and protester-filled roadblock, and finally to the courtroom, where prosecutors and flamboyant defense attorney Gerry Spence go head to head.
But beyond being a shocking account of bizarre circumstances, Ambush at Ruby Ridge challenges the personal and political implications of the most notorious trial in Idaho history. Maybe if the ambush on David Koresh's Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, hadn't happened as the Weaver trial was underway. the events of Ruby Ridge might be seen as a regional story of government bungling with tragic results. But Waco did happen, causing many Americans to ask hard and fundamental questions about what the United States Government has become. Unlike with Waco, the government may actually be held accountable for what it did at Ruby Ridge.
281 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 18, 2019
Written before all of the dust had settled with the Ruby Ridge incident, Bock's book is immediate and passionate. What our criminal law enforcement did to that poor family is unforgivable. Bock and his publisher should have issued a second edition with the civil suit updates. But as it stands, it is a good account of Ruby Ridge. Should be supplemented with some Wikipedia reading to see what happened afterwards.
May 9, 2008
Revealing and disturbing. Seemingly a balanced presentation of an event that should have brought down a "justice" department, but didn't.
An example of the priority that government agencies place upon their funding.
An example of the priority that government agencies place upon their funding.
March 25, 2018
***1/2
-1 for complete lack of footnoting or endnoting. A bibliography is included but not linked to individual statements or assertions.
-1 for complete lack of footnoting or endnoting. A bibliography is included but not linked to individual statements or assertions.
May 12, 2026
!!!We don't have to like someone to agree the government should NOT hunt people for sport!!!
The American government sent Randy to fight in the Vietnam War.
He served honorably.
Afterwards, disillusioned by seeing the American government slaughter Vietnamese people for... for what? slaughter American young men for... for what?
No, thanks.
He and his wife worked, bought a house, and helped everyone - homeless people, anyone who needed it, any race.
They believed God wanted them to move away from a corrupt society, so he and his wife moved out in the woods to live in peace.
They lived in peace, making friends with people in town regardless of ethnicity, continuing to help people, loving their family, friends, pets, and neighbors.
A buyer was caught with two illegal sawed-off shotguns, which were illegal, and was given a plea deal -- if you give us incriminating stuff about other people, we set you free.
The buyer told them Randy Weaver gave him the guns, and claimed Randy Weaver said racist things.
Claimed.
So he wouldn't go to jail.
The government asked around about Randy Weaver and found out he was always helping people, so to catch him, they had a federal agent PRETEND TO BE BROKE DOWN ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, knowing Randy would stop to help.
Randy and his wife stopped to help.
So they trapped him by giving him an opportunity to help people, arrested him on the word of some dude trying to stay out of jail, threw Randy in jail, intentionally did NOT tell Randy his court date, then made him a FUGITIVE OF THE LAW for not showing up at a court date they never told him about!
The government told Randy he could get out of going to jail IF he agreed to join and spy on n@z1 groups.
He refused.
He wasn't in a n@z1 group, and refused to join one as a government spy.
Because duh.
For the crime of refusing to join a n@z1 group, the government called him a n@z1 (so stupid) to justify killing his pets and family to punish him for telling them "No!"
A wanted man, his friends and all the people he'd helped still loved him, visited regularly, bringing food, socializing, and play dates with their kids.
The government NEVER walked up to arrest him.
They went straight to KILLING his family for telling them "No."
Helicopters flew over to harass and watch them.
The government claimed Randy shot at a helicopter and missed, but they had friends over, and the friends said nobody had shot at the helicopter.
Randy was a soldier.
Randy was a hunter.
And he couldn't?? Hit a giant helicopter?? Ridiculous.
The Federal Government set up hundreds of cameras in the woods to surveillance the Weaver Family, costing American Taxpayers $13,000 a day.
The family played together.
Worked together.
Had fun with friends.
Lived peacefully.
"But they carry guns!" Said the prosecuting lawyer.
Yes.
There are bears in the woods. There are snakes in the woods. The weaver family grew their garden and harvested deer with their guns.
Guns would be weird to carry in town.
Guns are not weird to carry when you may run into food, a deadly snake, or a charging bear.
"It would have been embarrassing if the FBI spent $13,000 a day and nothing came from it."
The FBI decided their embarrassment was worth killing a peaceful family.
When the Federal Government sent spies in dressed as hunters asking for directions, and spies in dressed as real estate buyers, Randy and his family were super kind and helpful.
Hmm...
Kind and helpful to the spies.
Surveillance showed a peaceful life with family and friends.
Then suddenly an invisible foe shot and killed his dog, shot and killed his fourteen year old son in the back, shot and killed his wife in their own home as she held their baby.
No warrant.
No warning.
Just the American government slaughtering a family.
Disclaimer:
The government claims he was a n@z1 and that is why the government decided to slaughter his family.
However!
People who knew him said:
1. He wasn't.
2. He warned people AGAINST n@z1sm.
3. Black coworkers and friends from town said that he was their friend, and loved them.
Meaning!
Randy Weaver was FALSELY ACCUSED of that because the American government wanted to justify them hiking through the wood to hunt and slaughtering his children and wife as she held their baby.
Dog? Shot dead.
14 year old son? Shot dead.
Mother holding baby? Shot dead.
The rest of the family hunkered in the cabin.
Randy was shot and injured.
His friend was shot and injured.
Over 400 agents surrounded the farm.
Friends, neighbors, and protesters gathered to protest the government slaughtering a peaceful family.
Many different groups against Government Overreach showed up -- some good, some bad -- good hippies, bad n@z1s -- all against Government Overreach.
The government refused to let their extended family, church, friends, his brothers-in-arms from Vietnam, or ANYONE try to negotiate peace.
No peace.
Only death.
The government decided they would die, so they would die.
And they knew it.
The American government sent Randy to fight in the Vietnam War.
He served honorably.
Afterwards, disillusioned by seeing the American government slaughter Vietnamese people for... for what? slaughter American young men for... for what?
No, thanks.
He and his wife worked, bought a house, and helped everyone - homeless people, anyone who needed it, any race.
They believed God wanted them to move away from a corrupt society, so he and his wife moved out in the woods to live in peace.
They lived in peace, making friends with people in town regardless of ethnicity, continuing to help people, loving their family, friends, pets, and neighbors.
A buyer was caught with two illegal sawed-off shotguns, which were illegal, and was given a plea deal -- if you give us incriminating stuff about other people, we set you free.
The buyer told them Randy Weaver gave him the guns, and claimed Randy Weaver said racist things.
Claimed.
So he wouldn't go to jail.
The government asked around about Randy Weaver and found out he was always helping people, so to catch him, they had a federal agent PRETEND TO BE BROKE DOWN ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, knowing Randy would stop to help.
Randy and his wife stopped to help.
So they trapped him by giving him an opportunity to help people, arrested him on the word of some dude trying to stay out of jail, threw Randy in jail, intentionally did NOT tell Randy his court date, then made him a FUGITIVE OF THE LAW for not showing up at a court date they never told him about!
The government told Randy he could get out of going to jail IF he agreed to join and spy on n@z1 groups.
He refused.
He wasn't in a n@z1 group, and refused to join one as a government spy.
Because duh.
For the crime of refusing to join a n@z1 group, the government called him a n@z1 (so stupid) to justify killing his pets and family to punish him for telling them "No!"
A wanted man, his friends and all the people he'd helped still loved him, visited regularly, bringing food, socializing, and play dates with their kids.
The government NEVER walked up to arrest him.
They went straight to KILLING his family for telling them "No."
Helicopters flew over to harass and watch them.
The government claimed Randy shot at a helicopter and missed, but they had friends over, and the friends said nobody had shot at the helicopter.
Randy was a soldier.
Randy was a hunter.
And he couldn't?? Hit a giant helicopter?? Ridiculous.
The Federal Government set up hundreds of cameras in the woods to surveillance the Weaver Family, costing American Taxpayers $13,000 a day.
The family played together.
Worked together.
Had fun with friends.
Lived peacefully.
"But they carry guns!" Said the prosecuting lawyer.
Yes.
There are bears in the woods. There are snakes in the woods. The weaver family grew their garden and harvested deer with their guns.
Guns would be weird to carry in town.
Guns are not weird to carry when you may run into food, a deadly snake, or a charging bear.
"It would have been embarrassing if the FBI spent $13,000 a day and nothing came from it."
The FBI decided their embarrassment was worth killing a peaceful family.
When the Federal Government sent spies in dressed as hunters asking for directions, and spies in dressed as real estate buyers, Randy and his family were super kind and helpful.
Hmm...
Kind and helpful to the spies.
Surveillance showed a peaceful life with family and friends.
Then suddenly an invisible foe shot and killed his dog, shot and killed his fourteen year old son in the back, shot and killed his wife in their own home as she held their baby.
No warrant.
No warning.
Just the American government slaughtering a family.
Disclaimer:
The government claims he was a n@z1 and that is why the government decided to slaughter his family.
However!
People who knew him said:
1. He wasn't.
2. He warned people AGAINST n@z1sm.
3. Black coworkers and friends from town said that he was their friend, and loved them.
Meaning!
Randy Weaver was FALSELY ACCUSED of that because the American government wanted to justify them hiking through the wood to hunt and slaughtering his children and wife as she held their baby.
Dog? Shot dead.
14 year old son? Shot dead.
Mother holding baby? Shot dead.
The rest of the family hunkered in the cabin.
Randy was shot and injured.
His friend was shot and injured.
Over 400 agents surrounded the farm.
Friends, neighbors, and protesters gathered to protest the government slaughtering a peaceful family.
Many different groups against Government Overreach showed up -- some good, some bad -- good hippies, bad n@z1s -- all against Government Overreach.
The government refused to let their extended family, church, friends, his brothers-in-arms from Vietnam, or ANYONE try to negotiate peace.
No peace.
Only death.
The government decided they would die, so they would die.
And they knew it.
April 25, 2018
Ambush
Great book. So frustrating to read. What was the government's problem? They kill a man's wife and son because he missed a court date?
Janet Reno was a real piece of work.
What is so wrong with food storage? Mormons have been doing it for a long time. I wish I had this much food stored and they were on a tiny budget!
—60 five-gallon cans of red wheat, a large galvanized bin of dried peas, 800 tins of dried food, 10 five-gallon buckets of salt, 150 gallons of honey, 500 pounds of flour, and 1,200 tins of canned food.
Enjoy the read.
Great book. So frustrating to read. What was the government's problem? They kill a man's wife and son because he missed a court date?
Janet Reno was a real piece of work.
What is so wrong with food storage? Mormons have been doing it for a long time. I wish I had this much food stored and they were on a tiny budget!
—60 five-gallon cans of red wheat, a large galvanized bin of dried peas, 800 tins of dried food, 10 five-gallon buckets of salt, 150 gallons of honey, 500 pounds of flour, and 1,200 tins of canned food.
Enjoy the read.
February 13, 2018
I became interested in what happened at Ruby Ridge, Waco, and OKC very recently after watching some Netflix docs. This book was extremely thorough, and while I can’t say I agree with everything in it, I enjoyed reading it. It was captivating and convincing. Totally worth the read.
January 1, 2019
It was an interesting story and told of the abuse of power by the US government against a man and his family. I felt it was a little biased but the author did a good job of showing all the facts. It was a tough read because of the description of the event and the wording used.
March 3, 2026
An incredibly detailed account of the terrible events that happened at Ruby Ridge. Bock does a tremendous job of humanizing the Weavers while not glossing over some of the unscrupulous associations they made along the way. Required reading for anyone curious about government overreach.
October 25, 2021
Very thorough analysis of the event and the relevant factors leading up. I especially appreciated the detailed retelling of the trial.
October 4, 2024
I randomly picked this book up for $1 at a thrift store in Fairplay, CO, and was shocked with how obsessed with the story I became. Fascinating, scary read. Author does a great job of playing devils advocate for both sides. Couldn't put it down until after the trial chapter. Last few chapters were more dull, harder to read, probably because it was less of a thrill. Still highly recommend, and the book is currently being passed around my group of friends.
January 23, 2013
This book was a lousy restaurant in a great location. It was not terrible, but I’m sure there are better accounts. I’m not sure if I will bother, I have other fish to fry.
Ruby Ridge, Idaho is where FBI agents, and other machinery of the state, attacked and killed 3 people, two who were members of the Weaver family-- a 14 year old boy, and Vickie, his mother (age 43). This happened in 1992. An FBI agent, named William Deever was killed also.
Not that it matters, but for a couple of years I ran the Deever 10k in Quincy, MA in memory of this agent. This was when I lived in near by Dorchester, I was younger and ran quite a bit. I liked that race, I think it was pretty flat.
The book: The writing is not great, but it is tolerable. There is some interesting, descriptive narrative, but I found it lacking and admit I skipped around.
The book is broken into chunks—the siege, the stand off, the pre-trial, the trial, background of the family, and so on. The story is not extremely complex, but I think it could have been presented more artfully or at least re-ordered to be more coherent.
You could get a full book out of the Weavers before any of this federal charges mishegaas. They sprang from middle-America. They were Bible folk who had a desire to separate from all that is unholy, live independently, and raise their children in preparation for some kind of apocalypse. Now, doomsday preppers are entertainment, but back then it was very weird. So they moved to Idaho.
The family was against our government, but they are presented as very American. They said, no thanks to the United States of Advertising, and moved to a cold house, and scraped out their livelihood, including selling weapons to an undercover agent.
This book is covers the siege and its aftermath in great detail. It ends with a chapter called “Government out of control”, so it becomes less of a book and more of a screed.
Just read Wikipedia and get informed if you care.
Ruby Ridge, Idaho is where FBI agents, and other machinery of the state, attacked and killed 3 people, two who were members of the Weaver family-- a 14 year old boy, and Vickie, his mother (age 43). This happened in 1992. An FBI agent, named William Deever was killed also.
Not that it matters, but for a couple of years I ran the Deever 10k in Quincy, MA in memory of this agent. This was when I lived in near by Dorchester, I was younger and ran quite a bit. I liked that race, I think it was pretty flat.
The book: The writing is not great, but it is tolerable. There is some interesting, descriptive narrative, but I found it lacking and admit I skipped around.
The book is broken into chunks—the siege, the stand off, the pre-trial, the trial, background of the family, and so on. The story is not extremely complex, but I think it could have been presented more artfully or at least re-ordered to be more coherent.
You could get a full book out of the Weavers before any of this federal charges mishegaas. They sprang from middle-America. They were Bible folk who had a desire to separate from all that is unholy, live independently, and raise their children in preparation for some kind of apocalypse. Now, doomsday preppers are entertainment, but back then it was very weird. So they moved to Idaho.
The family was against our government, but they are presented as very American. They said, no thanks to the United States of Advertising, and moved to a cold house, and scraped out their livelihood, including selling weapons to an undercover agent.
This book is covers the siege and its aftermath in great detail. It ends with a chapter called “Government out of control”, so it becomes less of a book and more of a screed.
Just read Wikipedia and get informed if you care.
April 14, 2016
This book was written by a reporter. I am more comfortable with scholarly works. There is not a single footnote. I know that these books are popular and this book is very readable. The author's bias is evident and to his credit he does not apologize for his bias. The facts are very troubling. A unarmed mother killed while holding her baby. A 13 year old shot in the back. A US Marshall killed. I look forward to a work of this type where the sources are noted and having a more substantial foundation.
October 30, 2011
A detailed account of this tragic incident. Weaver's book Ruby Ridge describes the incident from the family's perspective in the cabin during the event while this book conducts a more forensic examination of the entire incident.
March 5, 2013
Very well-written! Clear and easy to understand and hooked me from the first chapter. The information presented in it: SCARY. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone young or anyone easily influenced/freaked out.
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September 23, 2010Ambush at Ruby Ridge : How Government Agents Set Randy Weaver Up and Took His Family Down by Alan W. Bock (1995)
October 7, 2010
the title says it all.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews