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Randall Claude "Randy" Weaver was a homegrown terrorist and cult leader involved in the infamous 1992 Ruby Ridge Standoff.
Background[]
Randall Claude Weaver was one of four children born to religious farmers Clarence and Wilma Weaver. The family had a difficult time finding something that matched their views on religion, thus they moved often around between Presbyterian, Evangelical, and Baptist churches. Weaver finished high school (where he got good grades and played sports) and enrolled in Iowa Central Community College, but dropped out after enlisting in the U.S. Army. He served as a Sargent during the Vietnam war. He was honorably discharged and later met Victoria Jordison and married in a ceremony at the First Congregational Church in Fort Dodge, Iowa during the year of 1971. In an attempt to impress his wife's family, the couple arranged the ceremony to be conducted by two ministers: one who was a congregationalist pastor and another who was from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They would go on to have four children. After their reception, Weaver enrolled at the University of Northern Iowa to partake in the studies of the criminal justice system and become an FBI agent. However, he dropped out because he believed that the tuition was too expensive. Afterwards, Weaver worked at a local John Deere factory while Victoria worked as a secretary and then a homemaker.
Overtime, Weaver and Victoria began to develop fundamentalist beliefs which included that the apocalypse was imminent. This resulted in the Weavers moving to a 20-acre property in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, during the early 1980s and built a cabin there. The family paid $5,000 in cash and traded their moving truck for the land, which was valued at $500 an acre.
Ruby Ridge Standoff[]
At some point, Weaver attempted to sell a pair of illegally sawed-off shotguns to an Ayran Nation white supremacist group. Weaver failed to appear in court for a charge for this and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. On August 21, 1992, Weaver, his family, and a family friend named Kevin Harris went to the Weaver home and refused to surrender to U.S. Marshals who came to arrest Weaver. A group of six Marshals engaged in a gunfight with Weaver's son Sammy and Harris which resulted in the deaths of the former and a Marshal named William Degan (as well as the Weaver's dog). Weaver's wife was also killed by an FBI sniper on the second day of the siege. The siege lasted 10 days before Harris, Weaver, and his remaining family surrendered.
Aftermath[]
TBA
Modus Operandi[]
TBA
Known Victims[]
TBA
On Criminal Minds[]
- Season Three:
- "Identity" - The Ruby Ridge Standoff was referenced by SSA David Rossi, who claimed to have been present as an FBI negotiator.
- Season Four:
- "Minimal Loss" - The Ruby Ridge Standoff was again referenced, along with the Branch Davidians and the Montana Freemen standoffs, revealing Rossi was present at them all.
- Season Thirteen
- "Believer" and "300" - While not directly or referenced in the two-part special, the Weavers appear to be inspirations for the episodes' unsub's cult, The Believers - Both are doomsday cults believing in apocalyptic philosophies, lived in encampments in isolated nature, stockpiled heavy duty weapons, engaged in shootouts with American federal agents during raids, and several of their members were killed, while the remaining ones were arrested.
On Evolution[]
- Weaver appears to be an inspiration for Elias Voit - Both are patriarchs who brainwashed their families to be in their paranoid orbits, retreated to homes in the mountains with them, were raided by federal law enforcement, who they forced away from the house and engaged in gunfights with, and put their families in the line of fire as consequences (though Voit's family survived).
- Season One
- "Dead End" - The Ruby Ridge Standoff was referenced by Deputy Director Doug Bailey.
References[]
Wikipedia: