Ruby Ridge

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“A stunning job of reporting.”—New York Times

On the last hot day of summer in 1992, gunfire cracked over Ruby Ridge in northern Idaho. By the next day three people were dead, and a small war was joined, pitting the full might of Federal law enforcement against one well-armed family. And ever since the standoff ended, Ruby Ridge has been recognized as a dark watershed in our nation’s history.

In Every Knee Shall Bow, Jess Walter leads the reader through the siege in which Vicki Weaver was fatally shot as she stood in the doorway of their cabin, her infant daughter in her arms. The deadly standoff on Ruby Ridge reveals the racism, violence, paranoia, and hatred of government that continue to erupt in places like Waco and Oklahoma City, and Walter’s definitive account is both insightful and deeply moving.

On the last hot day of summer in 1992, gunfire cracked over a rocky knob in northern Idaho, just south of the Canadian border. By the next day three people were dead, and a small war was joined, pitting the full might of federal law enforcement against one well-armed family. Drawing on extensive interviews with Randy Weaver’s family, government insiders, and others, Jess Walter traces the paths that led the Weavers to their confrontation with federal agents and led the government to treat a family like a gang of criminals.

This is the story of what happened on Ruby Ridge: the tragic and unlikely series of events that destroyed a family, brought down the number-two man in the FBI, and left in its wake a nation increasingly attuned to the dangers of unchecked federal power.

“A stunning job of reporting.” “A brilliant, cautionary tale of the dangers of conspiracy thinking—by people and by governments.” “The most comprehensive, even-handed and best written account of Ruby Ridge currently in print.” “Jess Walter’s careful chronicle of what happened in and around that cabin in…northern Idaho…is remarkably complete.” “Tightly reported…an even-handed…excellent, minute-by-minute account.” “A meticulously researched account of the Ruby Ridge incident.”

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