PIML 96060306 / Forwarded to Patriot Information Mailing List: [Inaccuracies pointed out on CBS' Ruby Ridge Show.] PIML ================================================================== Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 12:46:06 -0400 From: freematt@coil.com (Matthew Gaylor) Subject: James Bovard on CBS's "Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy" Reply-To: libernet-d@listserv.rmii.com [Note: From Matthew Gaylor: James Bovard is the author of "Shakedown: How the Government Screws You From A to Z; "Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty; "The Fair Trade Fraud; and "The Farm Fiasco". A regular contributor to "The Wall Street Journal, his editorials also appear in "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", "Newsweek", "Playboy", and "The New Republic". Jim has been at the forefront of calling for full investigations into the Randy Weaver case and the Waco disaster. George Will described him as "a one-man truth squad who is more than a match for tendentious legions of protectionists in American government and industry." Jim Bovard is a subscriber to Freematt's Alerts and I had the pleasure to personally meet him in Chicago at the memorial weekend conference (5-25-96) of The Future of Freedom Foundation. Jim is one of the most knowledgeable individuals anywhere on government abuses. I asked Jim to write a list of the inaccuracies of the recent two part CBS's made for TV Movie; "RUBY RIDGE: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY".] ### (c) copyright James Bovard 1996 Here's my take on the CBS series. I don't want to trash it completely; I don't know how hard the producers may have had to work to get even a version of this case that was even mildly critical of the government on network TV. The following comments are a rough but have perhaps a few insights. I am sure that there are other inaccuracies in the film which I may have missed; if folks have other observations on the film, I'd be happy to hear them. * * * * * * The CBS Miniseries on Ruby Ridge last week may help alert folks who know little or nothing about the Weaver case to government entrapment and FBI sniping abuses. Parts of the series were quite strong; unfortunately, there were several aspects of the series that were painfully inaccurate. The scenes where the sniper kills Vicki Weaver makes the window on the door appear to be opaque; the reality was otherwise. The Justice Department in late October sent a team of investigators back to Ruby Ridge to reconstruct Horiuchi's angle of vision for the shootings. One Idaho expert observed in a November 22 interview, "When you look through the scope [of Horiuchi's rifle] at the door - you can see a wedding ring on the hand of someone standing behind the window of the door. You can see someone standing back there with great resolution and great visibility." For instance, CBS made it appear that the FBI never knew that Vicki Weaver had been gunned down by Lon Horiuchi; in reality, the family was screaming out that she had been thought within minutes of the killing - and the FBI had planted bugs right by the cabin so they could hear the inside conversation. During the 11 day siege, FBI agents taunted the Weavers, broadcasting through a microphone near the cabin: "Good morning Mrs. Weaver, We had pancakes for breakfast. What did you have?" CBS made it appear that the FBI officials felt bad when they learned about Vicki Weaver's "accidental" death. On the night of the killing, Horiuchi was debriefed by an FBI expert and made a sketch of his target for the second shot. While Freeh has claimed that Horiuchi shot at a man who was running into the cabin at the time, Horiuchi's drawing showed his cross hairs just above an upright head clearly visible through the window of the open cabin door. At the time that Horiuchi fired, Kevin Harris - his alleged target - was running into the cabin and would not have been in a fixed upright position. But Vicki Weaver was standing in the doorway holding her baby. If the FBI thought the killing of Vicki Weaver was an accident, they likely would not have told so many preposterous lies to justify the shooting. As the Senate hearings revealed, FBI assistant special agent Thomas Miller's official report on the shooting falsely claimed that Vicki Weaver had been in the front yard of the cabin pointing a gun at helicopters before she was slain, though she never left the cabin during the time at question. The FBI report noted, "This female, however, did pose an immediate threat to the circling helicopter... the use of deadly force was justified in that she willfully placed herself in harm's way by attempting to assist Harris, and so doing, overtly contributed to the immediate threat which continued to exist against the helicopter crew and approaching HRT personnel." But all that Vicki Weaver did was stand in the doorway of a cabin, shouting for her husband and his friend to hurry back into their home after the FBI sniper shot her husband. After the FBI sniper had gunned down all the adults in the cabin, the CBS series showed an FBI official going up to the cabin in an armored personnel carrier and calling for Randy Weaver to come out and talk on a telephone. This was one of the starkest misrepresentations in the entire film. In reality, the FBI sent a robot up to the cabin - a robot holding a 12-gauge shotgun in one arm and a phone in the other arm outside the cabin. FBI siege negotiators continually demanded that Weaver come out of his cabin, pick up the phone, and talk to the FBI agents at the other end of the line. But the robot's shotgun was pointing right at the door. FBI press spokesmen repeatedly complained to the news media during the 11-day siege that Weaver refused to negotiate - but never mentioned the shotgun. The FBI robot was one of the hottest issues in last Fall's Senate hearings, but, somehow, CBS went creative on this key point. In general, CBS did a fair job of hinting at some of the Marshals' lies and shenanigans; but, when it came to the FBI, the series was deferential to the point of trying to stick the viewers' head into the ground. The CBS series left out all the numerous different scenes from the trial where the federal judge condemned the FBI and Justice Department for fabricating evidence or obstructing evidence. The CBS Series showed the same federal prosecutor apparently making his case throughout the trial; in reality, the lead federal prosecutor had a mental breakdown in court shortly before he was supposed to begin his final summation to the jury - apparently even he was appalled by all the lies the government had told. The representation of the trial seemed extremely soft on the government, compared to the comments made by Federal Judge Lodge and the jury foreman after the trial. And, while CBS used the Weavers' names and the names of family friend Kevin Harris, none of the names of federal agents were used - even those FBI agents who may be indicted in the next few months by the federal grand jury hearing evidence in Washington. (c) copyright James Bovard 1996 ### **************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor,1933 E. 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