The Ruby Ridge standoff was an eleven-day siege of the survivalist Randy Weaver's cabin near Naples, Idaho by federal agents which occurred from 21 to 31 August 1992. Weaver and his family - who had befriended members in Aryan Nations a group who held apocalyptic, white supremacist, survivalist, and anti-government views, among which the Weavers only shared their anti-government views - The Weavers refused to surrender to agents who had been sent to forcibly take Weaver to court over illegally sawing off shotguns, a crime which Randy had been entrapped into committing by a federal agent planted in the Aryan Nations groups, as they wanted to use it as leverage to coerce him into becoming an informant. He refused, after which was indicted on federal charges and ordered to show up in court.
The agents arriving at the Weavers property killed the family's dog when he alerted the family to their presence, leading to their son Samuel Weaver attempting to defend his home and family, by shooting back at the agents out of fear; the agents fired back and killed Weaver by shooting him in the back, as he was trying to make his way back to the house.
At the same time, one of the survivalists, Kevin Harris, killed Agent Billy Degan. The Federal agents withdrew, and Agent Dave Hunt called for backup from the Marshals, the state police, the FBI, and other law enforcement. The next day, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi wounded Randy as he visited his son's body in the cabin's shed, and Horiuchi also shot Randy's wife Vicki Weaver In the head while she was holding her 10 month old son on the porch, while allegedly trying to shoot Harris. By that day, large crowds of Weaver's neighbors (including large numbers of Aryan Nations members alongside their leader Richard Butler), neo-Nazis, skinheads, and journalists showed up, with the far-right people calling the federal agents "baby killers" and "a shame to the white race". The federal agents were forced to besiege the cabin as Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris refused to leave, and they eventually arranged for conspiracy theorist Bo Gritz to serve as an intermediary. Gritz eventually convinced Harris to surrender on 30 August and the Weavers to surrender a day later, ending the siege. Ultimately, Harris and Weaver were acquitted of the killing of Agent Degan, as Harris had acted out of self defense and Randy had never fired a shot, and the Weavers were awarded $3.1 million in damages for Vicki and Sam's murders. The standoff caused immense polarization nationwide, outraging anti-government activists; the 1993 Waco siege and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing were linked to the standoff.