I believe the case was settled not acquitted. Weaver broke the law and the agents screwed up getting the SOB.
In July 1993, a jury acquitted Randy Weaver of weapons and murder charges resulting from his set-up and the subsequent siege of his mountain cabin home by federal agents. Weaver's friend, Kevin Harris, was also found innocent.
Harris, witnessing the agents' killing of Randy Weaver's dog and son during the siege, fired at the agents in self-defense. Harris killed one of the agents. At the trial, the prosecution claimed Harris fired first; the defense produced evidence that the agent had fired seven shots before he was shot himself.
The federal government argued that sniper FBI Lon Horiuchi accidentally killed Weaver's wife Vicki. At the trial, however, Horiuchi testified that he was an accurate shot at 200 yards.
Everything about the federal government's actions in this case is sickening, but possibly the worst was their taunting of the Weaver family after Vicki Weaver's murder: "Good morning, Mrs. Weaver. We had pancakes for breakfast. What did you have?" That was one of the FBI's tactics revealed in court records, reported by Jerry Seper in the Washington Times in September 1993.
A
jury found Weaver innocent of all serious charges, convicting him only on the original weapons charge. The jury also found Harris innocent, ruling his shooting of the marshal to be self-defense.
Sources:
Jan. 10, 1995, Wall Street Journal
Coming from you that really does not carry a great deal of weight. An yet had there been better security at the airports, 9/11 may have been prevented. I have been through the check points more than I care to admit and do not recall any rights being violated but I guess I am not too bright so how would I know.
Because you willing give up those rights to the jack booted thugs of the Federal Government. Ever hear of Probable Cause? now the DOJ slicksters did an end around to allow their searches to barely pass Constitutional muster, but every time you pass through a checkpoint a Founding Father turns in his grave. Funny thing is I had a screwdriver in my laptop bag that was long enough to kill someone and it was there for close to 3 years of weekly travel before I got caught. Do the math. roughly 48 weeks per year times 3 years, times at least 2 passes through moronville and not so much as a peep. I feel soooo much safer now. Why was it there? To see how long it took the trained shoe analysts to find it. I'd say 36 months demonstrated my point.
The FBI does not work for free and I do not want the likes of Halliburton or Black Water responsible for my security. Have you looked at the financial misconduct of the airlines? Aside from SWA I would not trust a single one of them to run a car wash much less security.
They don't run the security they pay for the contractor as in the past. How many times do I have to explain that if the TSA budget is ZERO because it ceases to be then that is money that can be redirected to the FBI, CIA and the like. Curtailing our empire would also free up funds to balance the budget and fund the FBI and friends. The FBI and friends are in general very good at ferreting out terrorists and others. That's one reason why I am so angry over Ruby Ridge and Waco as it is my feeling that if the local agents were in command neither would have happened. The blame IMO lays at the feet of Janet Reno on those.