End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America

Probably the best book I read about Ruby Ridge, and maybe the best book I've read about Waco. Besides making the Weavers real people, it also put the focus where it should have been all along, which is dispensation, which is a very American phenomenon. I hope that this becomes one of the foundational pieces of siege/terror studies, because it elucidates how without Posse Comitus Ruby Ridge wouldn't happen, and without Ruby Ridge no Waco, and no Waco then no Oklahoma City,etc etc. And that the FBI and the ATF have always been unable to even catch a cold, much less execute something as sensitive as this. The blunders, even though I knew them, as we all know them, continue to shock me. If you can call shooting a dog, a child, and a woman show more holding an infant a blunder. And then that they didn't know any of these people were dead? It boggles the mind. It really does. But dispensationalism is the fundamental reason this keeps happening, and I don't think there is any way to get this type of dogma out of the American blood stream. show less

Fantastic example of what happens when people on both sides of an issue become antagonistic and things explode. Randy Weaver and his family were fundamentalistic Christians who believed the end of world was upon us. They retreated to a lonely hilltop in Idaho where they built a homestead and wanted to be left alone by society. Unfortunately, Weaver had a pending failure to appear in court warrant. Rather than wait until Weaver came down from his lair to shop in town, the Federal authorities decided to make an example of him. Using ultra-militaristic tactics, they set up surveillance on the Weavers, got caught at it, and ended up shooting Randy Weaver's son in the back, killing him. Then, rather than letting matters settle down until show more cooler heads could prevail, they upped the ante, surrounding the hilltop with enough military power to take over a small country. The end result being a massive catastrophe.
The Weaver's became martyrs for the White Supremacists. In fact, you can trace many of the crimes committed by the White Supremacists back to the Weaver debacle. The Order, the Timothy McVeigh bombing, even Waco.
I've followed this case for over thirty years. Despite my career being spent in Federal Law Enforcement, I have to admit that this episode was a turning point and disaster for our country. I loath the Uber-military that Fed Law Enf has become. In almost all cases, a more nuanced and less aggressive approach could have saved so many lives and so much heartache. That being said, I am also totally against the Alt-Right and their methods. Conflicted, I am.
Jennings does a great job reporting this event. Excellently written and the story really draws you in. He presents both sides fairly. I highly recommend this book, especially in the National circumstances we are finding ourselves currently in.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. show less