Randy Weaver

An undercover informer for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms told a Senate subcommittee Friday that white separatist Randy Weaver took the initiative in selling him two illegal sawed-off shotguns, starting a series of events that led to the bloody 1992 shootout and siege at Weaver's cabin in which three people were killed.

The chain of events that led to the deaths of Randy Weaver's wife and 14-year-old son during a confrontation with federal agents at Ruby Ridge, Ida., was set in motion by Weaver himself, officials of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms told a Senate subcommittee Thursday.

White separatist Randy Weaver, in emotion-charged testimony before a Senate subcommittee, admitted Wednesday that he had made mistakes but demanded that federal agents be held accountable for their actions during the 1992 confrontation at Ruby Ridge, Ida., that claimed the lives of Weaver's wife, his 14-year old son and a deputy U.S. marshal.

A Senate subcommittee this morning will begin shining the spotlight on critical issues flowing from government agents' 1992 siege of a white separatist at Ruby Ridge, Ida. One of the biggest issues: Has the judgment and competence of U.S. law enforcement officials been compromised in cases involving people who hold strong anti-government views? Coming on the heels of recent House hearings into the 1993 tragedy near Waco, Tex.

Randy Weaver will testify before a Senate committee even though it brings back "terrible memories" of how his wife and son were killed in the Idaho standoff with federal agents, he said. "I'm doing it for Sam and Vicki," he told the Des Moines Sunday Register. "That's the only reason. And for everybody, really. We're losing our freedoms. Somebody has to be held accountable. It's scary." Shooting broke out near Weaver's remote cabin in northern Idaho on Aug. 21, 1992, as U.S.

Amid rising concern about the FBI's ability to police itself, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno reacted Thursday by praising FBI Director Louis J. Freeh and declaring her pride in the embattled organization. Concern about the FBI, expressed by Justice Department and even FBI officials who insisted on anonymity, focuses on the outcome of several inquiries into its actions in the August, 1992, siege at white separatist Randy Weaver's cabin at Ruby Ridge, Ida.

The Justice Department agreed Tuesday to pay $3.1 million to white separatist Randy Weaver and his three surviving children for the loss of his wife and 14-year-old son, who were killed by federal agents in a 1992 shootout at Ruby Ridge, Ida. The payments--$1 million to each child and $100,000 to Weaver--settle $200 million in claims filed by the family over the episode, in which a deputy U.S. marshal also was slain.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) met with white separatist Randy Weaver on Saturday as part of a planned congressional probe into the deadly standoff at Ruby Ridge, Ida. "I'm not prejudging the matter," Specter said. "My subcommittee is going to pursue this and find out what the facts are, wherever they may lead. And I'd like to tell you, Mr. Weaver expressed his appreciation for having the oversight hearing."

Senate hearings on the 1992 shootout between white separatist Randy Weaver and federal agents will begin Sept. 6, said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee that will hold the hearings. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the parent Judiciary Committee, said it may hold hearings on the deadly 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Tex., around the same time.