Posted on 03/13/2026 6:40:28 PM PDT by DoodleBob
In August 1992, six U.S. marshals set out to arrest Idaho survivalist Randy Weaver over a missed court date on a firearms charge, partly caused by a clerical error. What followed was an 11-day standoff and three deaths - including a federal officer. The siege became known as "Ruby Ridge." The imbroglio triggered calls for reform, particularly among conservative figures like Rush Limbaugh.
Today, it is ICE raids that are generating similar calls for change - loudest on the left. Amid operations that too often end in violence, congressional efforts to find bipartisan agreement on safeguards can draw inspiration from the reforms Ruby Ridge spurred. Those changes allow federal agents to keep enforcing the law while better protecting constitutional rights.
Following the Idaho raid, Senate hearings in 1995 revealed breakdowns in command structure, communication, and rules of engagement. The Justice Departments internal review found that the FBIs rules of engagement - which effectively authorized shooting armed adult males on sight - violated both department policy and constitutional standards. Officials were deemed "remarkably uncritical" in approving those rules, and the operations commander had exercised "inadequate control."
…
Fast-forward to 2025, and similar constitutional concerns have emerged around immigration enforcement. ICE routinely uses administrative warrants signed by immigration officials rather than judges. Unlike criminal warrants requiring judicial review under the Fourth Amendments probable cause standard, these administrative warrants are issued by ICE staff and need not be approved by a neutral magistrate. Agency rules do not even require that staff issuing them be attorneys.
When federal agents can enter homes based on paperwork they issued themselves, a critical check the Founders built into the Constitution is eliminated. The Fourth Amendment does not distinguish between citizens and non-citizens, and the Supreme Court has consistently held its protections apply to everyone on U.S. soil.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
If the FBI treated the Weavers the way ICE agents treated illegals or protesters, Lon Horiuchi wouldn’t have assasinated Vicki Weaver.
You said it. RIP Vicki.
Well said.
L
More cold blooded killing of innocents by feral government employees.
Lon Horiuchi and Michael Byrd - government paid assassins.
BS!
The Constitution was written solely to protect the rights of American citizens...
Illegals need to go home on their own or be sent home... to compare the two events is nuts.
The 4A says "people" and the left runs with it, as if the term had not been defined in the Preamble as "We the People of the United States." They play the same game with the term "person" as stated in other elements of the BOR.
Unfortunately, the Preamble has been largely forgotten in the SCOTUS, this despite that it is the defining statement of the social contract that is the Constitution. It's LONG past time to fix that.
These names and what they did should not be forgotten.
Exactly!
It was a very stupid comparison for Levin and Cumberbatch to make.
It is specious for the author to compare Ruby Ridge with the ICE activity.
Yahoo BS
They turn everything around to suit their arguments.
“Amid operations that too often end in violence,“
That’s entirely up to the illegal invaders of this country. It would be absurd to allow them to hold us hostage by threatening violence.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.