Weaver WON his case. Period. He was cajoled relentlessly by a government informant to cut the barrel off a shotgun for him. That was it. That was the extent of his lawlessness. Falling for the bait of a plant hounding for him to do something illegal. Effing government informants.
Yes, and also as I recall, Weaver showed up in court more than once to fight the original charges but each time the case would get postponed because ATF wasn't ready to proceed.
He finally got disgusted and figured they were jacking him around so the next court date he didn't show. That's when they sent marshals to arrest him for the no show and things escalated. ATF probably told the marshals he was a blood thirsty armed and dangerous Nazi.