THE F.B.I (Fumbling Bumbling Idiots)

J Edgar Hoover joined the Bureau of Investigation in 1924.   He renamed it in 1935 to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and created the motto of Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.  He was the director for 48 years.  The F.B.I has now grown to approximately 11,000 special agents and 15,000 support staff in 56 field offices throughout America.  It has foreign liaison posts in approximately 30 countries around the world.  It holds on record approximately 212 million sets of fingerprints and its forensic laboratories perform about 600,000 examinations a year.  Since the Hoover era ended in 1972, the majority of his successors have been apologizing  for the organizations vast array of criminal actions, incompetence and arrogance that has leaked from nearly every department.

J Edgar Hoover

Frederic Whitehurst is an F.B.I lab scientist that has witnessed first hand, the improper behavior of fellow colleagues.  Since 1989, he has made numerous allegations of perjury, fabricating results, lying about personal qualifications and the list just goes on.  In April of 1997, the Justice Department released its damming Bromwich report.  This 500+ page report concluded that in a number of big cases the F.B.I handled, they had been found guilty of scientifically flawed testimony, inaccurate testimony, testimony beyond the lab examiners expertise, improper preparation of lab reports, insufficient documentation and failure by management to resolve serious and credible allegations of incompetence.  The head of one unit was found to be unworthy of holding a supervisory position in the lab.  A scientist that was on the Oklahoma bombing case was found to be lacking objectivity, judgment and scientific knowledge, while another scientist testified falsely and outside his area of expertise.  This report was followed by another report which highlighted the F.B.Is failure to detect the Soviets C.I.A mole, Aldrich Ames, for 9 years.

Frederic Whitehurst

Around 5 years ago President Clinton was forced to fire then F.B.I director Judge William Sessions .  This director was facing serious charges of ethical impropriety that they could not hide from the public.  So Clinton called for a new director, someone who could allow the F.B.I  to "recapture the imagination of the American people".  Or someone who could mislead the public and was better at covering up their own criminal activities as Hoover did so well for 48 years.

The Ruby Ridge event is one example of the F.B.Is terrible "mistakes".  The information that had reached the F.B.I headquarters about this event was most certainly of the incorrect kind.  The Weavers who lived at Ruby Ridge were portrayed as disciples of the Aryan Nations, the father was said to be a Vietnam veteran of the Special Forces, and that he was wanted on charges of selling illegal weapons.  In reality, the Weaver family worshiped a god they called Yashua and they lived in a cabin with a corrugated-tin roof.  They survived by hunting small animals and growing their own vegetables.  Mr Weaver had been a soldier but not in Vietnam or the Special Forces.  The illegal weapons he sold were 2 shotguns that had barrels shorter than the law allowed, but only by less than a centimeter.  The only reason he sold them, was because he was set up by an under cover government informant.

A crisis had broken out between 4 US marshals (who's job is to hunt fugitives) and the Weaver family.  The marshals had gone to Ruby Ridge to bring in Mr Weaver for selling the firearms.  They ended up being chased by a labrador called Striker, a 14 year old boy and a man, both armed with rifles.  The marshals shot the dog, then a number of shots were fired.  At the end, a US marshal lay dead and the 14-year-old boy was shot in the back as he ran away.  Enter the F.B.I.

A team of specialist units from the F.B.I in Denver had been sent to Ruby Ridge along with similar units from the State police, US marshals, and hundreds of national guardsmen.  The F.B.Is Hostage Rescue Teams (HRT) is divided into 2 groups consisting of assault troops and 8 snipers.  The F.B.I thought the threat was so bad that both groups were sent in along with a helicopter and armored personnel carriers.  The circumstances that must exist before deadly force can be used are firmly defined.  However the HRT commander proposed that the rules be changed in this circumstance so that any adult carrying a weapon near the Weaver house could be subject to deadly force!  This was apparently agreed upon.  The F.B.Is senior hostage negotiator was shocked.  By this time the situation had quieted down and there was no need for any hasty decisions.   Given time its more than likely the Weavers could have been talked down peacefully.

Instead the F.B.I ordered the HRT assault teams to smash the small cabin with armored personnel carriers while snipers surrounded the cabin hidden from view and ready to kill.  The only possible chance the Weaver family had of coming out alive was that this ridiculous plan had to be first approved by the F.B.I headquarters in Washington.  The plan was faxed to Washington but unfortunately the man in charge, Larry Potts, had gone home after 30 hours on duty and didn't see the written plan.  At the end of this terrible invasion on the Weaver family, nobody at Washington headquarters remembered approving or even seeing the written rules of engagement for Ruby Ridge.

Protesting Against The Ruby Ridge Invasion

Two men and a girl, all armed, eventually ran out of the cabin and headed for the shed.  A sniper bullet hit Randy Weaver's arm and penetrated his armpit on exit.  The sniper missed, he was actually aiming for his spine just below the neck.  All three then ran back into the cabin.  Kevin Harris (Weaver's friend) was last back into the cabin.  As he was just entering the open door, he was making a gesture to tell somebody to get out of the road.  Mr Harris then flinched and collapsed behind the door as a sniper shot was fired, a female let out a terrible scream and all went quite. 

A negotiator from inside an armored personnel carrier asked Vicki (the mother) if maybe one of the children could come out and take a phone so they could talk them out without further violence.  However Vicki was dead.  The sniper bullet missed Mr Harris and smashed Vicki's jaw as she was standing behind the door.  It severed her carotid artery and vein, she bled to death in a matter of seconds as she dropped her 10 month old baby she had cradled in her arms.  It was fragments of Vicki's jaw that hit Mr Harris dropping him to the floor.

The rest of the family was kept at bay for six days until they were finally persuaded to surrender.  Mr Harris was acquitted of every charge.   Mr Weaver was found not guilty of  murder and the jury refused to convict him for selling illegal weapons because he had been entrapped.  Mr Weaver was however, convicted for failing to appear in court to answer the charge of selling illegal weapons and violating the conditions on which he had been given bail.  The Justice Department agreed to pay Mr Weaver $3.1 million in compensation for the death of his wife.  The Government was fined $3240 for misconduct.  Larry Potts, the man in charge, was promoted to the second highest rank of deputy director of the Fumbling Bumbling Idiots!