A federal undercover agent meets Randy Weaver at a gathering at the Aryan Nations compound near Hayden Lake, but Weaver, who moved to North Idaho from Iowa, denies membership in any white supremacist groups.

Weaver sells two sawed-off shotguns to an undercover agent in Sandpoint. He's secretly indicted in 1990, and in 1991, he's arrested by federal agents for making and possessing illegal weapons. Released on bond, he fails to appear in court. Weaver and his wife, two daughters and son retreat to their mountain-top cabin.

The Weaver family lives on Ruby Ridge — which one federal marshal calls “the most remote place that’s possible to find in the state of Idaho” — for more than a year with no electricity or telephone. The family of six, which includes a baby born during the past year, drink spring water or melted snow and live on food and supplies hauled in by sympathizers. Three school-aged children wear holstered handguns. Family friend Kevin Harris also lives at the cabin. Federal marshals, fearing a gunfight, wait and watch.

As the small grocery store in Naples gets regular mail on the Weaver family's behalf from people who see Weaver as a folk hero, Weaver gives his first interview to a news outlet. He says the standoff will end only with the deaths of himself or his family, but adds, “even if we die, we win.”

U.S. marshals are watching the Weaver cabin when a family dog picks up their scent. Federal agents encounter Weaver, Harris and Weaver’s 14-year-old son Samuel. Shots are fired, killing U.S. Marshal William Degan and Sammy Weaver, although federal agents were unaware that the boy was dead. Other deputy marshals are pinned down by gunfire from the cabin for hours. Hundreds of federal agents swarm to the remote location.

Protesters rally at a roadblock at the base of Ruby Ridge, holding signs saying “Leave Them Alone!” and “Your Home Could Be Next.”

Federal agents tighten their perimeter around the cabin and discover the body of Sammy Weaver next to his rifle in a shed on the property. The news enrages the already volatile crowd at the roadblock.

Five neo-Nazi skinheads are arrested at gunpoint after their Jeep, filled with weapons and ammunition, is stopped on a back road near Weaver’s cabin. Some of Weaver’s sympathizers say they wish they’d stayed away. “Randy Weaver might be a racist,” one neighbor says. “But this isn’t about racism and these guys want you to think it is.”

Word that Vicki Weaver was dead is brought down the mountain by former Green Beret Bo Gritz. The woman was killed during a firefight just before midnight on Aug. 22 when FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi aimed at Harris as he ran toward the cabin; the bullet smashed through the door, went through Vicki Weaver’s head and struck Harris, who was injured but not killed. Horiuchi also shot Randy Weaver in the arm during the same firefight, as Weaver unlatched the shed where the body of his dead son lay. Gritz, unbeknownst to Randy Weaver, was wired so federal agents could hear their exchanges.

Kevin Harris surrenders, admitting that he shot U.S. Marshal William Degan. Weaver allows Gritz and a family friend to bring his wife’s body off the mountain.

The standoff ends on the 11th day. Weaver is arrested and taken to Boise. His daughters are taken to a nearby home where they are in the care of relatives.

A jury acquits Weaver and Harris in the death of Degan. Harris is acquitted on all other charges. Weaver is convicted on two minor gun counts.

A Justice Department study finds that FBI senior officials violated their own policies as well as the Constitution when they approved rules of engagement that allowed an agent to fire without being threatened. The director of the FBI suspends five officials; an investigation continues into whether they destroyed evidence and lied to investigators about the Weaver case. The Justice Department agrees to settle out of court and pay the Weaver family $3.1 million for the deaths of Vicki and Sammy Weaver. The U.S. Senate opens a Ruby Ridge hearing.

On the fifth anniversary of the shootout, Boundary County Prosecutor Denise Woodbury charges Kevin Harris with killing Degan and charges FBI agent Horiuchi with manslaughter for killing Vicki Weaver. The charge against Harris is later dropped, and a judge dismisses the charge against Horiuchi. That dismissal is reversed on appeal, but then-Boundary County Prosecutor Brett Benson decides against pursuing criminal charges against Horiuchi.