Many Idahoans Sick Of Ruby Ridge Case
Keeping barbershop chats civil isn’t always easy for Ken Dinning when the talk turns to the Randy Weaver standoff.
That’s why Dinning, like many Boundary County residents, wishes the 5-year-old controversy was over and done with.
“They come in the barber shop and they have uprisings. People screaming at each other,” Dinning said as he waited for a customer Thursday. “I don’t like to see it.”
If the county’s murder charge against Kevin Harris and the manslaughter charge against FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi provides the community with resolution, fine.
If not, some folks would rather not see their tax money wasted on a pair of long trials.
“It’s nonsense,” said James Hill, who was having lunch Thursday at the downtown Panhandle Restaurant. “We’re going to spend a lot of money and we’re not going to get anything out of it. … I’d just like it to go away.”
Most residents interviewed Thursday didn’t mind the county taking on the task of prosecuting those responsible for the deaths in the Weaver case.
But several had concerns about county Prosecutor Denise Woodbury’s choice of charges.
“Her charges are reversed,” said Robert Morgan, who was fixing his pickup in the shade of the American Legion building.
“Kevin Harris should be charged with manslaughter and Horiuchi with murder,” he said. “Kevin was responding to an attack on private property. … Lon Horiuchi, on the other hand, was not in the heat of battle. He was not in immediate danger. What he did was premeditated and in cold blood.”
Morgan, whose business is home repairs and remodeling, said the topic is still divisive in the community. But, he added, one thing most people agree on is that “the government was involved in something they shouldn’t be involved in.”
A college-aged man with a ponytail parked across the street from the courthouse and yelled expletives out his car window. He directed them at Bonners Ferry in general.
He later explained that he disagreed with charging Kevin Harris with murder. “I almost thought it was put to rest,” he said, declining to give his name.
Down the block, a man bought a regular cup of coffee at an espresso shop and took a stool by the window. He wouldn’t share his name, but he did share his opinion of the prosecutor’s decision to go after Horiuchi.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “For a man who was so highly trained and supposed to be the elite in his profession, he blew it big time and he should be prosecuted for that.
“As for Kevin Harris, I have mixed feelings. I think it was by accident.”
Then he repeated a sentiment expressed by many: “I do wish it was all over with.”
Strong as the desire is to close the book on Ruby Ridge, some hope is alive that perhaps this time a trial will answer lingering questions.
“There’s too many rumors,” said Connie Bray, downtown for lunch with her daughter. “I just want the truth to come out.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo